In Mysterious Ways

I received notification from the publishing company that they have selected my “manuscript” to publish! This means they will publish my first year blog into a book at their own expense, no expense to me. They will pay me “climbing royalties” beginning with a low amount but rising higher if (when!) sales go through the roof. Well, good thing I’m not looking to make a bunch of money off this. However, I would like it published, as I agree with many of you. The blog (book) contains helpful messages for those who will read it and be open to its concepts. These are the very concepts which used to be fundamental to our faith but have gotten lost in the world somehow. So, not only is this a diary of my battle with leukemia, but it’s the spiritual dialog which has been installed in my heart and my soul. I thank you for following the blog and I hope many others will come to like it and benefit from it in the book form.
The publisher advises that I consult an attorney regarding the rights to any quotations or references to living people. So, I’ll do that. I sure don’t want to get sued over a book meant to help others!! The format will be different too. They only allow 15 black and white pictures. I had already learned from the self-publishing people that color pictures are exceedingly expensive.
There is no guarantee that my book will make it to the bookshelves of the bookstores. There are thousands of new books published each year. The publishers of course will do what they can to push my book but bookstore executives make the decisions. Fortunately, my book will be marketed to Christian bookstores too.
Since the publisher is paying for the book, I don’t think I get any complimentary copies. The sample contract does say that I get a 20-30% percent discount for any books I order. I’m checking to see if I at least get one free copy!! I suppose the publisher is looking to recoup his expenses, even if it is from me!! I’ll have to make a decision later how many I want to buy to give away versus sell at my cost. Let’s see…just buying one for everyone in Eileen’s family will help the publisher recoup a portion of their costs!!
Although the publisher says the production time is generally much less than a year, the contract allows them a year to get it into print. I submitted the first year’s worth of blogs and I may have to pull those down once I get under contract. However, anything from May 25th of this year to the present will still be available.
Anyway, I’ll take all of this one step at a time. I’ve already written my acquisition editor with questions which need to be answered…like who pays for me to fly to New York to appear on all the talk shows!! Just kidding about the talk shows.
Finally, thank you again for your prayers and support. Hopefully, the book will reach those meant to read it. As I’ve now begun the editing process, I reminded of what I wrote in the very first blog: "…but I thought I'd start this blog so that interested people could follow my thoughts, experiences, and progress while battling this disease. Further, for those who may find this blog who have been recently diagnosed with CML, I hope my personal account will help ease some of the fear of the unknowns as you take your steps through the process. May you also see the times of humor and be able to maintain a spirit of thanksgiving along the way." Who knew that my blog would lead to a book? “The Lord moves in mysterious ways!!”