When a Publishing Company Calls

Life is not always easy even for those who feel they are following God’s leading. Obstacles oftentimes block the narrow path, days come and go with little progress having been made, fellow travelers may misjudge the reasoning behind the solid steps already taken, and the overall goal becomes almost a fleeting memory; but through it all God continues to light the dark path, reminding His child that no obstacle is too big, progress is never measured by earthly standards, He is the only judge whose opinion matters, and the overall goal is an arduous one but worth it all when He can say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

This week has been a rollercoaster ride of events and emotions. Part of those events caused me to plunge into the state of questioning myself, my writing, and my message. Then as with any rollercoaster, I was soaring heavenward, filled with excitement because affirmation had been received regarding the very things I had just been questioning. My affirmation was rather short-lived though because I was plunged into those events once more, causing me to once again question everything all over again. Amazingly, I almost instantaneously found myself soaring to new heights and receiving even more positive affirmation than before. Now that the wild ride has ended, I look back on it as a learning experience. Maybe I wouldn’t have appreciated the affirmation or even have viewed it as that if I hadn’t experienced the self-doubt and questioning. What a wonderful reminder that God allows everything to happen for His plan and purpose and in His perfect timing.  

Money, time constraints, grammatical issues—all seem to affect new authors immensely. I am no different in any of these aspects. Because I’m a stay-home mom, money and time constraints will be an issue for the foreseeable future; but hopefully, my writing skills and grammar knowledge will continually improve as time goes by. To help in this area, I’ve been in need of a crucial piece to my writing puzzle; and yesterday, God gave me that piece. He provided me with a talented friend who will be able to contribute so much in being one of my beta readers. She is definitely a godsend in so many ways. Then today, I was contacted by a Christian publishing company whom I had previously submitted my partial manuscript to back in August. The representative explained that my story was the one story out of all the submissions that she had found to actually be interesting, didn’t want to put down, and needed to know how it ended. She told me that they were very interested in my book and wanted to offer me a contract. I will know more when the Director of Book Acquisitions calls and gives me more specific details. Who knows? This may not be a workable option for me, but at least, it’s an option I never thought I would have been offered so soon.