I know some of you are wondering when my new book: Farming Grace will hit Amazon. The truth is, I don’t know. We were all set to release it this month when an email landed in my inbox that completely surprised me.

A year ago, I queried my dream literary agent. After a little back and forth, she said she wanted to represent me. Meaning she would try to sell Farming Grace to a traditional publishing house.

At the time, I was frantically trying to finish Chasing the Wind. We‘d set up a preorder on the novel and more readers than I expected had forked over their hard-earned cash before it was done.

Note to self: don’t ever sell a book you haven’t completed. I know traditional publishers do this all the time, but for me it was way too stressful. I’m still in the thick of raising four boys. And I’ve recently become a grandma to our older kids’ babies. Plus we really do farm. I have a lot of commitments outside of being an author.

In the midst of the madness of trying to finish Chasing the Wind, I told my dream agent I was so excited but needed to focus on finishing the novel in front of me. “When I’m done with my current book, I’ll get back to you,” I said.

She told me that she was really busy too, we could reconnect in a few months, and I returned to the grindstone of wrapping up my California Rising series. I realize a number of you familiar with the book publishing industry may be banging your heads against a wall right now. Who tells their dream agent they will get back to them?

In hindsight, this probably wasn’t how I should have handled the situation, but it’s what I did, trusting God was in control, and if it was really meant to be, everything would work out with Farming Grace.

The truth is I love my readers and didn’t want to let anyone down last year, especially when they’d already paid money for a book I needed to finish for them.

After Chasing the Wind landed on Amazon, I emailed my dream agent back and said I was ready to do my memoir. I didn’t hear back from her, which really bummed me out.

During this time, I was doing some private coaching sessions with Alice Crider of Author Access who helps writers figure out their roadblocks. After not hearing back from the agent, I was feeling blocked with Farming Grace. I think I was just scared to death to share this story–my story– with the world.

Alice helped me find the courage to keep going, and when I had a complete manuscript, she set me up with a freelance editor, Kimberly Shumate. Kimberly and I clicked on day one and I was off to the races wrapping up Farming Grace. 

Kimberly encouraged me to find a literary agent who believed in my writing the way she did. “Good literary agents are really busy,” said Kimberly. “Try emailing your dream agent again and see if she responds this time.”

So I did and nothing happened. I half-heartedly queried another agent and kept polishing my memoir. By November, I was ready to just stick with indie publishing. I like producing books with Amazon. Of course, I would love to have more exposure through a traditional publisher, but I’m doing okay on Amazon.

The new year rolled around and Farming Grace was ready to go. Scott created the ebook and nearly put it on Amazon on January 7th, but a dear writer/editor friend, Katherine Scott Jones, was reading the story that week and said, “Tell Scott to wait. I think you should do a little more work on the manuscript before putting it out there.”

That sounded great to me since I was freaking out about releasing this story anyway. My journey back to my faith and to the farm is pretty messy. Sharing it with readers is a big step for me.

As we waited to hear back from Katherine, two big things happened on the same day. My dream agent emailed saying, “Let’s talk representation.” And an editor I would love to work with contacted me out of the blue on Facebook about a lifestyle book on farming.

By the end of the following day, I was staring at a contract with my dream agent. I haven’t signed it yet. It’s kind of like staring at a dress you love in the store, a gown you really hope you’ll wear to the ball you haven’t been invited to yet.

So this is where we stand with Farming Grace. Dreaming it will sell to a traditional publishing house and readers will love it. If you have been waiting for Farming Grace, I’m so sorry you’re still waiting. I’m waiting too.

Years ago, at a writing conference, every morning the worship team sang the song, While I’m Waiting. And each morning during that song, tears poured down my cheeks. Waiting to become a published author was so hard. Never in a million years did I dream that the man who wrote the song would become our church’s worship leader.

John Waller now sings on Sunday mornings at Hope Point. I just can’t believe we get to listen to him in person every week. He and his sweet wife, Josee, have become our friends. Here is his beautiful song, While I’m Waiting.

If you are waiting for something to happen in your life, I hope this song encourages you the way it has me. Clink on the song title above to listen.