Book Release: For A Game Such As This

Today, I am releasing my newest novel on Amazon.  For A Game Such As This is the sequel to Passing Toward The Prize which is a fiction novel following Carrington Preston who is the daughter of Colton Preston from the previous book.  Carrington loves football and obviously grew up with the game because of her father.  She is frustrated as her high school football team is struggling to win a game.  She wants to do something and decides she wants to play on the team.  You can imagine the resistance she faces as she decides to try out for the team.  The book follows her struggles and journey to realizing her dream.  She doesn’t just want to play football, but she wants to lead women to a higher level of playing the game with a league of their own.

The title of the book comes from the Old Testament story of Esther in the Bible.  The verse is Esther 4:14 when it ends with "....and who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"  Esther demonstrated exceptional bravery and strength in her desire to fulfill God's purpose for her life.  While she could have been killed for visiting the king unannounced, she knew that a cause greater than herself was at stake.  While Carrington doesn't risk her life to play football, this story reminds us that God has a unique purpose for each and every one of our lives.  God sometimes uses the least of us to accomplish His will, reminding us that it is in His strength, not our own, that we succeed.

So why did I write this book?

In the past few years, I have noticed an increase in the interest of girls wanting to play football.  Several states have started flag football as an option for girls to play.  There is also a history of girls who have played tackle football on their boys' football teams.  Personally, I think it's time for girls to be afforded the opportunity to play tackle football on all levels.  I have explored that possibility with this book.

The process of writing a book is a long, painful one.  For this book, I decided to get started last November.  Every November there is a writer’s organization which promotes NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I decided this was a good time to start writing the first draft.  My usual process in writing a first draft is to write at least a page a day or more depending on how the inspiration is flowing.  It took me about two months to finish the first draft.  The first draft is probably the easiest part of the entire writing process for me while the editing phase is the most agonizing part of the process.  Editing took about three months.  I think I ended up with about 10 drafts of the story.  

The next phase of the process was trying to find an agent to represent me to a publisher.  When I began as a writer many years ago, you could submit manuscripts directly to publishers, but most will not accept writers without agent representation now.  In due diligence, I sent my novel to several agents, but none were interested.  I normally give this process about two months but I also don’t sit around waiting for an agent to accept my manuscript.

Thanks to Amazon, I got started on the process of formatting my book into Kindle and print format.  This is also a painful experience trying to meet the formatting requirements.   The print format is the hardest part of this process.

For the first time, I had an issue with the cover for the book.  I found the photo I felt would be perfect for the cover however after doing my due diligence in tracking down the owner of the photo to seek permission to use it, they flatly denied me permission.  They countered with offering an alternate photo for $500.  This was a temporary setback.  Fortunately, I was able to pay a smaller fee and find a similar photo to use from a royalty free site.

I would describe the genre for this book as Christian sports fiction.  I will admit that I have been all over the place with the types of books I have written.  When I started writing books, I wanted to be a Christian fiction writer, however my writing has evolved over the years.  I'm not sure where I will end up, but one thing is certain, I will definitely keep you guessing.   

I already have ideas for a sequel to this book as I consider completing this series.  Stay tuned.

As with any writing project, to be successful you have to have support from those around you.  I couldn't have done this - or any other book - without the support and encouragement from my wife Crystal.  She is the total definition of a supportive spouse.  She is a book reader and has offered invaluable advice and suggestions about the characters and plot.  Sometimes she has to talk me down on some crazy ideas I get but also, she has helped me to figure out what's going on in my head to get it into the book.  

I have realistic expectations for this book.  I have no assumption that this will be a best seller.  I have come a long way in my expectations since I released my first book in 2016.  I write these books because I enjoy it and whether it sells one copy (which I know my wife will buy) or hundreds of copies, this is just what I do. I hope it will be a good story and will inspire whoever reads it.  

For A Game Such As This is now available on Amazon in Kindle format for $5.99 and print for $19.99.   I wanted to price the print edition lower; however, it costs $10.32 for Amazon to print the book as well as a large percentage of the rest.   

If you are interested in reading it, click this link:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6742TB4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_ABVC0BQSVZ2Q10MDNTPY

My other books are also available on Amazon: