From Surviving to Living with Holly Bot
Official Book Release 12.10.2025
Arrested, convicted, and branded a sex offender, Holly faced a future stripped of freedom and family. But faith became her lifeline inside a system designed to break her. This memoir details every grueling step—from jail intake, battles with bureaucracy, to the relentless fight for her children—showing how surrendering to Jesus reshaped a shattered life.
“A remarkable piece of work with a timeless message for all those who find themselves in a painful situation or condition from which it seems impossible to escape…If you are searching for some resource to help in rescuing people from impossible situations, I urge you to acquire a copy!”
This book was INCREDIBLE! I was so moved by it and it is superbly written with the account flowing to give conext and background to the events.
Donate Books to Shakopee Prison (Delivered by 12/14/25!)
You can donate a copy of From Surviving to Living directly to women at Shakopee Prison.
Shakopee has officially requested 50–100 donated books and all copies must be delivered by 12/14/25.
When you purchase this product, I will include your donated book(s) in a bulk shipment that I personally deliver to the facility.
Thank you for helping bring hope, healing, and faith to justice-impacted women.
-
You may feel anger, disgust, or even betrayal at the idea of hearing a story from someone branded a sex offender. That reaction is honest—and it matters. This isn’t an attempt to excuse what was done, or to erase the weight of harm.
But what if grace could reach even here?
From Surviving to Living is a raw account of one woman’s journey through prison and deep shame into a life reshaped by Jesus. It is not comfortable. It will challenge the way you think about justice, mercy, and redemption. But it also bears witness to a truth we desperately need: no one is beyond the reach of God’s love.
If you’ve ever wrestled with where forgiveness ends—or whether real change is possible—this story is for you.
An incredible tale of brutal honesty, hope, and despair.
I was moved to tears in so many parts, and equally inspired and encouraged by Holly’s strength, insight, and reflection.
Her book forced me to hold a mirror to myself, and confront the poor attitudes and behaviours I’ve adopted, and the excuses I use to avoid being accountable for my actions.
Despite the religious aspects of this book, it is far from a sermon like lecture, passages from the bible punctuate poignant events in Holly’s story and serve as moments of learning and food for thought.
‘From Surviving to Living’ also gives a detailed insight as to what incarcerated life may look like, I learned so much from these pages.
I finished your book in one sitting. Reading it again. Trying to process emotions to words…
I just started reading it and I don’t want to stop!
I was honestly sad to run out of pages to read. I loved hearing how Jesus interacted with Holly. She writes as if she were re-living the events.
I finished…and all I can say is AMAZING. I am so deeply moved. 5 stars. I cannot recommend it enough.
From Surviving to Living is not a comfortable read…and that’s exactly why it matters. Holly Bot opens the door to a story most people would never expect to hear directly from the source: a woman who has faced the consequences of her past, served her time, and chosen to walk through the hard work of transformation.
This memoir isn’t about excuses. It’s about ownership, honesty, humanity, and the kind of grace that is tested in the hardest places. Holly writes with a clarity that doesn’t hide her failures, and a hope that doesn’t pretend the journey was easy. Her faith, and her willingness to confront who she used to be versus who she is becoming, give this book its emotional weight.
Whether you come to this book out of curiousity, compassion, or your own search for redemption, you’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of what change can lok like for someone who has lost everything and still chooses to rebuild.
A courageous, vulnerable testimony…and a powerful reminder that every life has the capacity to turn toward something better.
I love the book… I wish it was longer.
I just finished the book. I am in awe! I couldn’t put it down (unless I had to lol).
This book was amazing and a look into what a prisoner deals with. Hard to put down once you start reading.
Honest, raw, and deeply human. It’s a reminder that life isn’t always a straight path, but can be a messy, still beautiful process. You took me on your journey and I shared your pain, felt the lessons, and was inspired by your faith. You’ve written a book that will help people feel seen, help them to be motivated, and hopefull they can find or strengthen a relationship with the Lord.
Not just a good read...
More than a memoir, this book is a practical and spiritual resource for inmates, families, and facilities—offering understanding, encouragement, and a message of redemption that illuminates a path toward healing and transformation.
For Incarcerated Individuals
This memoir speaks directly to inmate needs by honestly depicting the emotional, spiritual, and practical challenges of incarceration. Through transparent storytelling about isolation, mental health struggles, broken family ties, and navigating prison routines, it gives readers validation, hope, and a model of resilience and spiritual growth. The book offers practical insight into intake, segregation, mental health treatment, and maintaining relationships while inside. Its message of faith, healing, and personal transformation encourages inmates to pursue growth, participate in programs, and believe that change is possible.
For Facilities
The memoir is a valuable staff resource, offering a clearer understanding of inmate behavior, mental health, and the impact of structure, community, and compassion. It supports rehabilitative efforts by encouraging positive behavior, reducing hopelessness, and helping inmates engage more meaningfully in counseling, faith-based programs, and peer support. Its themes contribute to safer environments, stronger communication, and greater readiness for reentry.
For Loved Ones
The book also serves families by providing an intimate look into the emotional and spiritual realities of incarceration—from separation and custody struggles to navigating communication barriers. It offers validation, practical insight into the system, and encouragement rooted in faith. By showing the author’s journey of forgiveness, healing, and restored relationships, it gives loved ones hope for reconciliation and tools to support their incarcerated family member while caring for their own wellbeing.
Launch From Surviving to Living and Inspire Lives in Prison
I’m Holly Bot, author of From Surviving to Living. From Surviving to Living is self-published. Much more than just a prison memoir, it is a resource that meets inmates’ psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs, while providing correctional facilities with a narrative that can enhance understanding and improve inmate support.
Together, we are not just launching a book — we are launching possibility. For incarcerated men and women, for the people they love, and for the communities expecting them home. Will you give now so we don’t wait?
How Your Support Will Be Used:
1. Printing & Production
Your contribution will directly fund the printing of the book From Surviving to Living, enabling a cost-effective bulk production run so that my story of transformation becomes widely available in correctional facilities.
2. Donation Copies for Correctional Facilities
One of the core goals is to distribute free copies into jails and prisons. Because the book is designed specifically to meet the emotional, spiritual, and practical needs of incarcerated individuals — addressing isolation, mental-health strain, broken relationships, navigating prison routines, and building hope for re-entry.
Your gift will make possible the large-scale purchase of these donation copies, ensuring that facilities, volunteers, chaplains and inmate peer groups have this resource at no cost to them. MCF-Shakopee (women’s prison) has requested 50-100 copies be donated and delivered before 12/14/25!!
3. Book Launch & Outreach Event
We’re planning the launch event “Becoming: The From Surviving to Living Experience” on December 12 2025 at 2143 Lowry Ave N, Minneapolis.
The funds will cover venue logistics, food and fellowship, decorations, “year-book style” signing copies, and a few other practical things. This event will amplify the book’s reach and create buzz in the faith-and-justice community.
Why This Matters — And Why Now (Urgent!)
- The stories shared in From Surviving to Living aren’t just memoir: they are tools for change. The book goes beyond describing a prison sentence — it walks with incarcerated readers through shame, identity crisis, schedules of intake and segregation, family separation, mental health treatment inside, and then points toward spiritual renewal.
- The launch event is scheduled and time-sensitive. These upfront costs (venue, print promos, donated copies) must be covered soon to lock in the savings and booking. Delaying means higher costs, fewer donation copies, and slower rollout into prisons.
- Your donation is more than a one-time gift; it’s an investment in a ripple effect: one reader inside may respond differently to programming, build healthier relationships with staff, engage in peer-support, reduce recidivism, and return to community with a new trajectory.
- We’re at a pivotal moment. With your help, we can hit the ground running
How You Can Help Today
- Donate now so we can finalize printing orders and secure the launch venue.
- Share this campaign with your friends, churches, prison-ministry networks, and social-media circles. Every share lowers the barrier for someone who needs this story.
- Pray / Send encouragement: Let’s make this a movement of hope.
