Latest Update

Looking for an update? I don't have much to report. I'm still working to get the four outstanding Publishing Agreements, plus I've added one. Over the weekend a writer who has already contributed to the book sent me another story to help fill in for one story that I lost. (Bless her!) Since she is already counted as a contributor, I didn't add one to the "total contributors" number below. However since I need her PA for this story, I've added one to the "still need PA" category. That one should be in the mail to me this week.

Of the other four PAs still outstanding:

1.  I contacted one writer and learned her computer had gone down. She had no way to print the Publishing Agreement or even retrieve my contact information to let me know what had happened. Glad I followed up with her! I put a hard copy in the mail to her last Tuesday. With the Labor Day holiday mail delay, I hope her PA will arrive this week.
2. I got a verbal okay from one organization last week to tell their story, so that written form should arrive this week as well. I contacted the writer of this story only yesterday letting her know they've okayed her story and requesting her PA. Got an e-mail last evening saying she would send it.
3. I received an additional story from another writer whose is already a contributor. We're still working together to polish this latest story. I'm hoping to talk with her by phone today to iron out the details. I called this morning, but she was busy. I'm currently waiting for a return call. When we get the details polished on her second story, she'll send one PA for both of her stories.
4. I worked on the final story I've been writing yesterday. (Yes, I worked the holiday. Writers often end up working evenings, weekends, and holidays to get projects done. If you're a writer, you know what I'm saying!) I finished the changes and the polishing I wanted to do and e-mailed it to her to review yesterday afternoon. I heard from her last night that she received it and will go over it today. I'm guessing we'll still need to go back and forth once or twice to polish details, but I'm confident we'll get her story to the point where she's pleased with how it's written and then she will send the PA.

I put in a request for two more stories. I'm not sure if I'll get them or not. We'll see. Whether I do or not, I will trust that I've received the stories the Lord wants in the book (which has been my prayer all along), and I will close the opportunity to submit. Can I possibly do that by the end of this week? I hope so.

What's next? Because I've had to delete stories that were withdrawn and have added a couple stories, I have some holes to fill in in the manuscript, introductions to chapters that need updated, and transitions and introductions to stories that need changed. So the next thing I'll do (starting today, as I wait for the writer to return my call) is to start at the beginning of the manuscript and go through it, smoothing out all introductions and transitions, and inserting the new stories into their proper places. When I'm finished with that I'll also need to correct and update the Table of Contents.

After that, because the manuscript was on hold for two years while my agent shopped it to traditional publishers, I want to re-check my sources where I got my statistics that are scattered throughout the book and see if there are updated stats. If there are, then I'll need to update all of those. Either way, I have lots of statistics that I haven't yet inserted into the manuscript so I'll have to do that.

Finally, at the end of each chapter I have a section of Resources. I have a ton of resources, but haven't yet distributed some of them among the chapters or inserted that info into the manuscript, so I'll need to do all that.

I believe I still have a few writers who haven't sent me a bio for the back of the book--and I know they want one--so I'll need to follow up with them.

Those are the steps I foresee before sending it to the professional editor I've hired. Do you think I can get all that done in the next few weeks? That's my goal.

Total Contributors: 40

Publishing Agreements received from: 36

Still need Publishing Agreements from: 4 + 1