Hot Thought for Subscribers: You Spoke Up... So I Built It.

New, free, shareable archive, AutisticAF.me/the-book. No sub. No cost. No commitment. On me.

7 years. Platform after platform. Medium. YouTube. Facebook.

Build an audience. Real people. Find real traction. Then some algorithm changes overnight. And the floor drops out. And my loyal readers drop out along with it.

No warning. No vote. Just… gone.

But you? Here? You stuck around. You read the detailed stuff. The raw stuff. The stuff no algorithm will ever push.

That’s why Substack is home. And that’s why you’re the first people I’m telling.

I’m trying a solution for your needs. Nothing changes on here... except, I do get to add some cool stuff for you.

Here’s the thing you told me...

A bunch of you. In DMs. Emails. Comments. You said the same thing. You wanted to share the new book frags with somebody. A friend. A partner. Your kid’s teacher.

And it was a pain. Too many clicks. A wall. A subscribe-to-keep-reading three paragraphs deep. That I didn’t put there... and that you and your friends don’t want.

Me either.

So here’s what I’m trying. And I really need to know what you think in comments.

I’m done building on other people’s land.

I will never again
let a corporate algorithm
get to decide anything about my work.
Especially whether this human... or that...
MAY see the next page of my life.
Or not.

From the beginning, my goal? My work stays free to the public. No one should have to pay just to be autistic.

And… no gatekeeper sanding my raw reality down. Into bland clickbait on a printed page.

That part’s not negotiable.

So here’s what I made. Two things.

1. Every frag of My Autistic Life Is My Art now lives right here on Substack. Fresh, as I post them. All on one page.

No hunting. No scrolling the feed. Sit down and binge the whole book-so-far in one go.

2. A free archive at AutisticAF.me/the-book.

No subscription. No cost. No commitment. The complete text of every frag. And shareable with anyone, anywhere, with no algorithm standing at the door deciding who gets in.

You email or share the link. That’s it.

#2…? That’s the one you asked for. So I built it for you. As a thank you.

Now let me say this plain. Because it matters.

Substack stays home. You stay first. The newest frags land here before anywhere else. And the most complete, most up-to-date version of the book always lives right here. For you.

Plus everything else that comes with subscribing here. Including your downloadable copy of every clock is a handgun pointed at my head.

Current public posts live on the AutisticAF.me site too. Everything since January 2025. But today? It’s all about the book. That’s where my whole heart’s pointed right now.

So. Go check the archive. Binge the frags.

And if one grabs you? Send it to somebody. No barriers. That’s the whole point.

To my founding members. You’re the reason I could build any of this. Thank you.

To my paid subscribers. You keep the work going. Thank you.

And to everyone reading. Every share. Every recommendation. Every comment and message, public… or private. You built the audience the algorithms kept trying to bury.

I see you. Thank you.

More soon. Frag by frag. Just like I lived it.

— Johnny

P.S.: One more time, so you don’t have to scroll back up.

Binge the book, here on Substack.

Share the free archive… with anyone:

No barriers. That’s the whole effin’ point.

I’m only an expert on my own life. Born 1953, diagnosed at 63.

Your mileage will vary.

Individual marginalized voices speaking truth out loud? They build bridges to mainstream readers. Think Malcolm X. Think Maya Angelou, Think Janet Mock’s Redefining Realness.

This Fall, I hope to deliver that kind of impact, that power with My Autistic Life is My Art. For our neurodivergent community.

Since 2019 I’ve published a quarter of a million words. Over half the size of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Gotta be a pony somewhere in that shit.