Publishing ain’t what it used to be. And if it were, I’d have an editor jumping on me for saying “ain’t.”

I have a terrific publisher — O Books of England: www.o-books.com/home. But it’s a whole new world. In the old days, the writer would finish a manuscript, deliver it to the editor, and the document would be swallowed up in a routine maw with a book being spit out at the other end. Galleys would be hand-delivered and marked up by the writer somewhere in the middle of that process. Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion still talks about that venue.

I’m not Garrison Keillor. And no one is about to drive up and hand me galleys as if they were the Crown Jewels.

And that’s okay. But what I am finding is that selling a book demands a lot of phone calls, emails, drafts and re-drafts, edit-able PDFs, the building of a website, the use of social media and more. If selling a book were the point here, it ain’t worth the trouble. Ain’t. (After spending 20 years as an editor, I’m enjoying being able to use whatever words I want.)

Beside me stands an artist, Karen Canton of California. A strong publishing company stands around us. And behind us, pushing us forward, stand twelve of the most compelling women in the history of the world. That’s right. Eve. Deborah. Rahab. Nine more. This book is about THEIR faith, THEIR life decisions, THEIR struggles…and the way the world was changed because of their actions.

Bottom line: They’re worth it, worth every minute of this process.