Monday 23 April 2018

The Truth About Publishing A Book


Book Proofs!!!

What a journey of book writing it has been! If I’m honest I can barely remember when I first received an email from SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) Publishers who made my quiet dream a very tangible reality. 

An email from SPCK Publishers is how it all began!

The editor of SPCK contacted me about the prospect of writing a book, asking the question of whether it’s something I had ever thought about. I still remember where I stood when I read the email and absolutely BURST with excitement and bafflement (I think that’s a word?)!!

P.s. it had always been a dream of mine. I thought it would wait a few more decades but I now see that God had another plan. Some may see my age (22) as a danger, I see it as a gift to the readers. I’m in this “stuff” with them, I “get it”, I can relate. I am thankful to have this opportunity and to have one of my dreams realised.

I met with the editor (who is absolutely incredible by the way) and we bounced ideas off eachother and shared our passion for girls; the need for them to read the truth about who they are!

More Than Just Pretty has been in the pipeline ever since.

What has been the easiest thing?
It sounds nuts but when I sat down to write, more often than not, I found it the easiest thing. Some days I only managed a hundred words, but other days I smashed out a few thousand. 

How?! I have to put it down to God to be honest. I feel like the opportunity to write this book was a gift from him because it is something so close to his heart and it’s something he desperately wants communicated to his daughters. I feel like he inspired me daily, weekly and monthly with the words, stories and testimonies to share in the book.

What has been the hardest thing?
For me, the hardest thing was finding the time to write during the final year of my degree…that was fun! Whilst I didn’t struggle too much to find the words to say (or ‘write’), it was prioritising book writing over essay writing that sometimes proved tricky. What helped was the fact that my dissertation was on 21st Century Beauty Standards, feeding into the book and keeping my passion to communicate the truth to girls ALIVE.

I also found deciding on the book cover with the SPCK team VERY difficult. When you write a book all about how not to judge yourselves or others by their ‘cover’ (image) it proves interesting to come up with something that ‘isn’t judged by its cover’… When you write a book all about how we’re more than just pretty, somehow your book cover cannot JUST be pretty… Do you get me?!

Some days I don’t feel worthy to be having a book published. When those days hit, I tell myself off. I remind myself that this book is all about communicating WORTH to us girls!! How silly of me. And flipping heck, I’m praying that every 24 thousand ish words plastered throughout this book are dripping in truth, worth, freedom, encouragement, and hope for girls. 

All in all, it’s been one of the most surreal journey’s I have ever been on. And, in some ways, it’s only just beginning…

MORE THAN JUST PRETTY. Released June 21st 2018.

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