My Delta line sisters with copies of my book at the release party…

A year ago today, a long cherished dream came true…My first book, while officially released on Feb. 14, 2012, was presented to friends, family members and supporters on Feb. 10, 2012 at my book release party…It was the visual culmination of a lot of behind-the-scenes hard work…I worked hard to get a book deal…It took me 7 years…I worked hard to secure interviews with one of my favorite Christian celebrities Sherri Shepherd and Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the first female bishop of the A.M.E. church and the granddaughter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated founder Vashti Turley Murphy. I worked hard to get women from all walks of life to share intimate details of their lives and about their personal relationships with God so that other women would be encouraged. I labored in prayer to God because I wanted the book to blessed by the Holy Spirit. I planned out my marketing and promotion time line six months in advance of the book release to make sure I could get as much publicity as possible. If you want to know more, read this “I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 7 (And It.Don’t.Stop.).” I.WAS.DRIVEN. And I could go on and on…And I have had some good results regarding best seller lists, various accolades, etc.

But a year later, while the best seller lists, various accolades have meant a lot to me, what matters most is this…And I haven’t shared this story before…On the night of my book release party, I was a little perturbed that the venue where my party was held wasn’t entirely shut down for my party…I guess that’s neither here nor there a year later…But anywho, needless to say, there ended up being a few guests at my party that were not expressly invited…LOL…Remember that happened in the family reunion cookout scene in the movie “Poetic Justice?” Anyway, as I was trying to make sure that all of the various elements of the book release party were coming together from the door prizes, to the food, to the entertainment, etc., a woman came up to me and asked me if could she speak with me. I realized that I hadn’t invited her so I wandered what she had to say so I replied, “Yes.” Apparently, she had gotten a copy of my book and wanted to speak with me about it. She told me that she had just prayed that morning about knowing more about God because of some things she was going through, and she felt that my book was the answer to her prayer…I.WAS.DONE.

I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t thought about that woman in a while, but it came back to me this week as I was reflecting on my first year as a published author…I’m human…I love praise and accolades and there is no doubt that I want to sell lots of books and all of that…but I’m also a Christian…If this book has only helped one person develop a personal relationship with God, then it was worth all of my hard work…Of course, I want to reach more than just one person…but each and every one of us are precious to God…Read the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin if you don’t believe me…

So I have a request today, if my book has helped you to develop a personal relationship with God, e-mail me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com and let me know…

Any thoughts?

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