John Sardella's A Journey Without a Map Hit #1 on Amazon, Sold in 10+ Countries, and 6 Years Later Just Got a Screenplay Deal

John Sardella is a former teacher, principal, lifelong lacrosse coach, and the author of A Journey Without a Map: Stories of Loss, Grief and Moving Forward, the memoir he wrote after losing his wife Margaret to a seven-year cancer battle. Six years after Scribe published the book, it is still selling in 10+ countries, it hit #1 on Amazon in multiple categories, it landed Forbes and ABC News coverage, and in April 2026 it took the next step: John signed with a literary agent to turn it into a screenplay and feature film.

A Book He Originally Pitched as Something Else

John came to Scribe with a different book in mind. He wanted to write a motivational book, the kind David Goggins would write, full of stories about perseverance and connection from his decades as a teacher and coach. He sent in his manuscript thinking that was the book.

The Scribe team read it and pushed back.

"And the feedback was, well, John, it's actually your story. And it was story of the experience going through the journey with my wife, with the diagnosis of cancer and all the treatments that she had to go through and how we try to keep things pretty normal."

— John Sardella, author of A Journey Without a Map

The book that came out of that pivot covers 30 years of John's life: meeting Margaret, raising three kids, her seven-year cancer battle starting in 2010, her death in 2017, and the three years afterward of figuring out how to move forward. The structure: first three chapters cover the grief journey, last three chapters are about moving forward.

The Collaboration That Made It Work

John names the weekly Wednesday-morning call with his Scribe ghostwriter as the most powerful part of the process. It took roughly one year start to finish.

"That was powerful because I look forward to the weekly phone call. Every Wednesday at nine o'clock, we were meeting for at least an hour and we were going through things and working through things, bouncing off ideas and sharing the story... It was one of the best experiences I ever had. The connection with the people were the right people at the right time for me to be able to write that book."

— John Sardella

What 6 Years With the Book Has Looked Like

The book hit #1 on Amazon in multiple categories (grief, counseling, family support) at launch, sold 1,500 copies in a single day via a BookBub promo, has now sold in 10+ countries, and was covered by Forbes and ABC News. But what John talks about six years out is not the launch metrics. It is the compound effect.

The Book Gave Him an Identity

"People find out I'm an author. All of a sudden they read the book and all of a sudden, hey, there's John Sardell, the author. It's not John Sardell, the teacher, the principal, or, or the coach. It's like John Sardell, the author and people kind of get captivated by that."

— John Sardella

The Book Built a Reader Community of Widows and Widowers

John gets unsolicited emails from widows and widowers who found the book on their own and reached out to talk. Those conversations have become an ongoing part of his life.

"The biggest thing has been the connection with people who are widows and widowers. And those connections have really helped me to help them through a very difficult time. Many times I get an email or a correspondence that says, hey, I identify with every piece of that book."

— John Sardella

The Book Pulled 6 More Books Out of Him

John retired after Margaret passed and the writing became his purpose. He is now at 9 books published. Six of them came after A Journey Without a Map, including his Quickstick Harry children's book series about lacrosse and character traits, plus a new children's book about kids acting out at school because of difficult things happening at home.

"When I started writing and I retired and I got back into writing, [the book] gave me a purpose... Now I'm up to nine books published. And out of all those books, the funniest thing is, six of those books actually were after this book, A Journey Without a Map."

— John Sardella

The Book Became a School-Visit Speaking Business

As a former teacher and principal, John now visits elementary schools as a paid author. He charges per-day rates that include up to six presentations a day. School author visits have become his primary income stream from books.

And in April 2026: the Screenplay Deal

The day before this episode was recorded, John signed with a literary agent to develop A Journey Without a Map into a screenplay and feature film. Production companies have already given positive early feedback. Target completion is end of 2027.

"I just signed a literary agent contract yesterday, and we are going to make it a screenplay. And the screenplay is going to be, I've already had some really good positive feedback from some high-level companies, production companies for a movie possibility. One of them in particular I'm working with has said, John, this has the unlimited potential."

— John Sardella

What He Tells Authors Who Are Still on the Fence

John's advice to aspiring authors comes from someone who is now nine books deep and headed to the screen with the one that started it all.

"Get your information out there, get it down, and then talk it out with people a little bit. Don't do it in isolation, because I found A Journey Without a Map, the most powerful part of that process, was the collaboration with [the Scribe team]. My collaboration with all the people involved was amazing. And that helped to just drive that book to where it became the success that it's become."

— John Sardella