Dear Friends,
As we step into 2025, we want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible year that was and share some exciting things ahead. It’s been a year full of growth, collaboration, and impactful books—and we couldn’t have done it without your support for our authors and our mission to create a wiser, healthier, more just world.
Publishing This Month
Defy by Sunita Sah M.D., Ph.D, released January 14th —In a book perfectly calibrated for our times, one of the world’s leading experts on influence and authority shares the secrets to standing up, speaking out, and acting in alignment with our true values every day. Sunita, an award-winning organizational psychologist, medical doctor, and Cornell professor, reveals the difference between compliance and consent, and blind loyalty and critical resistance, shedding light on all the reasons why we say “yes” when we shouldn’t and how to say “no” when we should. With deeply moving stories, original and thought-provoking science, and clear steps on how to move from intention to action, Sunita emphasizes why, now more than ever, we need to become “moral mavericks,” developing more agency in our lives and transforming our world. Listen to Sunita read an excerpt from the book here, in this beautifully animated short clip, watch an endorsement of Defy by Amazon Books’ Editor Sarah Gelman on this clip from CBS Mornings. Order the book hereand subscribe to Sunita’s newsletter Defiant by Design for more on Defy.
The Way of Play by Tina Payne Bryson Ph.D, released January 21st — Most parents understand that free, unstructured playtime is great for children’s development. What they may not know is that playful interaction with parents is also a powerful way for kids to cultivate healthy emotional development and resilience. Kids often want their parents to play with them, but many parents don’t know how to play or see it only as an (often boring) way to kill time. Playing with your kids doesn’t have to mean enrolling in countless parent-and-me classes or getting on all fours and making toy car sounds; the little daily moments together can make the most impact. In The Way of Play, world-renowned pediatric therapists and play experts Tina Payne Bryson and Georgie Wisen-Vincent break down seven simple, playful techniques that harness this caregiving magic in only a few minutes each day. Full of science-backed research, real-life stories, and charming line illustrations to bring this novel advice to life, The Way of Play will help you nurture your kids and encourage them to become calm listeners, cooperative problem solvers, and respectful communicators. Just as important, it will help your whole family have more fun together and build stronger relationships. Order the book here and follow Tina on Instagram!
Exciting Forthcoming Projects
We are thrilled to also let you know about some of the books we have sold in the last year which we expect to release into the world for readers to enjoy in 2025 – 2026:
- Shift by Ethan Kross Ph.D —Award-winning University of Michigan psychologist and neuroscientist, one of the world’s leading experts on emotion regulation, and author of the National Bestseller Chatter, Ethan shatters deeply entrenched myths about emotion regulation and reveals a revolutionary integrative framework of science-based tools for solving a problem that has perplexed us since the dawn of humanity: how to manage our emotional lives. (Crown, February 4th, 2025)
- Intimate Animal by Justin Garcia —The Director of the Kinsey Institute provides an evolutionary understanding of love and sex, our intimacy crisis, and why we live and die for love. (Little, Brown Spark, 2026)
- From Pain to Power by Nadine Burke Harris, M.D. — This transformative book by former California Surgeon General sheds light on the profound impact of early childhood adversity, revealing how we can break the cycle of pain, how trauma is not just personal but systemic, and how our greatest pain can become our superpower. (Mariner, 2026)
- No Drama Teams by Diana Chapman and Jim Dethmer—Building on their culture-shifting work in conscious leadership, Diana and Jim show organizations of all sizes how to avoid the drama that is the greatest destroyer of productivity, profitability and job satisfaction. (Portfolio, 2026)
- Becoming Free by Daniel Siegel, M.D.—Dan’s newest book inspires readers to unlock their full potential for freedom and connection through understanding our nine personality types and our attachment styles. This is a first ever scientific understanding of how our nature and our nurture become who we are and how we can break free of our patterns. (Avery, 2026)
- The Future is Peace by Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah—Maoz and Aziz, an Israeili and a Palestinian who have both lost family in the conflict, offer a powerful vision for peace through understanding the shared and divergent personal, political, and mythic stories of Israel/Palestine (Crown, October 2025)
- Falling in Love with the Future by Doug Abrams (yours truly) I share how we can meet this moment in history and move forward with joy, hope, and justice, based on what I’ve learned from the global icons I’ve had the privilege of working with including Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall, Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, and Christiana Figures, as well as many of our other visionary authors. (Spiegel & Grau, March 2026)
Mama Love Needs All of Us to Create a More Just World
In 2024, we were proud to donate to the Gemma Project, co-founded by our dear friend and former colleague, Lara Love, and author of the Oprah Book Club pick and New York Times-bestselling book, The Many Lives of Mama Love. The Gemma Project is doing critical work to provide and promote gender-responsive jail and prison reentry programming that serves justice-involved women with integrity and compassion. They advocate for policy change focused on what works to reduce recidivism, break the intergenerational cycle of incarceration, and create healthier communities.
As we enter 2025, we are committed to redoubling our work on behalf of our nation and the world, both of which are deeply in need of the support and engagement we all can offer.
We are so grateful for our continued work with visionary authors and visionary readers on life-changing and world-changing books and media.
Here’s to a year filled with growth, inspiration, and meaningful connection (and some necessary defiance).
Warmest wishes,
Doug (and Sarah, Alyssa, Sascha, Kelly, Jordan, and Wenonah)
P.S. If you know others who might be interested in our books and media please feel free to pass this on, and encourage them to sign up to be part of our community. Let’s make 2025 a year full of ideas and stories that changes lives!