From time to time in this space, WestBow Press publishes articles written by our authors in which they share some aspect of their self-publishing journeys. The following are the words of Russelyn Williams; author of “The Single Christian Woman’s Guide.” To begin your self-publishing journey, get your free WestBow Press publishing guide today!
It’s so funny to think about the beginning of the process of me actually writing my first book. I had no idea what it took to get a book published. I just did what I knew to do, and that was to write down my thoughts about what I wanted to write about. I knew I had been on what I felt was a long journey of singleness, and experienced several different things along the way.
Some of the things that I had experienced were rejection, not feeling good enough, temptation, pit-falls and such. I thought to myself, although I am still single, I’ve done well for myself to maintain a position of readiness, peace of mind, and faith toward God and in God’s promise. What better way to contribute to other singles than to write a book sharing some of my experiences and what has helped me to prevail?
That’s when I got out my laptop, and began to type up a title for what I wanted to cover in each chapter in its own document. I saved everything to one folder, and wrote the introduction. At that point, I had put away the idea of continuing with writing the book. Until one day, I saw the folder on my desktop with the name of the book and opened it. I read the introduction, and asked myself where is the rest of this book?
That is when, I began writing without stopping. I knew it had gotten serious. Therefore, I began to look into what it would take to publish. A couple of my favorite authors had begun their writing careers with Thomas Nelson Publishing. They were at the top of my list to check out. I quickly learned from a friend that Thomas Nelson had a self-publishing division that allowed exposure as well as professional design work among other perks.
The self-publishing brand of Thomas Nelson is Westbow Press. That is who I signed up with to do my publishing. They took care of everything once I got them my complete manuscript. At the onset, I thought the book would be published a couple of months after writing, but each step in the process takes time.
There was of course the writing process. Next, was the editing process—in which I had two editors to review the book. Finally, there was a process by the publisher whereby certain standards had to be met. After, all of the steps in the process were met, it was smooth sailing on to cover design and finalization of the interior design.
While the process of getting the book together took time, it was all worth it to produce a high quality product. I am confident that “The Single Christian Woman’s Guide” will touch the lives of many.
– WBP –
WestBow Press authors who’d like to share a 350-600 word experience related to the self-publishing of their books, are invited to do so by sending a message through the WestBow Press Facebook page and follow the WestBow Press Twitter account @WestBowPress. WestBow Press reserves the right to edit stories for content, grammar, punctuation and length.