How We Got It Published

We were caught up in the celebration of completing our initial draft of the book. Finding someone to publish it was another big adventure.

One day I browsed through the Internet reading about traditional publishing and self-publishing. I sent out inquiries to three companies through a link on their web page. All three of the publishers responded to me. BookPros, however, was swifter in their response and patient in their explanation of what their company provides. We sent them samples from our book , a brief synopsis, and our bio and waited.

On Monday, July 14 at 1:00 pm we spoke with two representatives from BookPros, one of which was the President. They were interested in our story. Paul and I asked many questions and took notes on the entire conversation. They had read our sample chapters. They said our story was unique and it was different from other books on this topic in that it extended beyond our immediate family. They had to show it to a few other people but he didn't see any reason why they wouldn't accept our book. We got off the phone and felt a great sense of accomplishment. Someone actually thought we had a book worth publishing. It was our first confirmation that we had written something worthwhile. We were ecstatic. I couldn't concentrate on anything that day. All I could think about was the reality of our current situation.

As you have probably guessed, we were accepted by BookPros. We had done our research on the company and felt very comfortable signing up with them. We signed the formal contract and started on our second phase.

We were assigned a project coordinator for our book. She is the communicator between us and the editor and others we worked with along the way. She has done a great job. We have tried very hard to meet her timeline for each step along the way. It is only fair that we do our part so they can do their part. Sometimes it is difficult to sign off on things because you know you could improve your writing. You just have to let it go.

From July through December we edited our work, gathered photos, approved our layout, and sought permissions for copyrighted material. If you want more information about any of those topics, we would be happy to share our experiences with you.

In December the final format was sent to the printer. We received our first copy of our book today, January 29, 2009. YIPEE! All for now.