How This Book Came to Be (Part Four)
Big News and Even Bigger Changes
Michael and I spoke on the phone the morning after my book was officially accepted. That’s when he told me something I didn’t expect: shortly after Rowman & Littlefield approved my book, they found out Bloomsbury Publishing was acquiring them.
I was a bit scared. I knew who Bloomsbury was immediately. They were the ones who published the Harry Potter series, but I had no idea what this meant for my book. Would it be delayed? Would the new publisher even want it? I trusted Michael, but I couldn’t help feeling anxious. After putting so much of myself into the manuscript, the idea that everything might suddenly go away was at the top of my mind.
Michael reassured me that this wouldn’t hurt my chances. In fact, he said the contract with Bloomsbury would be even better than the one I would have had with just Rowman & Littlefield. Still, I spent the next few weeks holding my breath a little.
The new contracts arrived in mid-July 2024. Scott offered to run them by his lawyer, which I thought was a great idea. He sent them off, and a week later, we heard back: It was a standard traditional publishing contract, and there were no red flags, and everything was fair and above board. I read through it several more times, probably more just to convince myself this is real, then signed and returned it to Michael. Not long after, Bloomsbury signed as well.
It was official. I had a publisher…again.
By early August, we were back on track. Michael set up a Zoom call with Lindsay and me to discuss the publishing timeline. One part stuck with me more than anything: they were aiming for a June 2025 release date, which meant the book would need to be completely finished by February 2025.
And not just finished as in written, but finished as in all the things. There was still a lot to do:
Adding extra material
Full copy editing
Creating an index
Restructuring chapters down to just 15
Narrowing our 100+ photos to a final set of around 50
The limit on pictures inspired Lindsay to create a “bonus content” hidden page on the website where we could share everything we couldn’t fit in the final book: extra photos, old videos, the unreleased song “Pray,” and eventually, this blog. That’s what the QR code in the books is for. :)
