It's a God-thing

Photo courtesy of Anusorn P nachol/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I walked back to my desk to be surprised by the reply email that had just arrived in my Inbox. Ten minutes earlier I sent the email that I hoped would release me into a new life. With nervous anticipation I opened it.

Good morning Ian

This sounds interesting.  I was the UK publisher for THIS PRESENT DARKNESS and PIERCING THE DARKNESS.

Can you send me the text?

Are you serious?

Hallelujah. After bouncing around the room with excitement for a few minutes, I quickly shot off the full manuscript. Another reply soon arrived letting me know he’d saved the MS to his ipad and would start reading it over the weekend. I shut down my computer for the week so so thankful.

Make Contact 

Let me quickly recap the events that led to that email exchange.

A few weeks earlier I’d received a co-publishing offer from a US multi-imprint publisher having sent my proposal to the traditional imprint arm of the group. At the time (2010) this US publisher was one of the few big ones still receiving unsolicited fiction manuscripts for what I believed was it’s traditional imprint. I’m not sure if they are now.

Not being too familiar with co-publishing I sought the counsel of a number of different people: co-published and traditionally published authors, other publishers and distributors.

Only one I knew personally, the others I contacted via email. In our very connected world, I've found most people will respond and in this instance everyone did. I received mixed feedback but it was one contact that turned out to be most generous and significant.

I wrote to Paul Bootes, the CEO of Koorong, hoping, but not really, expecting a reply. He’s a busy man running a global business and doesn’t know me other than the fact I’m a customer.

Quite incredibly, Paul gave me thirty or so minutes of his time (on a Saturday afternoon!) as we chatted about a myriad of matters including my manuscript and the offer I’d received. He also kindly provided me with an introduction to the acquisitions editor at Lion Hudson. Paul’s act is a wonderful example of humbly using one’s own experience and talent to help another.

In my proposal I made reference to Frank Peretti’s “Darkness” books playing an important part in my writing journey, hence, the association in the email above.

That email connection led to a contract offer and in time Angelguard being published.

Now some people would call this series of events, pure coincidence. I don’t. I call them a “God-thing.”

I’m continually amazed how God works in this way: connecting people via a series of seemingly unrelated events and associations.

Next time you receive a nudge in your spirit, act on it. You might just be surprised what eventuates.

What's a time you were pleasantly surprised by God's mysterious manoeuvring?

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter