The Long Journey of an Author
Last night, I turned in the final manuscript for my book.
It’s been a long journey to get to this point, so let me start at the beginning so you can see what I mean.
Back in late 2014 or early 2015, I was writing freelance articles for PJ Media, where I now work full time. My editor at the time suggested that I write a book that covered the main subjects of the articles I wrote at PJ Media at the time: the South, Disney, and Christianity.
I wracked my brain for weeks trying to figure out how to do that. Then one night while I was in the shower — where all good ideas start — it came to me. I could write the book as a travelogue tracing my family’s trips to Disney World and tying a different aspect of Southern culture to a town along the route. I cheated a little bit and started the route a little north of home to tie in a couple of subjects in a particular way.
When I pitched the idea, they gave me six weeks to write the book. I had never written anything that length, so it sounded daunting, but I made it happen. I titled the book Neon Crosses and Magic Kingdoms.
The marketing team for the book (which was only going to be an ebook) gave it a title change, and in August 2015, Football, Faith, and Flannery O’Connor was released. I hated the title, and I immediately thought of ways I could change the book.
In 2019, I went to find the Amazon link for my book to send it to a friend, and it wasn’t there. I reached out to Paula, the managing editor (and now my boss), to find out why. She mentioned to me that PJ Media’s new owners didn’t want to pursue the ebooks as part of their strategy. They gave me the rights back, and I began to think about how to update the book and get it published again.
The original editor who had challenged me to write the book had moved on to other employment and told me he was getting into publishing. He wanted to publish the book.
I worked on some major additions, edits, and updates, and a year ago this week I submitted the book to him.
Then things took a turn. I’m not going to go into the details, but let’s just say that the friendship and working relationship couldn’t go on.
Fortunately I had the opportunity to work with a new publisher. I’m so excited for the relationship that I have with my new publisher, Conservatarian Press, and the couple who runs it. Jamie, my publisher, was thrilled to work with me, and she had some amazing suggestions for how to improve the book.
Which gets me to the beginning of this post. I turned in the manuscript last night. And Neon Crosses — I’m so glad to be back to the original title, albeit in a shortened form — will come out in February.
I can’t wait to tell you more, and I can’t wait for you to read it!
Stay tuned…