When an Author Comes to the End of the Road

It’s not uncommon for authors to create a publishing schedule a year in advance. When I was about to write the next installment of the Jamieson Legacy: The Verdict, I realized I didn’t have a message from God.

I was in trouble. I had questions that filled my head like “Lord, is this the end of my writing ministry? What was I supposed to do next?” This had been my career for the past ten years.

Write the Caregiver series. Someone needs to hear from Me, God spoke.

Huh? The Caregivers series? The outline that I painstakingly wrote and rewrote back in 2011, had been shelved after not one publisher or editor showed interest? That Caregiver series?

I already had the outline. After writing more than thirty books and being a caregiver myself at one time, I really thought “I got this.” That attitude would soon challenge me.

I began to write based on my own knowledge and research, then turned it in my editor. She came back weeks later and let me know I had a lot of work to do. I had missed critical scenes, information and lacked character development. The re-writes would have to wait as I was on my way to the annual RT Booklovers Convention. I hadn’t planned to pitch the Caregivers series to a publisher or editor, but I reconsidered, thinking this had to be the setup God had for me. The agent was ecstatic about the story and the major publisher was also interested.

I returned from the convention encouraged, but distressed when I realized just how much my story was lacking. I repented to the Lord that I had leaned on my own understanding instead of defaulting to write the message He had for the readers. In the end, I had to add eighty (80) pages to the story---wow!

By the fall, I had finished the re-writes and proofs. I submitted them to the eager agent and publisher who were waiting to read my manuscript. Months went by and I heard nothing from them, but God spoke again.

I told you to publish the story!

So I began the process of indie publishing…I changed the title from Mystery of Love to My Rock, and had the cover changed twice. I had three eyes to proof it. I cried out to God that I had given Him my best with the resources I had. On April 3, 2018, after God had given me my mission, My Rock was released with encouraging reviews. Here is one:

 5 stars Wonderful and loving insight in the life of a caregiver, April 2, 2018

Let me first say that I am an employee for the local Alzheimer’s Association and I was excited to see that we were mentioned as a source of help and assistance for even fictional characters.
Ms. Simmons pulled out all types of emotions with this story. I cried, I got angry, I laughed and I rejoiced. The attention spent on every detail of the life of a person suffering with Alzheimer’s and their caregiver makes the story very realistic - you will feel like you are there with the characters and not just reading a story. Excited to see how the next sister handles being a caregiver and who will she find love with. Looking forward to seeing how Christ becomes a part of her life.
Aunt Tweet is Cupid in disguise. This is an excellent book that handles the real life situations with truth and spiritual love.
Join the fight to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s. If you know someone or you have family dealing with this disease please reach out to get help. You don’t have to do it alone alz.org. #ENDALZ

God NAILED IT! I obeyed. End of the story. A month after the release, I received a call from Deb Werksman with Sourcebooks. We had been casual acquaintances throughout the years via the RT Booklovers Convention. We never found common ground to work together, because I write Christian romance and Sourcebooks doesn’t publish that particular genre.

The reason behind her call was there was a big stir on Twitter about diversity in publishing. It’s an ongoing struggle for People of Color, but we persevere. There was a misperception that diversity in books meant white writers adding black characters to the storyline. The problem with that notion is if you don’t know the culture, you run the risk of creating stereotypes.

I thought Deb reached out to me so we could exchange thoughts about the conversation. She’s white and Jewish and I’m black and Christian. We did, but she started talking about my new release My Rock and how much she was looking for a story with depth. I reminded her, “You do know this is Christian romance?”

Deb said she wanted to be part of the solution, not the problem when it comes to diversity. We were on the phone for an hour talking about MY ROCK. When the conversation ended, we agreed to talk in a week.

I told my husband, “I think I was offered a verbal contract.” Deb wanted my sales numbers and other information a publisher would need to extend an offer.

The issue still remained that I write Christian romance and Sourcebooks didn’t publish that genre. But look at Jesus!

I mentioned to a close friend in the industry about the verbal deal. The advice she gave me was I needed an agent to look over any contract.

Great. I really did know that, but I thought I could swing it. So now, I had to find another agent and that is not an easy task. It’s just as hard as finding a publisher. I searched through the Writer’s Market for a list of agents. Mind you, I only had a week before Deb and I would talk again. A response from an agent could take four to six weeks for a yea or nay.

I prayed and asked God to guide me when Deb and I spoke again. I had my list of questions, so we began the conversation. Fifteen minutes in, I received an email from one of the top agencies in New York.

This is my email with Evan Marshall of the Evan Marshall Agency:

I see that MY ROCK has already been published. In my experience, except in rare cases, publishers aren’t interested in taking on books that have already been self-published.

My email response to Evan as I continued my phone conversation with Deb:

Hi Evan,

Thanks for getting back to me.

I have a verbal offer from Sourcebooks because they noticed MY ROCK on Amazon and wants a 3 book deal.

Does that make a difference?

Evan’s reply:

Hi Pat,

So I’m assuming Sourcebooks would want you to take the book down immediately, right?

I do like how you write very much. Sourcebooks is an exciting place to be these days. 

The key phrase for me is “I do like how you write very much.”  It’s a bit easier to find an agent when you have a deal on the table. I landed an agent like that before. It was important to me that the agent liked the way I wrote, because they could push other projects to editors.

Needless to say I signed with Evan and he negotiated the contract with Deb.

And oh, about the Christian romance element in my stories for her mainstream audience, she suggested adding a “Biblical Passages for Inspiration” section at the end of my books.

So that’s my testimony.  I had it all wrong from the start. I thought God was leading me to another agent and publisher. But if I had not self-published My Rock, I wouldn’t have received the blessings I got. 

This was a classic example of Isaiah 55:8: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

Look for the new version of Book 1 of the Caregivers series in Spring 2019. Until then, download the current copy today.