DOVER — At age 42, a Dover man can now call himself a published author as of July 21.

Seth Ulinski wrote and published a book called: "Amazing Heights: How Short Men Stand Tall". It is about the height bias in today’s society and "aims to help shorter guys or those who may feel ‘small’ to build their presence and achieve their goals,” said Ulinski.

Ulinski stands 5 feet 7 inches tall, which is shorter than average, and because of this, he has experienced the height bias firsthand. “Society favors taller guys. Height bias in American society is widespread,” Ulinski said.

Ulinski, who used to work in the internet technology field before devoting his time to the book, felt it was necessary to write it because, “after reading and listening to a lot of self-help and personal development books the past few years, there wasn’t really anything comprehensive out there to help not-so-tall guys like myself address the height bias. At that point I decided to write a book that combined my learnings, including real-life experiences in sports, business and dating.”

His goal was to “provide not-so-tall guys with new ideas and action items to help them overcome real or perceived limitations, while building their presence.” He began working on the book in November of 2017 and started researching then, according to Ulinski’s Facebook.

One of Ulinski's personal experiences with height bias was in high school. He played basketball and football and the rosters for both sports listed him as 5 feet, 9 inches, 2 inches taller than he actually is. That misinformation led to Ulinski reporting his height incorrectly on his driver's license and dating profiles. Ulinski said he literally began to believe he was 5 feet 9.

Ulinski said the height bias particularly affects short athletes who often don't get a fair shake from coaches. Short athletes must demonstrate extraordinary talent and determination to earn playing time, Ulinski said.

Ulinski also said women prefer taller men because, to them, taller equals more powerful, smarter and better.

But that's a myth, according to Ulinski. Just take Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos. Both men are 5 feet 7 inches tall, Ulinski said.

With 10 books sold so far, Ulinski has a message to shorter people out there: Taller men or women aren’t any smarter or faster than those of shorter stature and they aren't necessarily natural leaders. While the brain is hard-wired to interpret height as a proxy for power and social status, that is known as a false cognitive bias, Ulinski said. "Plus, there are things we can do as individuals to overcome the real or perceived challenges due to height. Head-to-toe measurements do not dictate how far we can go in life.”

"Amazing Heights: How Short Men Stand Tall" can be purchased at https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Heights-Short-Stand-Tall/dp/B07DKX8185 for $4.99 on a kindle, as well as an audiobook. It is free with Kindle Unlimited.