Nicole Avant to Release Paperback of Think You’ll Be Happy, With Foreword by Husband Ted Sarandos (Exclusive)

On Dec. 1, 2021, producer Nicole Avant received a phone call from her husband, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, that would alter her life forever: Nicole’s 81-year-old mother, philanthropist Jaqueline Avant, had been fatally shot in the back during a home invasion in Beverly Hills.

Nicole channeled her grief into her bestselling 2023 memoir, Think You’ll Be Happy, which recounts that tragic night, as well as Nicole’s life in its aftermath. The paperback edition will be published this winter, and will feature a new foreword by Sarandos, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal.

Jaqueline, who was married to record industry mogul Clarence Avant, was beloved by many, and her death elicited reactions from celebrities like Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey and more. In the memoir, Nicole writes about how she was able to turn “pain into purpose,” per the book’s official synopsis.

“This book is an offering for anyone experiencing grief over the loss of someone or even something,” Nicole tells PEOPLE ahead of the paperback release.

“My intention in writing Think You’ll Be Happy was to remind readers and listeners that while grief can be heavy and unpleasant, it is part of the human experience that none of us are exempt from and that we can all learn, grow and become better and stronger while navigating and moving through it.”

Nicole previously told PEOPLE that it was her dad Clarence, who died in 2023 at age 92, who encouraged her to finish the book, despite the grief that she was experiencing.

“Every day I was like, ‘Daddy, I just can’t write today.’ He said, ‘Nicole, don’t go down this rabbit hole because you’re sinking,’" Nicole said. "’You’re giving your energy and attention to a tragedy, and I want you to give it to Jacquie.’”

The book is not only a tribute to Jaqueline’s life, but to Nicole’s own healing journey and the author said that, throughout the writing process, she could feel that her mother was also guiding her along the way.

“I felt that she was energetically pushing me to move on, to stand up,” Avant previously told PEOPLE. “I actually became my mom. I decided, when I answered the question of, ‘Who am I going to be?’ it was really, ‘What would Jacquie do right now?’”

“It didn’t take away that it was shocking, traumatic, painful, scary, any of those things,” the author added. “But I still chose to show up for life, feeling those feelings. I was not going to give up.”

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The paperback edition of Think You’ll Be Happy will be published on Dec. 3 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.