On New Year’s Day, I relaunched this blog and started a new Bible-focused series called The Truly Good Book. I’m five posts into the series, and it feels really good to be writing new material again. I have several reasons for writing the series, and I hope the series will be a blessing on its own, but I also hope it will build awareness for the launch of my book, which (Lord willing) I’ll self-publish later this year.
About five years ago, I explored the possibility of publishing my book traditionally, which involves querying publishers, doing market research, and writing proposals. None of my efforts produced a book deal, but that process did help me greatly. I realized that my book was similar to other gospel books that had done well; at the same time, I saw that my story and approach were genuinely unique. So I continued working on the manuscript until I felt I had developed and edited it to the best of my ability. At that point, I knew I would need some help to see the manuscript reach a professional level, especially if I published it myself.
Late last year, I gave the manuscript to a friend who has written multiple books and has published them through large and small publishing companies, so he’s very familiar with the process. He generously took the time to read my book and give me feedback. He said he enjoyed the book and complimented my writing. He advised me to go ahead and invest in self-publishing the book, and have the manuscript reviewed by an editor.
So, in January, while I relaunched this blog and wrote the first posts of The Truly Good Book series, I also browsed on Reedsy for freelance editors. Reedsy aims to connect independent authors to professional editors, designers, and marketers in their field. I focused on editors who had experience with non-fiction titles in Christian publishing.
Then I put together a brief on my book, sent it through Reedsy to a few of my most promising editor candidates, and received a few offers to copyedit my manuscript. I prayed about it a few days, then picked the one that seemed to fit my project best. So now I’m working with a book editor. In my mind the book just became a bit more real. We’re planning to start the copyedit in mid-February, and finish by the end of March.
Thanks for reading as I continue The Truly Good Book series and give more updates on the book! Subscribe via email below, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or WordPress. If a recent post I’ve written has been meaningful to you, I encourage you to share it with your friends online or in-person. It might reach someone who really needs to hear the good news of Jesus today.
Featured image by Nathan Riley on Unsplash
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