Book Beginnings

“So where’s the book?” you might ask. Seems like a logical question since I’m calling myself an author (which is a whole other subject for a blog post in the future). Little Girl Mended is, so far, six years in the making. Truth be told, though, this book was conceived nearly sixty years ago. For more on that story, you’ll have to read the book! Today is all about this book’s recent beginnings.

For three years I wrote my story, but the thought of a book never even occurred to me. Then when it did, I chewed on the idea for months. Although I considered a lot of very good reasons to go public with my story, I wasn’t sure I had what it would take to conquer the fear and the very real risks of putting my story out there in book form for all to see. Although I had an ongoing “yea” and “nay” argument raging in my head, I didn’t share the idea with anyone. For those of you who don’t yet know me, let me just say that I’m a “behind the scenes” kind of girl. Center of attention—never.

Then one beautiful summer afternoon, I was having lunch with my friend, Joan, at a quaint and cutesy little tea shop. As we sat across the table from each other, I distinctly remember admiring her manicure. The next thing I know I open my mouth and blurt, “I think I’m going to write a book.”

Well it turns out Joan has a friend who is the published author of three books. She asks, “Would you like me to connect the two of you?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “No. I don’t know. Maybe.”

“I know she’d be able to give you some good advice.”

“No, I don’t think so. Just forget I mentioned it . . . mmm, okay, yes!”

In that tea shop with my friend Joan, Little Girl Mended became real to me.

I did get some advice from Joan’s author friend, but mostly I continued to write whenever I found time. About a year after that conversation with Joan, I decided to get serious about writing. After many conversations with the Lord, I took a one-year leave of absence from my job as an editor to focus on finishing my book. Eight months into my leave, I finished my first draft! I remember getting up from my computer just about bursting with excitement, but I was home alone and there was no one to tell. I texted my husband. I called my daughter-in-law. I was on top of the world; I thought the hard part was done! I’m thankful that, back then when I typed that last word, I didn’t even know what I didn’t know; otherwise, I might have given up right then.

If you called me naïve, I would have answered! With my first draft finished, I naively thought I’d have a copyeditor take a quick read through my manuscript, I’d make a few minimal changes, and I’d be ready to roll on to either looking for an agent or finding out more about self-publishing. As I began to research editors, I found that most would do a sample edit of several pages of my manuscript along with giving me a price quote. I selected eight editors to sample, sending the same section of my manuscript to all eight. It was quite interesting to read through the samples when they returned. Being an editor myself, I’m used to being on the other end of the red pen. The corrections ran the gamut from minor copyediting to substantial changes. There was also a wide range of prices quoted, from $300 to $3,500. After much consideration and prayer, I chose Lynne Melcombe of Lynne Melcombe Communications. Her quote was somewhere in the middle of the price range, but what sold me on Lynne was what I told her when I hired her, “Your editing sounds like me, only better!”

Lynne spent a couple of months working on my manuscript. When she sent it back, I nervously sat at my desk afraid to open the file. When I finally did, I remember feeling quite shocked and overwhelmed by how much work I needed to do. The scope of Lynne’s corrections and suggestions looked very major indeed. As I contemplated what it would take to rewrite my manuscript, I also contemplated just giving up. No one was forcing me to write a book! But I’ve felt, from the first fleeting spark of an idea about writing this book, that it is God’s calling on my life to tell this story in this way. I don’t know what the ultimate destination will be, but I’m all about following his path to it. I decided not to return to my editing job, and I spent the next year rewriting.

“So where’s the book?” It’s written, edited, and rewritten. You can follow, in real time, the progress (or maybe even setbacks) to publishing of Little Girl Mended right here. This is on-the-job training for me, and you might even learn something along the way too. Till next time….