After almost three years of writing and believing and waiting, I can finally say that…my book is being published!
I am beyond thrilled to announce that I’ve signed a two-book contract with WhiteCrown Publishing, an imprint of WhiteFire Publishing Group, to release my techie dystopian YA reimagining of the Bible’s Esther.
Let’s back up and take a moment to appreciate how I got here. (Spoiler: It was all God.)
After a flood of a story idea consumed my thoughts, I set out to write a novel for the very first time. The result was a unique and powerful speculative allegory I called Newcomer. And that’s not the book that’s under contract for publication today.
Fast-forward two years and you’d find me discouraged to the core. Newcomer had been under consideration by a publisher for months and nothing was happening. I’d been doing all the things you’re supposed to like creating a website (Thanks, honey!), growing my social media accounts, and starting this very blog. But the waiting was getting to me.
As I sat in Victory Church in Abilene, Texas, my pastor said something along of the lines of “Get up. Let’s go!” That voice in my spirit that I know is God responded with, “That’s your cue. Time to write a new book.”
Awesome. Great. What book?
God did not provide a direct answer to what I thought was a very logical question. So I pulled out my list of random book ideas (yes, I keep a list), and one note said: ninja warrior Esther.
I noticed a post on Instagram about a new imprint of a well-established Christian publisher. “WhiteCrown” was going to focus exclusively on royal stories.
Interesting, I thought. My new book is actually a royal story, but they probably wouldn’t like all the techie stuff. And I moved on.
With a binder clip holding my pants together, I sat across from a very well known, highly influential person in the Christian publishing industry and pitched my Esther book during the ACFW conference. This man represented an excellent Christian publisher we’ll call Excellent Publishing. We had a great conversation and he asked me to send the manuscript for consideration.
I was over the moon. I polished the story and sent it off to Excellent Publishing in early November. Then I took a much-needed writing break.
Through this time, God had an interesting message for me: Do not consider failure. Much like Abraham did not consider the impossibility of fathering a child in his old age, God told me not to consider the possibility of a rejection from this publisher. Who wouldn’t receive a word from God like that?!
To my surprise, I heard back from Excellent Publishing in just one month…with a kind but definitive no.
Wait. What?
I ever so politely reminded God that He told me not to have a back-up plan for this book, not to even consider the possibility of rejection. Here I was with a rejection in hand, albeit a nice one, and no plan for what to do next because God told me not to have a plan!
Hold on, what was the name of that royal publisher?
In the wake of rejection, I thought of three possible next steps for this book. The Holy Spirit gave me peace about two of those ideas. One was another very quick, but very kind, closed door. The other was WhiteCrown.
The editor at WhiteCrown read my entire book in less than a day. She was hooked and wildly encouraging. And all this happened less than a week after the rejection.
Signing my first-ever book deal in early 2023
After a couple months of the book being passed up the chain, I received the most amazing email I’ve ever read—an offer letter from a traditional publisher.
How do you know you’ve found the right publisher for your book? When everyone at an awesome, professional, legitimate, Christian company can’t put your book down.
These amazing people genuinely LOVE my story—nanotechnology, Bible parallels, and all. And I know they will do everything they can to get it into the hands of as many eager readers as possible.
Looking back, I believe God told me not to plan for failure because 1) He knew that I would stress about the what-if scenario instead of resting and recharging like I needed, and 2) He was aligning a greater success than I could’ve hoped for.
Over the next year or so, I’ll work with the editors at WhiteCrown to make this book even more amazing AND I’ll write book two. That’s right! I get to complete my Esther tale as I imagined it, in a two-book series (technically called a duology—such a weird word).
I will keep you posted on the book’s progress, and you’ll get to be the first to hear all the exciting announcements, like the official title, cover reveal, and release date.
I can’t thank you enough for supporting me and believing with me during this process. There is something so sweet about sharing your joys with dear friends. It makes this news all the more real.
