A Nervous System Workbook for the Collapse Era, by Ariel Meadow Stallings ✦ presale edition

This book doesn't exist. You get to decide if it becomes real.

When a stranger messaged me trying to buy my book This Time Next Year You’ll Be Glad You Started, I was confused.

Yes, I'm the author of three books. Yes, I wrote a similar sounding book called From Sh!tshow To Afterglow. Yes, I'm used to hearing from readers about the books I've written... but, well, I hadn’t written the book she was asking about.

No one had.

...Because the book doesn't exist.

ChatGPT had hallucinated the title, and told her I was the author. It even described the book to her in detail:

“Motivational. Forward-looking. Gentle encouragement for people in transition. A healing workbook for uncertain times. Perfect if you're rediscovering yourself.”

The wildest part? It sounded like something I should have written. The whole experience felt like free market research, the universe saying "Hey, people want to buy this book from you so badly that they're sliding into your DMs before you've written it, asking for it."

I mean, I should probably write it then, right?

...RIGHT?!

💡 What "This Time Next Year You’ll Be Glad You Started" Will Be:

If you're familiar with my work, you already know this won't be a traditional self-help manual.

Those who've read my 2020 bestselling book From Sh!tshow to Afterglow may remember the little "Find Your Afterglow" questions at the end of each chapter.

"This Time Next Year" takes the concept of those cute pre-pandy questions, reimagines them for the unprecedented times we’re living through now, and gives you pragmatic, practical inquiries to help you work through your shit.

That means:

• Nervous system rituals for a tech-saturated and over-stimulated world
• Reflection prompts that hit even when the grid’s fried
• Somatic practices, spiritual rewilding, and collapse-resilient hopecore
• AI-compatible journaling cues + ChatGPT rituals
• All designed for overwhelmed people in deeply uncertain times

📈 THE DEAL:

I will write this book when I hit 100 pre-sales.

As an entrepreneur and a compulsive creator, I’m not here to hustle or make more work for myself. I’m doing this to test if this hallucination has legs, and if you want to walk with me.

If 100 people preorder by July 1st, I’ll write it! If we don’t hit 100, I’ll take it that the world doesn't need this workbook, and refund everyone. No harm, no foul, no shade.

Either way, we’ll know.

...And honestly, that clarity is the first nervous system win!

📦 What You’ll Get (Presale Edition):

• A digital workbook PDF (delivered Fall 2025)
• An "AI Companion Pack": prompts, rituals, reflection walkthroughs designed for uploading to your favorite AI bestie for interactive coaching
• Optional live Zoom workshop
• I'll produce and sign a few limited print editions of the book to give to a few lucky presale purchasers.

🧠 Who This Is For:

• You're emotionally smart, deeply exhausted, and allergic to spiritual platitudes
• You want to feel something again, and need bite-sized ways to do it
• You’re curious about intentional and deeply human co-creating with AI, without turning into a productivity brobot
• You love the weird, the wise, and woo-adjacent but pragmatic non-duality

💸 Pay What You Can Pricing:

Choose what feels right for your nervous system + your wallet:

$19: “I'm tender but curious”
$33: “I want this AND I want to support it”
$55: “Let’s fund the future of weird healing books”

You’ll get the same workbook either way. Trust-based model. No scarcity vibes.

❓FAQ: HOW THIS WORKS

Wait… is this a real book yet?
Not yet. This Time Next Year You’ll Be Glad You Started is real energy, and a real writing project that COULD become an actual PDF workbook. Currently, it’s a hallucination, a hunch, and a collective spell-in-the-making. This presale campaign will decide if it gets produced.

What exactly would I be buying ?
You're reserving your copy of This Time Next Year You’ll Be Glad You Started, a digital nervous system workbook for a collapsing era. It’ll be:

• A digital PDF workbook (~100 pages)
• Filled with rituals, prompts, reflection tools, somatic practices, and AI companion exercises
• Designed to be used solo or with ChatGPT as a kind of interactive journaling doula

Wait is this like a Kickstarter? What is this, 2015?
Kinda. Think of this as a mini, no-frills Kickstarter... but run on trust, clarity, and zero platform fees.

• If 100 people preorder by July 1st, I’ll produce the full book.
• If we don’t hit 100, I’ll refund everyone. No harm, no hard feelings.
• If we do hit 100, you’ll get the full workbook by October 1st, 2025.

Will I get updates along the way?
Yes. If you preorder, you’ll get a few emails:

• Confirmation of your order
• A mid-campaign update
• A yay-or-nay decision on July 2nd
• Behind-the-scenes peeks if we hit the goal

What if you don’t finish the book by October 1st?
If something goes sideways (life, collapse, existential crisis), I’ll either refund you or offer an adjusted timeline. Transparency is built into this. I’m not here to overpromise and ghost.

Can I gift this to a friend?
Yep, here's how.

Why should I preorder this now instead of waiting?
Because if enough folks aren't interested now, it won’t happen.
This isn’t marketing FOMO... it’s just a way to find out if this book actually wants to exist through us. Y'all know I love a lil experiment!

Wanna birth this weird little workbook into the world?