Thankful for my Book Writing Opportunity: Day 30 #DetourNebraska Challenge

Today is the day!!!!! Today my book, Detour Nebraska is available in stores and online. The end of January when I turned in my manuscript seems like years and years ago rather than only ten months ago. Yet as I look back, I know that I have needed more time than I anticipated. More is involved with this book thing than I imagined. Perhaps it is a good thing that I did not know what all would be involved when I signed my contract. Regardless of the work, I do know that I am still thankful for my book writing opportunity. Here is why.

Being published is a privilege. So many people try for months and even years to be published. I know that I am blessed because they pursued me as an author. This definitely compels me to be thankful for my book. Although I did still have to write a book proposal, I did not have to send my idea out to multiple publishing houses.
Getting to work with a publishing team is a privilege as well. The History Press has a great team assembled. My initial acquisitions editor was not with the for very long. But I am so thankful that Amie was there at the beginning. I needed her reassurance and guidance. Then came Chad who patiently answered my multiple questions and helped me in the writing process. Then Abigail and Katie helped with the editing and marketing. All of their names made it into my book acknowledgements. But I did not know that Erin, Dotti and Beth were going to be there for me for more sales and marketing. Although you ladies may not be mentioned by name in my intro page, I hope that you know that I appreciate your support more than you know. And I am certain that there are even more people that are a part of the process than I can imagine. I could not be thankful for my book if this team had not made it possible.
I am thankful for my book because it “forced” me to step up my research. Although I have done a fair amount of Nebraska travel over the past several years, my trips have definitely been limited by time and budget constraints. This book provided a perfect excuse for me to travel. Now my adventures were not simply leisurely in nature. I had to travel about to have enough pictures and material for my book.
Yet another reason to be thankful for my book … now I have a need to continue traveling around the state to promote Detour Nebraska. As I mentioned in my Nebraska Travel Bucket List Volume 2 post, there are several places that I wrote about that I did not get to visit. Now I need to go visit to promote my book. Because of the book, I will continue to travel the state to find more stories to tell. Be watching for more places and people of Nebraska, both past and present.