Taylor Sheridan can do it all, I guess.
Simon & Schuster revealed on Tuesday that it will publish the debut book from the Yellowstone creator, How to Not Die in Prison. Up until three years ago, Paramount owned Simon & Schuster; until recently, Paramount also had Sheridan securely under its corporate umbrella.
How to Not Die in Prison is described by the publisher as “a no bullsh*t, darkly funny survival guide to life in a maximum-security prison.” Sheridan has never been to prison — but his co-author has. How to Not Die in Prison is cowritten with “prison-hardened ex-con” Tom Nelson, and will publish on June 23, 2026.
“There is no book of rules for life in prison — until now. How to Not Die in Prison teaches readers everything they need to know to make it out alive, from how to survive a prison riot, a lockdown, a stabbing, a hit, and solitary confinement to how to get a job, not go insane, make prison ramen, give a prison tat, and (allegedly) make a shiv,” the description continues.
Sheridan’s personal association with anything close to all of that is his Jeremy Renner-starring series Mayor of Kingstown.
“You might wonder what in the world gives me the knowledge or wisdom to write a survival guide to prison,” Sheridan writes in the book’s introduction. “Well, I’ll tell you — absolutely nothing. I’ve never been to prison. But, like every man, I’ve certainly wondered how I would survive if circumstances ever put me there. That morbid curiosity sent me on a journey to understand the politics and dangers of prison. When researching for Mayor of Kingstown, I learned very quickly it’s way better to avoid going to prison than figuring out how to survive one.”
“I wish I could’ve heeded Taylor’s advice all those years ago and read the F*cking Book, but that’s exactly the point: there was no Fucking Book to speak of because I hadn’t yet been spit out through the system and gained the knowledge that my co-author currently refers to as wisdom,” Nelson wrote. “Hey, one of us has written hit TV shows and Academy Award-nominated movies, and the other has spent much of his adult life behind bars in medium and maximum-security prisons. If that’s what makes for good wisdom and entertainment, I’ll take it.”
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