It's in the process!!!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012, I signed my contract with Tate Publishing from Mustang, OK, my book was accepted and the publishing process has begun!  As expected, I am very excited about this process and hope the 6-7 month process will go swiftly.

So far I've reformatted my manuscript to their requirements and am waiting for the person writing my Introduction to finish his piece.  He is my therapist and needed to check with staff to ensure he wouldn't be overstepping his boundaries of our relationship of patient/therapist.  He has been with me during the hardest steps in the book and his input would gladly be accepted.  I'm hoping for a positive outcome.

Without revealing actual costs (this is a self-published company) I'd like to tell everyone not to take any self-publishing company's original price as the final say.  I think every one of them will work with you either with a payment schedule or a reduced price.  Don't be afraid to ask...it won't hurt and you might come away with a better deal.

I'll keep you updated as I go through this process.  My prayer is that things will go smoothly and we'll come away with a money making book in the end.  I'll keep being realistic and realize that most books, unless they hit the New York Best Seller's List, aren't going to make you a lot of money.  All I want is to help with our retirement since my husband and I are reaching that stage in our life.

If it's successful then you'll be seeing my next book, an Amish romance novel.  I'm in the research and outline stage of my new book now and it's taking a lot of reading to delve into their customs and lifestyle.  After being told that they (publishers) can't get enough Amish romance novels, I thought it would be the best place to start with my second book.

In the meantime I am submitting query letters to magazines on two different articles I have written.  This may not turn out to be fruitful, but having the right to say I have a book in the publishing process will carry more weight in my query letter.  I've done my reseach well and only have submitted the query letters to magazines that might be interested in my articles topics.

Join me in the joy of reaching this stage as an author.  Getting your book published is like giving birth (almost) and it's only 6-7 months long instead of 9!  lol