The Story of My Book: Part 2

In case you missed it, The Story of My Book: Part 1 tells about my adventure of bringing the memoir to life, from the early stages of writing to polishing the final manuscript. I tentatively dipped my toes into traditional publishing waters before deciding to take the self-publishing plunge. It was the start of a whole new learning journey for me. Read Part 1 here.

For a while, I basked in the constructive, encouraging, and positive feedback from friends who had read my manuscript. They reported feeling enriched, touched, and inspired, eager to know when the book would be ready to share with others who needed hope and courage.

To embark on the self-publishing journey, I delved into countless websites that explained the process and explored platforms where my book could be sold, printed, and marketed. It seemed like an uphill climb, with much to learn just to get started.

Despite once considering myself a computer expert and quick learner, I hadn’t kept up with new technology developments over the past nine years, especially regarding the Internet and social media. Quite quickly, my head was spinning, and there were the familiar tell-tale signs of stress. Doubts crept in. Maybe my book is just for me, after all, my mind shouted. Maybe I wrote it for myself and for my close circle.

After a 30-minute consultation with Lois, a knowledgeable specialist, I hired her to assist with the technical aspects of self-publishing. Her expertise and enthusiasm took a weight off my shoulders.

For our collaboration, she needed to understand my mission for the book. I told her about my passionate desire to reach as many people as possible, offering hope, confidence, inspiration, and new perspectives through its story. Some may be deep in the ocean of grief, others grappling with cancer or other life-threatening illness. Then there are the victims of violent crime and those whose loved ones were taken from them by sudden death. My book touches on so many universal themes. And it is also a great love story.

One of the initial tasks Lois and I tackled together was designing the book’s interior. Converting the Word document into a publishable manuscript suddenly required me to step back from the narrative and approach it with a rational mindset. Questions flooded my mind: What dimensions should the book have? Which font would best suit the content? What size should the font be? How should the chapter headings be styled? Then came the tasks of crafting the copyright page, acknowledgments, and an author biography.

As I integrated all these elements into the text, I found myself repeatedly returning to the PDF document, struck with a mix of humility and awe at life and at my achievement. The power of my resilience held me through Steve’s murder, the intense loss of my beloved. It carried me beyond the cancer that could have taken my life, too. And I still managed to create a book so that others might be reminded of their own power and courage. Anything is possible. We are stronger than we realize!

With my memoir undeniably taking shape now, I felt myself nearing the climax of the self-publishing process. Or so I thought.

Since my teenage years, I have fancied myself being a writer, and in my head, I have written numerous books, got many actual outlines ready, and countless book titles are awaiting being matched up with my content.

But now I was stymied: what could possibly be the title for this book? For quite a while, its working title was The Courage to Live. I even had a trilogy ready in my mind: The Courage to Love was going to be about my understanding and our teaching of Tantra, and The Courage to Be Different about my spiritual journey. But my beta readers didn’t like the name. Then my friend Margot Anand proposed to call it Resurrection. Too many religious connotations were triggered in me to use that as a title. And then it was going to be called, I Am Not My Story, and at another time, Somehow, Life Continued…

None of my working titles made the cut. As my frustration and sense of helplessness grew, the situation didn’t improve. With time ticking away and the manuscript ready, I faced what seemed like writer’s block, desperately grasping for suitable, catchy titles.

Brainstorming session after brainstorming session led nowhere until eventually Reaching for Sunrise emerged. At first, I didn’t like the word “reaching” because I hadn’t exactly been reaching for sunrise. Sunrise just happened by itself, as sunrises do, without me reaching for it. Yet it sounded positive, like a new day, a new time was beginning, and it emanated a sense of hope and future.

The word “sunrise” in my story’s context has another powerful connotation—Steve was shot dead on Gunshot Fire Road. Yes, that really was the name of the trail where my beloved lost his life. Friends from the Marin County community took it upon themselves to petition that the name be changed. Finally, six months after the horrible events that happened there, Gunshot Fire Road was officially renamed Sunrise Fire Road. Thank you again, dear Wendy, for spearheading this process!

The more time passed, the more the title grew on me—three simple words, one strong message. I like that. But it wasn’t descriptive enough. The subtitle, “A Widow’s Memoir,” was added. Right on the front cover of the book, it would tell the potential reader that this is the memoir of a widow who is reaching for sunrise. That was pretty good, but somehow still not enough.

We floated the idea of adding a sub-subtitle, “Behind the High-Profile Murder of Steve Carter.” This sub-subtitle would provide even more information: not only is this the memoir of a widow, but it is also a true crime story about Steve’s high-profile murder. Which it was: high-profile. Back then, it was all over the press, all over the Internet, and on all the TV stations. When his murderers were sentenced, it continued, and even now, almost nine years later, I still get invitations for interviews and articles from the media. Ultimately, it was mainly for marketing reasons that I overcame my resistance to mentioning the murder in the book title.

The title plays such a crucial role in determining the success of a book! When I talk about success here, I’m referring not only to commercial success but also to the fulfillment of my mission. It has to grab the attention of potential readers and spark their curiosity, interest, and imagination and promise a captivating, fulfilling, and emotional reading experience.

After spending a few days reflecting on it, doing some online research, and bouncing the new title idea off friends and associates, I became confident that Reaching for Sunrise: A Widow’s Memoir was the right choice. The search for the title was over. Inner peace and calm returned.

Reaching for Sunrise was already so much more tangible than referring to my project as “my book”! I began introducing its title to my greater social circle. Janna was the first to get excited. She said she’d love to read the book but would prefer to listen to it. With that, she inspired me to create an audiobook. And who would be a better narrator of my own story than me?

PS. Stay tuned! The Story of My Book: Part 3, about my audiobook adventure, is coming soon. Your gift: a free sample chapter from Reaching for Sunrise: A Widow’s Memoir. To download it, please fill in the popup form. ♥