Jonathan Yanez quit his job, cashed in his 401k, and burned every safety net he had — all before he told his wife. The first month of self-publishing, he made thirty cents. Eight years later, he runs a full-time publishing business with his wife, is fielding calls from the screenwriter behind Dune and Doctor Strange, and hasn't touched alcohol since the same year he walked away from his day job.

Jonathan Yanez is the author of the sci-fi Forsaken Mercenary and Gateway to the Galaxy series, and the nonfiction motivational book Get It Done: Hard-Hitting Motivation for Authors. He's also a former full-time, now part-time, personal trainer — a background he draws on constantly when talking about discipline, routine, and physical health as a writer's foundation.

We get into his actual daily schedule (4,000 words a day, six days a week, in 20–30 minute sprints before 8 a.m.), the blunt story of quitting his job without warning his wife, and how he approaches setbacks in his current push into foreign publishing, video games, and film — including a cold rejection that turned into a meeting six months later once he'd built momentum. We also talk about sobriety, self-belief, and why he thinks most authors box themselves out of opportunities they've never actually tried to pursue.

🎙️ What we get into:

• His actual writing routine: 5 a.m. starts, 4,000 words a day, 20–30 minute sprints, six days a week
• Why he quit his job and cashed in his 401k without telling his wife first
• How the first month of self-publishing brought in thirty cents — and what it grew into over eight years
• Why he believes "fail early, fail often, fail forward" applies just as much to lifting weights as it does to drafting a novel
• The cold pitch that got rejected, then turned into a meeting six months later once the project gained visible momentum
• Why he thinks writers are athletes, and how skipping exercise directly affects his creative output
• How he built connections in foreign publishing, video games, and film through cold outreach and persistence
• Getting sober the same year he left his day job, and how that shift changed his entire drive
• Why he writes down five yearly goals, then deliberately doesn't look at them again until year's end
• His honest take on why some mentors discourage ambition — because your growth reminds them of where they stopped

Links & Resources:

• Jonathan Yanez: https://jonathanyanez.com

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📚 About Jonathan Yanez

Jonathan Yanez is an author of sci-fi and fantasy fiction. He's the creative mind behind the Forsaken Mercenary series and the Gateway to the Galaxy series. He's also the author of the nonfiction book Get It Done: Hard-Hitting Motivation for Authors. Beyond writing, Jonathan is a former personal trainer, a part-time model, and an all-round inspiring guy.

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