The Storm

I opened the box carefully to examine its precious contents. I slowly lifted the cardboard flaps to reveal my book! There were lots of them. I smiled because I still just can’t believe it. All of that hard work and dreaming finally came to fruition and let me tell you, it is freakin’ awesome!!

Release date = September 20th, 2021.

Many of you know the story of my story…about me almost dying last year…having 4 months off of work and taking that time to write every single day. With all of my heart, I believe that this time was God inspired and orchestrated. 

I formulated a book. I knew I had something and Lord knows I had some good stories to tell about different things that I had gone through, and prevailed.

Once I assembled the chapters I wanted to include, I had them printed and bound at FedEx and sent them to 5 people that I trusted to give me their opinion. I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t fooling myself thinking I had something good when I had not…ya know.

My friend, Debbie, had the most meaningful insight as she gave me the idea of putting the stories into sections. I just had to figure out what those sections were. So, I set about tearing each chapter out of the “book” that I had made to try and figure out what my themes were. 

It quickly came to me that I had 4 distinct life themes: 

• Be Still, This is What Matters
• Your Past and Your Future
• Gratitude
• Overcoming

Then I decided to add a question and answer section after each section that beckoned the reader to really think about their own storms and how they have worked through them. 

When I was done, I definitely had the beginnings of a real book.

Now what? Well heck, no one tells you that part. I didn’t realize all of the bazillion other things that needed to be done in order to actually get a book published. Do I self publish or try to get a publisher to believe in me and do it themselves? I decided to try to get a publisher. I don’t know why, but the self-publishing felt like I would be giving up too easily. I really believed that if I truly had something, someone else would see it and pick it up.

I had the book initially edited by a professional. She helped me with the next steps. I had to find a book agent and she also showed me how to navigate sending in summaries and cover letters directly to different publishers.

I submitted my book on many different platforms and then waited….

I was told that it could take up to 2 years before anyone picked it up, IF they did.

Mine was picked up by a publisher within just a few weeks. God planned, for sure. I was going to be a published author!! Yippee!

That was at the end of last year. It took all of the way until about 2 weeks ago to get the finished product. Countless edits, back and forth emails, conference calls etc. produced the product that got delivered to my home just a few days ago. When I saw the final edit, I cried. All of that hard work was worth it.

If I can help just ONE person, it will all be worth it. I sure hope it is more than one though. ?

Lord, thank you for giving me the courage to share my stories. Whatever you have in store for me in the future, I will follow. I pray that You continue to use me for Your glory. Help me to lead others to You.

Jen