So the stories within Jesus Gets Hand-Me-Downs are written. I think I am ready to get it published. The question is how. It can take two or three years after I find a traditional publisher willing to take it on. I don’t want to wait that long.

I have a friend who published on her own. She found and engaged an artist to create the book cover, a content editor, a copy editor, a formatter, and a printer. I know I have the resources to do the same thing, but I lack the confidence to put it all together.

The members of my small group at church were my support through the process. When I mentioned wanting a coloring book as a companion, one member, Virginia J. Hanners, said she loved to draw and would like to help create it. She did a fantastic job.

Then IllumifyMedia.com entered the picture. I knew the president of the company and had met some of the staff at various writers conferences. Illumify is a hybrid publisher. With them, I could publish the book in a few months, and they could supply the parts of publishing that are a mystery to me. They walked me through those things I know intellectually but have no experience with.

I spent a little over two months working with a content editor and gained valuable insights into polishing the book. I know all authors have “weasel words” they overuse. I knew I had a couple of words to check, but I didn’t know how many. Sometimes I felt foolish as I learned common errors I warned other authors not to make, but I made those same errors regularly. In fact, I’m probably making some of them in this post.

They did all the typesetting and helped me decide a lot of things I didn’t even know I needed to decide. What size to make the book? What kind of paper? How to determine the schedule for everything that needs to be done? How to put together a launch team? And at least a dozen other particulars to be decided and completed. I’m very thankful for their patience with my lack of knowledge.

There were bumps along the publishing path – not completing the editing as quickly as I thought I could, lost emails, miscommunications, problems getting the books on Amazon, etc.

It has all come together. Today, Jesus Gets Hand-Me-Downs launches. Today, I see my dream fulfilled. Today, I get to share my joy, my words, and my book with you. I pray you feel the same love for these stories I do.

PS – In case you don’t know, an author’s characters sometimes talk to the author. (Yes, I have voices in my head telling me what to do.) I always planned this as a single book, but two of my characters are demanding that I write two more books and create a trilogy. Watch for updates on this blog and my Facebook page.