PUBLISH!

That’s My Word for 2019

 

In the past three years my guide word for the year have been methodically thought through, carefully measured, contemplated . . .

Wholeheartedness

Focus

Intention

 

. . . but now I’m going BOLD with publishing

 Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl

 

 

Five Thoughts about publishing my memoir

  1. Lots of books get published every year, millions. Many of them are e-books, a market that is growing by leaps and bounds. In 2017, a record number of books were self-published.

A multitude of books, scripture agrees: “And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of the making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh     ~ Ecclesiastes 12:12-13, King James Version

 

  1. Writing a book is hard work. According to Allison Leotta, sex crimes prosecutor turned legal thrilled author . . .

. . . writing a book is more difficult than law school, running a marathon, or climbing a mountain!”

 

Allison Leotta, author

 

She should know, she has done all three as she revealed to writer and media guru Dan Blank in an interview in July 2018.

And it takes a long, long time . . . usually longer than the two-year gestation period for birthing an elephant!

 

 

“Editing is a writer’s purgatory,” my blog post proofreader Cliff observes. Busy with the graphics, he hasn’t done memoir editing.

 

 

  1. Writing a book becomes the main dish of your life for a while.  Author Shawn Smucker apparently agrees. Shawn has published several books and provides writing services. We share a Mennonite upbringing.

 

 

 

  1. If your genre is memoir, ancestors become more real as you research and write your past.

If you can make your ancestors real for yourself, learn their stories and who they were, your life . . . will take on added meaning. You will see yourself in the Big Picture that includes all human life that has come and gone on the planet.

~ Laurence Overmire, Digging for Ancestral Gold

 

  1. Writing can be a form of active prayer.   ~  Melissa Pritchard

 

 

 

At what stage is my book now?

Manuscript in the hands of a copyeditor

Book cover on a designer’s easel

ISBN numbers purchased

Endorsements solicited

 

In 2019, I aim to publish . . . focused, wholeheartedly, and with intention!

 

* * *

Your turn:

What is your bold move this year? (Maybe it’s a carryover from last year or another year. That’s okay.)

What book captured your imagination last year?

How do you think writing can be a form of active prayer?