I wrote a book for you.
I wrote a book. It’s known to happen in my house, but I don’t talk about it much online. Why? It’s uncomfortable to share about a manuscript that hasn’t left the nest. The book is still in need of an advocate who sees its value, understands how it will help readers like you, and shares my vision for its future. My writer friends out there know what work I need to do next—I can see your Hunger Games’ three finger salute from here. Thank you. May the odds be ever in our favor—but for the rest of you, let me start by telling you why this book needs to exist:
My book centers around a small, green box.
It is designed to be a safe space for messy prayers. I’ve been filling this box with notecards for 3 years full years now. By the end of December I will empty it, tuck away my 2025 prayers, safely secured by a thick rubber band, to make space for a new batch of honest, scribbly prayers. The longer I’ve written prayers like this, full exploration, full honesty, full feeling, the more I know I need to share them.
I know so many people who need a safe space for their prayers. They need healing from abuse, comfort amidst deconstruction, and courage amidst reconstruction. Out of all of these needs—safety, healing, comfort, courage, companionship, patience—I can simply offer space. I want to give all of these things, obviously, but I’m just me. A person who has broken, like you, and has sought goodness. Together we can bring these needs before a God who cares and dare to believe that he will be kind.
If that sounds good to you, please stick around. I’m asking you to cheer me on. Subscribe to my free newsletter to get updates. Follow me on Instagram @slywriter. Consider eventually joining a launch team. This process is going to be long. But if I’m stubborn enough to survive deconstruction, relearn how to pray, write a manuscript, edit the heck out of it, write a book proposal, research agents, write personalized queries, and edit the heck out of everything all over again, I’ll be stubborn enough to get it published.
It will be published. And it will be beautiful. I can’t wait to share more, but for now, you just have me and my notecard box.
Next steps?
Since I have my writing all ready to go, my next step is to get querying. For anyone who hasn’t queried before, let me tell you. It’s like those movies where the hacker types furiously while a countdown flashes in red. She wipes rivers sweat from her face and pauses for one tense second before pressing a final key. For writers, that’s tapping send.
A query is a cold pitch where writers contact an agent, carefully following all of the submission requirements listed on the agent’s website. Queries often go in batches. We send some emails out, then wait. Silence. Cry over a rejection. Send more emails, then wait. Years of work hang in the balance, and still we research. Write. Wait. Work. Pray.
Why do we put ourselves through this torture? We love our work. We believe in our work. We dare to hope that someone else will choose to advocate for it as fiercely as we do.
It is possible that I could work my way through my list of agents and receive a whole lot of silence and/or rejections. I hope for better, obviously, but realism tells me to expect rejection. That’s the writer’s way, after all. We know that we must to have a tough skin to resist the “T-Rex of Giving Up” as Scott Erickson puts it. I have a plan in case that happens, but for now—it’s query time. There is no chance at a yes without putting the work in. Faithfully, persistently, hopefully. That is also the writer’s way.
Dear friends,
To my many, many friends who have struggled with their faith, worked hard for healing, and dared to ask the hard questions, this is for you. If you want to be an advocate for my book, subscribe to my newsletter to catch updates.
I won’t keep you updated every single step of the way—the querying process is too much of an emotional rollercoaster for that—but I do want you to know that a book is on its way. No matter how the process goes.
Good things are coming.
Dear strangers,
To the many strangers out there who have needed someone alongside them in the darkness, doubt, and pain, this is for you. I see you share online and I know that you, like myself, have desperately scanned the religion section in the bookstore, silently begging the shelf to give you a book that feels like a hug.
I hope you decide to subscribe to my newsletter to get these updates in your inbox. Every week I overhear conversations of people who need a book like this and—I want to share it with you. I’m getting so close. Please hold tight.
Good things are coming.
Dear agent,
If there’s any chance an agent I’ve queried has clicked through to my website, hi. I really appreciate that you’re here. Thanks for reading my proposal and sample pages. All I can add is this:
Good things are coming.
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