Sitting on Go

I have been waiting to write another post because my husband and I are expecting a contract on our book, "A Stand for Truth" any day. I had thought I would just wait and post signing pictures. But since that contract has not arrived in our inbox yet, I will go ahead and bring everyone up to speed on things in my writing world.

Founders Press has picked up "A Stand for Truth" and will be sending that publishing contract any time now. They called us a few weeks ago and let us know of their decision to publish it and said they will send that (long-awaited / so happy to finally have coming) contract in a few weeks. I will post those pictures when it happens. We are excited and happy this book has found a home! They said they are hoping for a spring 2019 release. In the meantime, we are working on some edits to it and on gathering endorsements for it, so that when they are ready to receive our final manuscript, we will have it in the best shape we can. (It will still go through several rounds of edits by them, though.)

So, with regards to that book, we are sitting on go, ready and waiting to sign that contract. Meanwhile, the rest of my writing world is hopping as always. My PNP co-writer and I just finished reading and approving 1st edits on two books that will release soon, one in early fall, and the other in late fall. We have a 3rd manuscript almost ready to send to our publisher and things look good for meeting that late Aug deadline, and we have started writing on the 4th manuscript which is due to our publisher next February. This leaves us two that are not even started yet, but we have plenty of time and are actually ahead of the game right now.

And I keep busy in other adventures too … maybe too busy. I am teaching a breakout session on missions next week at Women's Advance, a large, local women's conference, and staying as busy as ever freelancing, currently under a deadline for a few articles for SEEK and have some ideas floating around in my head for a couple other magazines. And I keep mentoring, something that brings me great joy! I just had the joy of reading and tweaking a delightful short book that a friend is self-publishing through Lulu.

Who said summer was a slow time of year?

Had a Great Time!

I just got back from the KY Christian Writers Conference last night. As a friend of mine used to say, "And once again, a good time was had by all."

My class on freelancing was well attended with eager writers who seemed appreciative to learn the things I was able to share. I told them that freelancing was like fishing and I as going to teach them how to fish, and tell them where some great fishing holes were.

I have included a picture of two writers who also write for the publishing company I am contracted with. The woman on the left is Shirley Crowder, my childhood friend and co-writer on many books, and the woman in the middle is Betty Thomason Owens who writes fiction with Write Integrity Press. (Pix-N-Pens is the nonfiction arm of Write Integrity.)

The man in the back is Carlton Hughes, a humor writer, who has photobombed our pictures at this conference so many years that it is now a tradition to have a "Carlton-photobombed pic".

I'm back home, now, and looking ahead again. My husband and I have a phone call appointment with the publishing company that is currently considering our book later this week. I hope to be able to share more on that soon.

I'm still working on book #3 of our 5-book contract, and will soon start edits on book #2. But I am also just enjoying some summer days. My grandson is visiting this week and going with me and one of my kids to my parents next week. So, I'm going to enjoy some pool time and family time.  

The Kentycky Writers Confernece

The Kentucky Christian Writers Conference is just two weeks away!

I love this conference. It is the first writers conference I ever attended and the one that gave me the tools to set out on my writing journey. At my first meeting, in June of 2009, I took a workshop on freelancing small pieces such as articles, devotions, short stories, etc. I came home inspired and hopeful with new information as to how to go about doing it. I sent my first submission in July of 2009, and received my first paying contract (for an article) in November of the same year.

I now have several hundred published short pieces and will be teaching the workshop on it this year! I would love to have you join me. You can get more information about it at this link: KCWC

Hope to see you there!

Looking Ahead

In my last post, I wrote about being disappointed. Well, that is part and parcel of the writing life. Every writer has to learn to put today's rejection behind them and turn their eyes on tomorrow and I am doing just that.

The manuscript that my husband and I co-wrote is now in the hands of another traditional publisher who is showing interest. Hopefully, it will not be as long a wait before we hear this time. They sound interested, but then again, so did the previous publisher, right up to the point where they declined it, lol!

Meanwhile, I have my hands full with other writing! In recent weeks, I have received and signed numerous contracts from magazines for articles or devotions. These include "Power for Living" who bought both an article and a devotional, "SEEK" who bought three articles, and "The Secret Place." I also just received a complimentary copy of "Clubhouse" magazine for an article they bought over a year ago but just now published it in the current issue.

I also am making headway on the books I need to write for my main publisher, Pix-N-Pens (a division of Write Integrity Press). Two books co-written by my friend Shirley Crowder and myself will be coming out this year--the 1st in our devotional series in late summer / early fall, and the 4th in our prayer series in late fall / early winter. I will give you those exact dates and show you those covers when we have them. I will be very involved in final edits for both of those this summer. The 2nd manuscript in that devotional series is due to our publisher in mid-August, and I am also hoping to start mapping out and beginning to write on the 3rd in the series which will be due to our publisher next winter sometime.

And added to that are my speaking engagements. I will be teaching on freelance writing in June at the KY Christian Writer's Conference and on missions at the Women's Advance Conference in July.

Whew! I hope to get some pool time in too! Happy summer all!

Dissapointed

Well, we finally heard from P&R (Presbyterian and Reformed) Publishing—the publishing company we have been waiting to hear from regarding the book co-written by my husband and me. They turned us down. ☹ We had high hopes we would be receiving a contract from them, but now we know that we will not.

Why were we so hopeful? The manuscript has been extremely well received by those who have read it and we have significant written endorsements from major denominational leaders for it already. It’s a powerful story that has been cited by one prominent denominational leader as the best history of Southern Seminary for that time period that he has ever read. But our hopes rose for more than just those reasons. One denominational leader, who will remain unnamed since he is a public figure and I do not have his permission to name him, actually had some insight into the publication committee’s thoughts on the book.  As recently as a month ago, this man felt certain P&R would be sending us a book contract.

So, what happened? Of course, there is no way of really knowing the answer to this but coincidently in recent weeks and months, since the time we first submitted our manuscript to them for consideration, some of the leaders of the conservative resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention have made the news for unflattering reasons. Our book is about the conservative resurgence as it played out at Southern Seminary. I think it’s quite possible, if not likely that P&R suddenly felt they did not want to be publishing and promoting a book that pertains to this movement whose leaders are currently receiving negative press.

So that, as they say, is that. We move on and wait for other doors that God may open and other avenues to tell our story. I’ll keep you posted in the journey.

Still Waiting

Today is the middle of April and here in Louisville, it is snowing outside, again. Snow! Will spring ever get here? I saw a funny post from a friend saying that this year we are experiencing spring by faith, not by sight.

And so we wait ...

We wait, fully believing that warm weather will actually arrive at some point. Gardens will grow again, people will enjoy outside activities again, and we will feel sunshine spilling over our sun-screened shoulders again.

I am also still waiting on word about the book my husband and I wrote called "A Stand for Truth", from that publishing company that does not seem to be in any hurry to communicate with us as to the status of the manuscript they have been reviewing since last November. We have heard in a round about way that they are quite interested and likely to send the long-awaited contract. If and when they do, I will post it here in a very happy, very excited post. :)

In the meantime, I keep on writing. Currently, I had a devotion that appeared in The Secret Place last Saturday, articles in SEEK in Feb, March, and again in June, a "Truth Pursuer" article in the current issue of Clubhouse Magazine, a couple of pieces in "War Cry" sometime this spring, and just received contracts from Purpose Magazine, SEEK, and Power for Living for articles that will appear in the fall and winter.

I juggle that freelancing with time spent working on the devotional books I'm co-writing with my friend. These will be released over the next couple of years.

This fall, PNP will re-release "Glimpses of the Savior" a holiday devotional, and release "Prayer Warrior Confessions" an anthology. Cover reveals for those will be coming sometime in the summer and fall. Next year they will release two of the Glimpses of God devotionals and the final two will come in 2020. These four will each have 50 devotions and will be for one of the four seasons, winter, spring, summer, and fall. So, I have plenty to keep me busy even without all that will need to be done if/ when we finally get a contract on "A Stand for Truth."

But I sure would love to hear from the publishing company. I can just picture it, I'm sitting outside in the warm sunshine checking my phone when that news comes in.

I like dreaming.

Learning Patience

George Orwell is quoted as saying, “Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

This quote has always made me laugh because it strikes a chord with me. As an author / freelance writer I can relate to feeling driven to write. I laugh at myself because I find I am always giving myself a writing assignment just like a teacher would require of a student. Some of these assignments are short and I can complete them quickly and reap the satisfaction of seeing them published in some form but others take much longer. 

Prayer: It's Not About You took four years to write and about another five to get published, though some of my books have taken less time to write. But one that I co-wrote with my husband, tentatively named, "A Stand for Truth", about his time as a trustee at Southern Seminary, wins the award for taking the longest! 

It took us at least seven years to write and we have yet to secure a publisher, though we are close. We submitted it to a traditional, well respected, Christian publisher, in November who seemed eager to take a look at it. But we have yet to hear anything final from them, though a few days ago, a fascinating chance encounter revealed new information that gives us reason to be very optimistic that we should hear sooner rather than later. I will certainly keep everyone posted as soon as I know anything for sure. In the meantime, I am learning yet another lesson in patience as I wake up every morning thinking, "Maybe today we will get that book contract."

...something I have done nearly every day since the first of the year. :)