The pregnant pauses of publishing

Now that I’m approaching the finish line of publishing, I can assuredly say this process is like birthing a baby

I’ve celebrated book launch days with my daughter Jess Connolly since 2016 by calling them “Book Baby Day”. Watching the process, I noticed how publishing a book is similar to the nine months of maternity before an infant is born; there are months when growth is apparent as you feel the kicks or have sudden indigestion. There are also long pauses where time feels like an eternity. Certainly, as you approach the last couple of weeks, you’re tired of not sleeping and ready to get your body back.

And now that I can feel it firsthand. My book release date for Simply Pray is March 5, 2024, and am excited to share this book baby with the world! But I thought I’d share a little with you today about the ‘maternity’ months/years. 

• The When: In 2020, with more time on my hands, Jess encouraged everyone in our family to write. I contracted Liz Morrow to be my writing coach and in July 2020 we worked together on my proposal. A well-written book proposal includes an outline of Chapters, Biographical Info, Marketing, and 1-3 chapters of content. Liz was extremely valuable in helping me craft the outline while also teaching me about the arc of a chapter. I highly recommend her and this step of hiring a writing coach.

• The Why: With extra time of journaling, I knew this first book needed to be about prayer and how God changed my life through a simple scriptural promise of Ask, Seek and Knock (Matthew 7:7) during my wilderness years as a single mom.

• The Value: One thing I did not anticipate in the early stages, but God made it clear before I signed the book contract; since this story is His, and the blessing was mine as a single mom, God made it clear that all proceeds of Simply Pray to go towards single moms. My husband agreed, and we have used book advances to help fund the beginning of our new non-profit SEEN Moms. My hope is, you’ll check out the website for SEEN Moms and pray about how you might bless any single moms in your circles of influence. (My ODB marketing team is also praying and looking for ways we can get this book in the hands of more single moms, so stay tuned for those offerings!)

• The Surprise: When Jess coached our family in 2020, we all started different but on similar paths of writing. And much like an ultrasound that reveals multiples, you can imagine our surprise when we shared our book launch dates. Here’s the miracle multiples birthing in our family:

  • January 2024: my daughter, Katie and Josh Walter’s “New Marriage, Same Couple” release

  • February 2024: my son-in-law Nick Connolly’s “Don’t Give Up Just Yet” release

  • March 2024: my “Simply Pray” release

  • April 2024: my daughter, Jess Connolly’s “Tired of Being Tired” release

So will you start praying for all of us now? 

We are trusting this supernatural lineup of releases is God’s plan and not just the result of a 2020 baby boom! But you’d better believe we will all be proud family members showing off all the photos each month.

 So get ready for some cheering and excitement as we push each one out!