When it comes to book publishing, everyone’s story and timeline is different. It’s encouraging and maddening. We are encouraged when we hear how other writers and authors came to hold their own book! But it’s is also maddening because no one’s publication journey can serve as a formula. We’re in a profession where titles like “Five simple steps to…” gain a lot of traction on the web. Ironically, we can’t honestly say there are “five simple steps” to publication.
So I share my timeline simple to tell you one way that one person came to publish one book.
(P.S. all following links to books are affiliate links.)
September 2002-present: The wild ride of trying to be an awesome Christian mom provides all the fodder for a future blog and many object lessons where God will reteach me the truth of His gospel.
December 2008-ish: I write a Christmas letter and discover I enjoy writing.
March 2011: God gives me “a moment” at my computer pondering Luke 5. I shared the document from that “moment” with a dear friend who asks me, “Have you considered that God might be calling you to something new?” I silently answer, “Oh God, I hope so.” Maybe I’m a writer?
April 2011: I mention to my husband that I’m “considering doing some writing.” It doesn’t sound very threatening to “consider” something. After all you can’t fail if you’re just “considering.” I try to write a few more stories. I’m embarrassed because they don’t bear the same inspiration feeling the first story had. I decide I’m probably not a writer.
May 2011: I discover Rachelle Gardner’s blog, then the Books & Such Agency blog which I read every day for the next four years. I learned one of the greatest conundrums of the publishing world: to get published you have to be published.
October 2011: I submit an article to MomSense Magazine, a publication of MOPS International.
November-December 2011: Crickets. I forget I submitted an article. Apparently I’m not a writer.
January 2012: MOPS notifies me that my article “Opposite Mothers Attract” will be published in their Spring issue. Elation. Rapture. Maybe I am a writer?
February 2012: From a guest post on Books & Such Blog I learn of an online mentorship with Christian author Ken Gire. Beside me on my desk is one of my all-time favorite books which I purchased in 1998: Moments with the Savior by Ken Gire. I email Ken Gire for more information, then I apply and happily pay to participate.
March 2012: Ken explains and assigns the book proposal and tells me to “Make a thematic cluster outline of Bible stories.”
April 2012: I create a blog on blogger called “Permission to be Real.” It’s a place for me to practice the craft of writing and I view it as my online crafting space. My first post is meant to make my friends laugh with some self-deprecating humor. The postis about cheese. No joke. Notice, I do not have a link. 🙂
{Two years pass}
May 2014: I wonder what in the world I’ve been doing for the past two years. I’ve read a zillion blog posts, downloaded proposal templates, and wrestled an idea into a bare bones book proposal.
I attend my first writers conference, The Colorado Christian Writers Conference. On the seven hour drive, I listen to Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand and realize wonderful writing can make people love what they previously cared nothing about.
I go “pot-luck” on a roommate and beg God all the way to Colorado that my roommate will not be weird and if she is, that I will be generous and kind. My roommate is a STELLAR Christian woman and God gives me the gift of a new friend and mentor–who is also writing a riveting book I cannot wait to tell you about.
At the conference I attended Cindy Lambert’s book proposal workshop. What a gift! Cindy met with each participant one-on-one for an hour. At lunch with Cindy I ate three bites of food and bawled my eyes out–in the most professional and dignified way I could possibly manage. She pumped me full of honest feedback and fueled my desire to keep going. Cindy is a gem. If she’s at a conference you’re attending, make an appointment, attend her workshop. With 30+ years experience in Christian publishing, she has a wealth of knowledge to share. {Side note: I hosted a Q & A conference call with Cindy in June 2017. The call wasn’t recorded but I loosely transcribed the interview which was based on questions submitted by writers from my book launch team. If you join my email list, I’ll send you the transcript of our hour-long interview}
February 2015: I query an agent. I feel confident about the content and clarity of my query letter.
Crickets.
March 2016: Cindy once offered to introduce me to an agent. I had wanted to “do it myself” (hello inner toddler!), but I came to my senses and asked for the introduction after no response from the first agent. God continues to teach me I cannot earn his gifts by working hard.
April 2016: A visit by phone with Dan Balow of the Steve Laube Agency–who also has a daily blog with heaps of information. I sign a contract for representation! (CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON!)
May 2016: Dan submits our tweaked proposal to publishing houses….f o r a y e a r.
Several are interested, a few conversations, but no contract.
June 2017: We sign a contract with FaithWords, a division of Hachette Book Group. I panic because I just signed a legal document saying I can write a whole book. I’m not sure I can. Maybe I’m not a writer.
November 2017: Turn in my completed manuscript and travel to Charlotte, NC to attend the Hope*Writers Workshop as a reward to myself. Maybe I am a writer?
Spend the next 7 months working to build my “platform.”
June 7 2017: I receive my first copy of Remarkable Faith: When Jesus Marveled at the Faith of Unremarkable People. I lost my sense of dignity and recorded my first Facebook live, where I prove I am cut out for writing, not speaking.
July 11 2017: A Book is Born! Friends, family, and strangers receive their copies of this “little project” I’ve been mentioning for a few years. And I thank God for the good news of His gospel, for teaching and reteaching it to me in memorable ways, for insisting I receive his gifts without earning them, and for the privilege of worshiping Him through writing. All glory be to Christ!