Tell us what your book, “THE FILMMAKER'S GPS: The Definitive Compass for Filmmakers, Series Creators, and Directors of Visual Worlds,” is about!
Sure! Here’s the summary:
What if the success of your next story didn't depend on the budget, but on a map? THE FILMMAKER'S GPS distills 35 years of real experience on film and television sets into 140 practical principles: how to build unforgettable characters, direct actors, think visually, and move an audience. No empty theory — craft secrets from someone who walked the path, mistake by mistake and success by success. The mentor every director would have wanted at the start.
What did you love most about writing this book?
What I loved most was being able to leave a legacy: more than 500 pages holding a lifetime of directing — my secrets, my proven formulas, and my mistakes too. In these pages I deciphered what took me decades to learn: the structures, the pillars of a story, how to work with actors and draw out their very best, how to build a villain who is both fearsome and lovable, and the manifestos I direct by. I wrote it for the beginner dreaming of their first set and for the veteran who still wants to grow. It has become a kind of bible of storytelling and directing — and it now speaks English, French, German, Italian, and more languages, so this legacy can travel further than I ever could.
How did you start writing?
I am a storyteller, an author, and a filmmaker. After more than 35 years directing film and television, I began writing books to share the craft with storytellers who may never stand on a professional set — so they can learn from my mistakes instead of repeating them.
Tell us a little bit about your self-publishing experience.
I publish under my own imprint, Pulido Books, from Miami, Florida, and I have released more than two dozen works. Self-publishing gave me full control over quality and timing, and it let me take this book to seven languages: Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Japanese. I handle everything through my own pipeline — editing, layout, ISBN registration, and global distribution via IngramSpark and Amazon KDP.
What was your biggest challenge in bringing the book to market, and how did you solve it?
Producing a professional-quality book in seven languages as a one-person imprint. Every language meant new translators, new proofreading rounds, new ISBNs per format, and new metadata. I solved it with discipline: a fixed production pipeline, professional translators for each language, my own final proofing pass on every edition, and registering every ISBN myself so each edition stays clean and traceable.
What's one piece of advice you have for other writers?
Write the book only you can write, finish it, and treat publishing as a craft you learn by doing. Nobody is coming to rescue your manuscript — but nobody can stop you either.
Anything else you want folks to know?
The Spanish edition, EL GPS MODERNO PARA EL ÉXITO DE DIRECTORES DE NARRATIVAS AUDIOVISUALES, is already available, and the English edition, THE FILMMAKER'S GPS, is on its way. A full Spanish-language audiobook — over 14 hours — is in final production. I was also nominated for the 2025 Amazon Storyteller Award.
abepulido1@gmail.com
Where can people find your book?
