Celebrating Anniversaries – Part 1

 This month marks the one year anniversary of the arrival in the world of my first book. On 19^th March 2021 The Healing was released to the world and we celebrated with a wonderful Zoom Book Launch Party. It was amazing!

Was that really a year ago? In some ways the last year has sped by, in other ways it feels like my book has been out there forever. Those first few days, weeks and months were so exciting. Holding my book in my hands, seeing other people reading it and enjoying it. It was a dream come true. And it made me an author -  something I had never expected.

This month also celebrates ten years of Instant Apostle. I for one can rejoice in their existence. If it wasn’t for Instant Apostle, I would not be here now. I would not be writing this blog, and I would not be calling myself a writer at all.

Wind back to September 2020. I had written a book and I really didn’t have any idea what to do with it. Other than to leave it in a folder on the laptop, perhaps for the future amusement of my grandchildren. I was naïve and totally clueless about publishing. Then I stumbled across the Association of Christian Writers on Facebook. To this day I can’t remember how. But I do remember seeing the name ‘Instant Apostle’ as the publisher on several members books. So I looked them up online and after reading about them and their ethos, I thought ‘why not?’ I sent my manuscript in, and just for fun sent it off to a larger well known publisher too (who I never heard back from). I didn’t expect any response.

It was an exciting and terrifying moment when I received an email offering to publish my novel. As I said I was clueless. I had no knowledge or experience of the world of publishing. What I found in the team at Instant Apostle was kindness, patience, and always, always, professionalism. Every query was answered, every misconception explained, and I was led through the whole publishing process with such good grace. At every stage - cover design, blurb creation, the extensive editing process - I was consulted. And I learnt so much from people who really knew what they were doing. It was an absolute pleasure to have my work handled by them. The finished book was so much better than the manuscript I had submitted.

When Nicki at Instant Apostle first responded to my manuscript submission with an offer to publish I was overwhelmed. But I remember being so struck when I heard that they prayed together as a team weekly, asking God for the right manuscripts to publish. That sealed the deal for me, and I signed up. Instant Apostle has an ethos to get contemporary and authentic Christian voices published, but it is so much more than that. Everything they do in my experience is God-honouring, and God -centred. My faith in the work that they do is such that my second book is currently in their hands being readied for publication.

This is our chance to say ‘Happy Birthday’ Instant Apostle. We celebrate you and thank you for what you bring to Christian publishing. May you continue to grow and be blessed, so that your titles can bless many others.

So what have I learned that might be of help to others as clueless as I was? 

1.       BE BOLD -  do something with what you have written. Find a publisher or agent that is a good fit for you.  Or maybe consider publishing yourself, or getting your work in magazines or on blogs. Just step out and be brave. Don’t let fear of rejection stop you. Send your work out there – and pray.

2.       BE VULNERABLE - admit when you don’t know what you are doing. Ask for help and be willing to take advice. Seek out those who have been there and done that, and you’ll be amazed how much patience and kindness you will find. Especially in the  ACW. And pray.

3.       BE PREPARED FOR MORE WORK - you thought the writing was the hard bit? Ha. It is just the start. Being published involves a lot of time and energy and it isn’t all fun! There are rewrites and edits, and blurbs, and bios, and marketing … the list goes on. All are a lot easier with a good dose of prayer.

4.       PRAY - I hope you’ve picked that up by now. God has given you the gift of writing, He has inspired you to write. Ask Him what to do with what you have written. And wait and listen, and see what doors He opens for you. And then pray some more! In fact just keep praying...

P.S.  If you want to find out more about Instant Apostle, go to instantapostle.com

Joy Margetts has loved writing for as long as she can remember. A retired nurse, mother of two, and a new grandparent, she also has a lifelong interest in history. She makes her home on the beautiful North Wales coast.

Her debut novel 'The Healing', a work of historic fiction, was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021. Joy has also self published a short novella, 'The Beloved' as both a companion to 'The Healing', and as an easy to read standalone story, which is available on Amazon Kindle.

More information on Joy and her writing, and her personal blog, can be found here www.joymargetts.com