A Dream Coming True

Well hello there! After a very long time, I am finally back to the blog, and this time with an update! I apologize that it's taken so long but the last year has been one that was exhausting. Honestly, I started a post several times, but just never really knew what to write. But I'm back and with some exciting news! A warning though, this could get long. So buckle-up and enjoy the crazy ride! 

About a year and a half ago, several things all sort of happened at once that made me stop and re-examine my plans to self-publish my novel, Worthy of Redemption. I decided to take a pause, and pray about what the next step looked like. So for the next few months, I researched several other options for publishing, including submitting to smaller publishing companies on my own, or trying to secure an agent to submit to larger publishing companies. I decided to submit to the smaller companies and researched several, finding a couple that I wanted to submit to. Now let me tell you, submitting proposals is completely different than writing the novel itself and for me, it was a lot harder. Every company wanted a different length synopsis, and other things they required. But earlier this year, I submitted a completed proposal to my top choice. I had given myself a deadline to choose a back-up as well and was planning to submit to my back up if I didn't get a contract from the first choice. 

In February, I heard back from the first company that they were not interested at this time. They didn't give me any real reason why, just that it wasn't a good fit. I had already selected my back-up and started to work on that proposal when an unexpected opportunity presented itself: one of the largest Christian romance publishers in the world was doing a contest for unpublished authors without an agent to submit to their line. What was even more exciting was the fact that even if you were not selected to move along in the process, they would give you feedback on your writing and give you specific reasons as to why they were not interested. They announced the contest a month before the deadline, but I saw it four days before the first proposal was due! I worked every evening and on lunch breaks for the next few days and put together a proposal I was actually really proud of. And then I waited. Finally, I heard back. Once again, I was met with the news that they were not interested; and as excited as I was for feedback, it felt a little less than helpful. They felt my writing was strong, the story-line was intriguing, and the character development good. But certain elements of the story they just didn't feel fit with their particular line. If I'm honest, I was disappointed. The elements of the story that they didn't feel fit, were things I wasn't willing to compromise on. I still had one more publishing company on my list (my original back-up) but suddenly I wasn't sure if that's what I wanted to do anymore. So I spent the next few days in prayer over what the next step should be. 

Over the next few days, it became evident to me that a lot of these publishing companies have very specific things they are looking for and if I wanted to publish with them, I may need to tailor my story to their particular line. And if I was honest with myself, that wasn't what I wanted. I want to tell the stories I feel like God has placed on my heart to tell, in the way I feel best equipped to tell them. So I started praying about self-publishing again. I felt like the year or so I spent researching publishing companies, writing proposals, and dealing with rejections had better prepared me this time for independent publishing. So I found an editor to work with, picked a cover designer, and decided to go for it! 

Now, this is going to be a financial investment, so I decided to do crowd-funding to help pay for it. I've participated in several crowd-funding campaigns myself and I love feeling like I'm a part of the final product. If this is something that interests you, stay tuned to my social media pages where I'll be updating once the fundraiser is live sometime tomorrow. You can also contact me directly through my blog for more information. More than anything, I ask for prayers. This is a great undertaking but is truly a dream coming true! 

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