99

I've felt the need to follow up on my last post for days now.  I need to take a moment to brag on my incredible friends and family members.  In just over five days, 99 families have donated to the book I wrote, Home Runs in Heaven, which puts me at just under $8000, AND over $500 has been donated directly to the March of Dimes.  Can you believe this???  All in the memory of one sweet baby boy.

 

 

The blessings just keep coming... The day after I submitted my book to the Pubslush website, I received an email from them, saying I had set a record for the amount of money raised in only one day and that they would be moving my excerpt to their homepage... which they have now done.  It's the first thing you see if you happen onto their site.  Pretty cool. 

Check out the homepage here:
www.pubslush.com
Or you go directly to my donation page here:
www.pubslush.com/books/id/961

In addition, the woman that contacted me, mentioned that she was passing my name on to their social media person because they'd like to feature me on the Pubslush blog.  Even cooler!  I figure, the more my book gets "out there," the more money I can raise to publish it and then give to March of Dimes. 
 
Another really amazing thing I wasn't expecting... Pubslush provides a spreadsheet of all the people who have donated to me, so that I can keep track of everything.  I am really humbled by how many people on the list are complete strangers to me.  I've done some stalking... I mean digging around, and I've been able to figure out the connection to some of them.  But a handful are still a mystery.  I just can't get over the fact that people I don't even know are so willing to help me with my dream.  How did I get this lucky?
 
Last week at this time, I was spending a lot of time worrying over whether or not this was the best way for me to get published.  I worried what the reception would be like.  I worried that people would think it was a silly thing for me to try to do.  And I worried that, in the end, I'd just be disappointed.  But thanks to you, those worries are gone.  I couldn't be more grateful.

Love to y'all,
Tracy

A Birthday Celebration

Today Nash would be six.  Six.  He'd have already grown into a full-fledged little boy... running around, not eating his vegetables, tracking dirt up my stairs, and getting tucked in safe and sound every night.  This is always a day of such mixed emotions.  Of course, my heart aches at not being able to see the little boy he would be.  While at the same time, I try to think of today as a day we set aside to celebrate him and all he taught us during the five short months he was here.  This year, I might have thought of a way to really do this...

First off, I've got to say that I'm overwhelmed by so many of your comments and well-wishes regarding the big "reveal" that I hinted at last week.  I am so blessed to have family and friends that have my back.  Really, I'm a lucky lady.

Okay so here goes...

A little background info first: As many of you know, I really like to write - always have.  In the fall of 2008, a couple months after Nash passed away, I wrote a manuscript for a children's book that attempted to explain heaven in kids terms.  At the time, Tate had just turned two, and I knew that he was going to start asking more questions about his little brother as time went on.  So my project began as a way to help him and ended up being a cathartic exercise in healing for me. 

To make a long story short, I reached out to potential publishers maybe a year or so after I wrote it. I actually got an offer for publication from a very small, private company in Ohio.  The publisher and I spoke over the phone for months - I even received some sketches from his illustrators for a couple of the pages.  And then I got a phonecall that the company was going under and my contact had taken a new job at a very large publishing company out of state.  So needless to say, my big plan stopped right in it's tracks.  I was bummed, so I put my book on hold for awhile. 

Last year, I decided I'd like to try again, but after doing more research, I realized that self publishing might be my best option.  After all, the reason for getting my book out there is to help other families dealing with loss and also to keep Nash's memory alive.  I just had one big problem... self publishing is EXPENSIVE!  Even though children's books are much shorter than novels, the colorful illustrations tend to make them much more to produce.  So began my internal brainstorming as to how to make this happen.

My first breakthrough came when I spoke to my brother.  He agreed to do the illustrations for me (after all, he did graduate from the Art Institute of Chicago)!  I still want to compensate him, but it won't be nearly as expensive as using an illustrator from a self publishing company.

And then came a major breakthrough...  By complete chance, a wonderful friend introduced me to a website that might actually be able to make my dream come true.  Pubslush.com is a site devoted to people just like me - authors looking for a way to publish.  All I have to do is submit my book to the site and have people visit it and decide if they'd like to make a donation to help get it published.  Then if I reach my goal, the money goes towards the self publishing costs.  Amazing. 

I have spent many hours getting my page ready for my friends and family to see.   There's an excerpt from the book, a short video (not real thrilled that I had to do that), and lots of specific info about the book and my plans for publishing. 

And as y'all have probably guessed, this is where you come in.  I have exactly 30 days from today to raise a minimum of $5000, with my ultimate goal being $10,000.  The more money my book is getting, the more publicity it gets on the website.  So if you feel inclined to help, please visit the link below and look around.  Then decide if you think this is something you'd like to help me with. 

http://pubslush.com/books/id/961


But hold on...

Many of you have walked along this path with me for so long now, you may have a question brewing in the back of you mind... It might sound something like this,"Wow, I'd love to help her with this, but she always asks for donations for the March of Dimes this time of year too.  I really can't do both."  And you'd be right.  This is what I've debated on over and over again for months.  But I think I've come up with an idea.

If I raise any money above the amount I need to actually get my book published (~$5000) the rest will be donated directly to the March of Dimes in memory of Nash.  So if anyone wants to donate to my book, there is no need to make a separate donation to MOD later. 

At first I worried that by doing it this way, I would raise a lot less for March of Dimes compared to what I usually do.  But a friend pointed out that my bottom line every year is to help other families and remember Nash, and that by publishing my book, I would be accomplishing both of these.  I think I'm okay with that... for this year.

So, I guess that's it.  It's not anything crazy or life-altering or amazing.  It's just me trying to do one more thing for my little boy on his birthday.  I want so badly to make him proud. 

Thank you in advance for any support, prayers, or donations that you offer.  After all, for this to really work, I'm gonna need all three.

Love to y'all,
Tracy

Plans for the New Year

Now that 2014 is nine days in, I've had time to think about where I want this year to go.  I've debated all my usual resolutions and pretty much shot them down one by one.  This year, I feel like I need something more.  Something big.  So I've decided to embark on a long-awaited journey.

Rewind just a bit. 

January 1st always marks the 1/2 way mark of Nash's passing.  He died on July 1, so this past New Year's Day marked exactly 5 1/2 years that he's been gone.  It always hits me pretty hard, as I wrestle with the clean slate hopefulness of a brand new start and the acknowledgement that more time has passed since I've seen my baby's sweet face.  Bittersweet is an understatement. 

Nash's sixth birthday is coming up next week and I've decided that it's on that day that I'm going to begin working towards my ultimate goal for 2014.  I've worked for five years on a very special and personal "project" and I think I've come up with a way to - hopefully - make it a reality. 

So next Wednesday, January 15th, on Nash's birthday, I'm going to ask for A LOT of help from anyone and everyone to accomplish a feat that I don't even know is truly possible at this point.  There will be lots more details to come.  I'm really looking forward to start on this path... 

Love to y'all,
Tracy