A Timeline of Book Development, Part 2
My book progress from finishing the proposal to finishing the manuscript
Hello, friends! Recovering from Purity Culture released this week, on Tuesday, October 15! It’s been a great release week, kicking off with a fun and encouraging webinar with Sheila Gregoire (you can still sign up for the replay here), a low-key release day with friends and my family, and lots of interviews!
You can watch my live conversations with friends like
, Dr. Celeste Holbrook, and (see my Instagram for links to those) and listen to my interviews on podcasts including The Best of You and The Deconstructionists. I was also featured on Dr. ’s Substack, Marginalia and ’s The Beaty Beat.“Recovering from Purity Culture is a gift that will help the church better understand the trauma we have caused and find the healing we need.”
—Dr.
Plus, exciting news—my book made it to Amazon’s #1 new release and #1 best seller in the Gender & Sexuality in Religious Studies category! The audiobook and Kindle versions were also in the top 5 or top 10 throughout the week.
In my last email, I outlined my book process from the first inkling of an idea in 2017 to formalizing the concept of my book in 2022. The conceptualization I landed on was how to heal from purity culture: helping readers find the path forward from the myths and shame of purity culture to healthy sexuality and faith.
In this email, we’ll outline the next big steps of the process: finishing and pitching the book proposal, signing a contract, and actually writing and editing the book. Join me!
Spring 2023: With my new direction and focus in mind, I finished my book proposal and the three sample chapters. My agent and I met with several publishers and I gratefully had a lot of interest! I think the editors were very curious about how my book could take the next step in the public discourse on purity culture, and how I, as a psychologist, was uniquely suited to bring this message to my audience.
I ended up choosing to sign with
at Baker Books. I had heard Stephanie teach at Hope Writers trainings in the past and I subscribed to her newsletter (Slant Letter), so in some ways I felt like I already knew her! I knew her personal and beautiful writing style (as an Enneagram 4) would strengthen my writing, which is naturally more academic and didactic because of my background.Mostly, I was just thrilled to sign a book contract! What I had been working toward for over three years now was coming to fruition! Writing a book is a lifelong dream for me and I love that I get to write about a topic I’m so passionate.
Summer to Fall 2023: Once I signed my book contract, I had six months to write the manuscript (50,000 to 60,000 words). Oh, and I left my job at a group private practice to start my own solo private practice. (No biggie!) This all happened in the same month!
Thankfully, my business has done well, my clients transitioned smoothly, and I am able to sustainably provide for my family with my therapist income. This allowed me to take some days off work so I could spend more time writing. I turned in the first full draft of the proposal November 1. We also finalized the title and designed the cover, which took a few back and forths.
Winter 2024: I had a few rounds of edits with my editor, Stephanie, and then with copy editors. This process was funny because some weeks (or months), I was in a “book lull” and had nothing specific to write or work on. I tried to use that time to write my newsletter, share a bit on social media, or start thinking about a marketing plan for the book. I worked on pre-order bonuses, like a group discussion guide. But I also enjoyed playdays with my kids (normally on Fridays), which I had to forgo during writing deadlines.
I asked for endorsements, which was easily the most terrifying and intimidating part of this process because I was asking the very people (therapists, professors, authors) who I learned from and cited in the book! And Sheila Wray Gregoire, who has always been a big supporter of my work, graciously agreed to write the foreword for my book!
I share more about the title, cover, foreword, and endorsements in this Substack post:
Spring to Summer 2024: I submitted multiple rounds of copy edits, approved the internal page design, and back cover copy. I had several more rounds to approve the internal page proofs, basically what the book will look like and how it is laid out internally. We started talking about marketing, but mostly this season was all about editing and finalizing the words in the book. It was exciting (and scary!) to see it all start to come together!
What questions do you have about the writing and editing stages of the process?
Next in Part 3, I’ll share the last stage of book development which is the marketing, publicity, and actual publishing of the book.
If you haven’t grabbed a copy of Recovering from Purity Culture yet, I hope you will! I’m so passionate about the message of the book: that we can heal from purity culture and hold onto our faith.
Let’s find the path forward together in our faith, sexuality, and relationships.
I love learning about your process (and seeing much of it unfold personally!). Can't wait to celebrate with you!!
I'm just in awe of what all you've accomplished! Way to go!!