"Change will come—you should stick around for it."
The Perfect 10, Season 4, Episode 2 with Nathaniel Roy
Welcome to the Reasons Not To Quit Perfect 10!
Reasons Not to Quit Perfect 10 is an interview series where fascinating, thoughtful, insightful, creative people respond to 10 questions about the ways they get through life and their personal Reasons Not To Quit.
Series Four of the Perfect 10 runs on Saturdays for ten weeks, from June 27 to August 29, 2026.
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As a writer and editor, I’ve often sat and gnashed my teeth over how little I knew or understood about book design. Nathaniel Roy’s The Book Designer’s Notebook has been teaching me and making me think about it in such interesting, congenial ways. It’s given me a grip on the “I don’t know art but I know what I like” problem compounded by the “I have all the vocabulary in the world but… not for this stuff” problem, and done so with such a confident and sensible voice that I couldn’t help but think the author would be a fun Perfect 10 interview. I was right.
RNTQ: In no more than 3 sentences, what do you want people to know about you?
Nathaniel Roy: I am a book designer [nathanielroy.com], reader, husband, father, brother, and son. Most of the time, I have very little idea what I am doing. I think that's true of most people.
RNTQ: When I say “reasons not to quit,” what springs to mind?
Nathaniel Roy: This may be cliché, but my kids. Which is ironic, because being a parent is the challenge of my life and my kids are routinely why I think “I can’t do this.” My sister, who has been through enough mental and physical health issues for several lifetimes. The work I have yet to make and the ideas I have yet to have.
RNTQ: What’s the worst piece of advice about coping with life stress you’ve ever gotten?
Nathaniel Roy: Honestly, I can’t remember. My mind is prodigiously good at forgetting things I do not care about or think are bad ideas (apologies to my wife forever).
RNTQ: What’s one coping strategy that seems to work for others, but just isn’t for you?
Nathaniel Roy: Drinking alcohol. Though I don’t actually think it “works” for everyone, it’s just one that a lot of people use. One I am currently investigating is moderate marijuana consumption. It is by far less damaging to my life than alcohol was, but I still need to be vigilant.
RNTQ: What’s the best piece of advice about coping with life stress you’ve ever gotten?
Nathaniel Roy: “Take a walk.” — The late Jason Polan
RNTQ: What’s an old coping strategy you no longer use? Why don’t you use it any more?
Nathaniel Roy: Drinking alcohol. Because it became too easy to numb myself against my life.
RNTQ: What’s your current favorite coping strategy? What do you like about it?
Nathaniel Roy: Walking. Moving my body helps make my problems feel more manageable, even if I don’t solve them. I don’t need a gym membership to do it! Taking pictures on my walk helps too.
RNTQ: What do you tell yourself when you’re trying to cope on a bad day that’s helpful to you?
Nathaniel Roy: “Don’t forget, you’re going to die.” I actually just got “don’t forget” tattooed on my hand for my 32nd birthday. When I remember that I could die tomorrow, it can, sometimes, if I am lucky, help me face today’s stresses with slightly more equanimity. Is that enough qualifiers?
RNTQ: When you’re having a good day, what helps you appreciate it?
Nathaniel Roy: Writing about it in my notebook. [Some choice spreads from his personal notebooks are also here…] It’s so easy to only write about the bad things, but recording the good things helps me appreciate it in the moment and in the future when I look back.
RNTQ: What thing dependably makes you feel a little better when you need it? It can be an activity, piece of music or art or writing, movie, food, whatever does the trick.
Nathaniel Roy: I’m a broken record: Walking. Also writing, drawing, making collage.
RNTQ: Someone reading this needs a Reason Not To Quit right now — what have you got?
Nathaniel Roy: Good or bad, nothing is permanent. Change will come—you should stick around for it. To quote the inspiration for another tattoo of mine (yes, I am that insufferable) “when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
In case you haven’t clicked on that link to Nathaniel’s personal notebooks? Go do that now. Then go subscribe to A Book Designer’s Notebook. And if you, like not a few of my subscribers, are a writer? Then run, do not walk, to his post “I Can Tell Your Book Was Self-Published.” You can thank me later.
What a lovely Perfect 10! "When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." Well, that's very good counsel for me today. I don't particularly _need_ it today, but it resonates with something in my heart. Things will always change, whatever the current circumstances. Thank you both.