How Deneen Allen Turned 25 Years of Tourism Expertise Into the Front Door to Her Fire Circle Community
Deneen Allen spent more than 25 years in tourism, hospitality, and experience design, and was named Canadian Tourism Innovator of the Year in 2023. After her team spent roughly three years convincing her to write it, she turned her signature framework into a book with Scribe Media, and now uses it as the front door to her Fire Circle community.
A Method That Sat on the Shelf for Years
Allen runs Pure North Canada and leads Fire Circle, a membership community for entrepreneurs and operators who want to build experiences people love. She had already codified her approach, a 5x5 method of five steps and twenty-five workshops she first wrote down in 2019. The material was there. The book was not.
She was, by her own description, a reluctant author. Her team spent about three years talking her into it before she finally started writing in early 2025. What she had built into a 120,000-word digital program had to be distilled down into a single book she could hand to someone.
Why She Chose Scribe Over Going It Alone
Allen got three quotes for the project. Two of them were in Canada, and Scribe Media, in the US, was the one a colleague had recommended, and the one she chose. She is candid that self-publishing on her own would have overwhelmed her. There were steps and systems in the process she says she simply would not have known how to set up alone.
“Some of the things that we had to set up, I think I would have just been undone by if I were navigating them by myself.”
— Deneen Allen, Founder, Fire Circle
Instead, the Scribe team walked her through every step, from structure to production to the aftercare once the book was done. That end-to-end support is what she means when she calls having a publisher a luxury rather than a burden.
The Book People Bring to Her Live Calls
When the book arrived, the first surprise was how it looked. Allen had wanted around 150 pages and ended up with roughly 240, and she was struck by how beautiful the finished object was.
“Just the way it turned out was a surprise that it’s such a beautiful book. I’m really proud of it.”
— Deneen Allen, Founder, Fire Circle
The second surprise came from her own members. People began buying the book and then showing up to her live group calls holding it up to the camera, and asking her to sign it. For a first-time author who had to be convinced to write at all, being asked for a signature caught her completely off guard, and delighted her.
The Book Is the Front Door to Fire Circle
Allen built the book to work as more than a keepsake. At $24.99, it is a low-barrier entry point to everything else she offers. She runs promotions where a reader who buys the book finds a secret code inside that unlocks a free month of membership in Fire Circle, turning a $24.99 purchase into a warm introduction to a recurring community. She uses the book to familiarize potential members with Fire Circle and as a tool for existing members too.
The book now runs through her marketing and her stage work. She ordered hardcover author copies to use in speaking engagements, and she hosts entrepreneur circles at bookshops that started in Vancouver and are expanding across Canada. The book gives her a credential and a calling card that keeps working long after the reader closes it.
What the Reluctant Author Tells Everyone Now
Having been talked into it, Allen is now the one doing the convincing. Her advice to anyone weighing whether to write is not about sales figures. It is about intent, and doing the work properly.
“Think about why you’re even considering the book and think ahead to the ways that your book can have an impact for your life or your business. And do it for the right reasons that make sense for you. And be really professional about how you do this. You’ll be so glad that you did.”
— Deneen Allen, Founder, Fire Circle
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