adminIn a publishing forum, I am part of, a mother wrote in and I was compelled to respond. What follows was my response to her, a grieving mother who is writing her book on the loss of her son. I post it only to give you insight as to how long my publishing journey has been and how what she wrote in the group we are both part of resonated with my inner self. We all may have faced different traumas yet we can connect just the same.
Sending out Love to all of you going through hard things that you may or may not talk about and love to you who have faced hard things in the past. You got this! I see you.
“Wow”! was my initial first word to this mother followed by, “My heart is with you today. My topic is healing from sexual assault. It has taken me a long time to publish…20yrs. My book-performance piece on healing and thriving is set to be published on May 20th. It has been a process and publishing has been part of it. Self-promotion is not easy and hasn’t been for me. I have a few loved ones that have helped get the word out. Just yesterday sent out my first press release draft. My first thought for you would be to let it organically flow.
Everything you do or not do regarding your story is valid and does not have to be linear, does not have to be on a timeline, it only has to feel right to you and your journey.
I commend you for taking this step. We (collectively in the publishing forum) will all applaud you whenever your moment is right to publish and we will also applaud you just the same if it takes you a while or if you decide to not publish quite yet. The choice is yours. This step of writing is huge, and I am sure your son would love whatever book you put out into the world as it is a reflection of your love for him. I am glad you have such a beautiful friend creating illustrations alongside you for your book. My husband did my (book) illustrations and that makes it all the more special. When you do decide to publish you will have to market. That for me has been a vulnerability factor but healing at the same time. I go through a lot mentally but continue to work through what is in my head knowing the end goal is to bring a voice to others, to help others heal, and donate a portion of proceeds to the crisis center that helped me 20 yrs ago.
Organic movement into the future as you heal is on your side. Sending love.”
