Exploring Adoption

Writing the Non-Fiction Book Proposal

This is Part 2 of a seven part series about my journey through the book publishing process.

Part 1: A Book Concept Takes Shape

As I continued researching, I discovered that I did, indeed, have enough information to write a book. So I set to work writing a non-fiction book proposal. My proposal included:

• Cover letter (extremely important)
• Chapter summary
• Analysis of competing books
• Marketing plan
• Information about my “platform” (in other words, how famous I am)
• Two sample chapters

As I wrote the proposal, I internally debated: Do I want to write this book for the general (secular) market or do I want to write it for the Christian market? We all know that general market books can rake in a ton more money than Christian books. Since I wrote for mostly secular magazines, I felt comfortable in that arena. But as I prayed about it, I kept sensing that my book needed to present adoption from a distinctly Christian world-view. It just felt right.

I had Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide (an excellent resource for authors and magazine writers, updated yearly), and I consulted it to find publishers who might be interested in my book.

One day in the spring of 2003, I received a phone call from my friend, Jenn – also a would-be author – who was working on her own book proposal. “Do you want to go to a writers’ conference with me?” she asked.

I had heard about writers’ conferences for years, but had never attended one. In my life Before Children, I had been an English and journalism teacher. I believed that I really didn’t need to review writing fundamentals. And besides, I reasoned, I worked with editors all the time who gave me feedback on my writing. What did I need a writers’ conference for? Plus, I admitted to myself, writers’ conferences sounded kind of intimidating.

But Jenn was convincing. “It’ll be fun!” she enthused. “I’ll introduce you to my agent and we’ll bring another friend from our neighborhood who’s also a writer and we’ll stay in a hotel and we won’t have to cook for two whole days.”

Won’t have to cook? Okay, I’m sold. The part about meeting Jenn’s agent sounded good, too. A literary agent is a go-between who works on behalf of an author to pitch and sell the book to publishers. Agents know everyone in the business, and they have an excellent grasp of the kinds of projects in which editors will be interested.

Continued in the next post

For more news and information about adoption, please visit my Website, www.laurachristianson.com, or my Christian Adoption Blog at adoption.com.

An Author's View of the Book Publishing Process

Part 1 of 7: A Book Concept Takes Shape

When I tell people I’m writing a book about adoption, they inevitably reply, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to write a book.”

Most of us have a book brewing inside of us, just waiting to get out. And most of us assume that all we have to do is write our New York Times #1 bestseller and publishers will come knocking. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way.

During the next seven posts, I’ll share insights I’ve gleaned during my journey through the book publishing business. One caveat: My story is my story. You could talk to a thousand different authors and you’d hear a thousand different variations of this story. So, while I will share tips that budding authors will find helpful, keep in mind that the trail you blaze through the book publishing business will be uniquely yours.

I’ve dreamed of writing a book ever since I can remember. When I was in sixth of seventh grade, I taught myself to type on my mom’s manual Olympia typewriter (which I still have and my 10-year-old thinks is totally cool) and pounded out short stories.

Ten or so years ago, an idea for a book began jelling in my mind. I would write a book for the grandparents of adopted children, I thought. Grandparents are key players in a child’s life, and many people of grandparenting age have negative perceptions about adoption stemming from long-outdated adoption practices.

I didn’t think I’d have enough material for a full-length book, so I decided to write a booklet and self-publish it. I outlined my booklet and drafted some of the content.

During that time, my freelance writing career took off. I began contributing regularly to several magazines – a couple of computer magazines and a credit union magazine – so I put the grandparents’ booklet on the back burner.

But I kept thinking about it, reading about adoption, and cramming file folders full of all sorts of adoption-related information. I also wrote magazine articles about adoption-related topics in order to build up my publishing credits.

Continued in the next post

For more news and information about adoption, please visit my Website, www.laurachristianson.com, or my Christian Adoption Blog at adoption.com.

Adoption Doll Company Founder Encourages Children to Celebrate Adoption

Mary Beth Wells, who is both a birth mom and an adoptive mom, recently started a company called The Precious Baby Doll Company. Her mission is to help tell the stories of babies adopted all over the world and to help children learn about and celebrate adoption.

The Precious Babies, which have soft bodies and vinyl arms, legs, and faces, are approximately 17 inches tall. So far, there are three dolls:

American – Kimberly Caryn has blond hair and blue eyes and comes dressed in a cotton sleeper. She is named after the daughter that Mary Beth Wells (the company’s founder) gave birth to and relinquished for adoption.

Guatemalan – Sophia Allesandra, named after the daughter Mary Beth adopted from Guatemala, has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes and comes dressed in a soft yellow cotton dress with a bright red band on both the skirt and the sleeves. She also wears brown sandals.

Russian – Katya Irina has auburn hair and green eyes. Her outfit consists of a white blouse, gathered at the sleeves, with a red border at the collar and embroidered edging on the arms. Her red dress features the same embroidery along the top, bottom, middle and straps. The dress is lined and both the dress and blouse have velcro closures. Katya also comes with white lace booties.

All three dolls come with a diaper and each doll costs $80 (US). Accessories for each doll include a book that tells the story about their country of birth and the love that brought them to a new world. Other accessories include “pets” (tiny stuffed animals), clothing, satin blankets, a picture frame and a carrier sling.

Mary Beth Wells, the company’s founder, has an interesting adoption story. She writes:

I am a birth mother that relinquished my child for adoption when I was a very young girl. It was at a time when a young girl's cries went unheard. I located my birth daughter and was met with hostility and anger from the adoptive parents. They took out a restraining order on me and made my daughter do the same when she was 18 years old.

Trying to close that chapter of my life, I attempted to move on. I married and found out that I could not conceive again. Four years ago I adopted a beautiful daughter from Guatemala. I have since divorced and am in the process of adopting another baby from Guatemala. I also now have a relationship with my birth daughter that grows stronger every year.

For Mary Beth, the joy of having two daughters means that for her, the circle of adoption to adoption is now complete.

For more articles about adoption and to locate additional sources for adoption merchandise, please visit my Web site, www.laurachristianson.com.

You're Adopting? Oh, How Nice!

This week at my Christian Adoption blog on adoption.com, I posted two articles about what happens when you tell people you're adopting.

Here's a preview of each post:

The Importance of Sharing Your Adoption Story - On Mother’s Day, our oldest niece graduated from college. At her post-graduation family barbeque, my husband and I sat down with an aunt and uncle from the other side of our niece’s family. They are adopting two children from Russia and returned two weeks ago from their first trip to Russia, where they met their children.

As we chatted, something very important was reinforced to me: When parents-to-be announce they’re adopting, most people don’t know what to say. So they mumble something like, “You’re adopting! Oh, how nice.”

How to Respond to Nosy Questions About Adoption -

• Are your children siblings?
• What do you know about their background?
• As soon as you adopt, you’ll get pregnant with your own.
• Which one of you is sterile?

New Features on 'Exploring Adoption'

I've been tinkering with my blog tonight, and I've added several new features and updated some old favorites:

Left Sidebar:

Get e-mail updates - Enter your e-mail address and FeedBlitz will e-mail you every time I post something new on my blog. The e-mail includes a snippet of the post and a hyperlink to the post. They don't sell your name to other mailing lists, so you won't get spam as a result of signing up.

Laura's Other Sites - Links to my personal Web site, www.laurachristianson.com, and my Christian Adoption Blog at adoption.com.

20 Most Popular Articles - This isn't a new feature, but it's my most popular one. Check out these links to some of my most-read posts.

Adoption Statistics - One of the most-visited areas of my blog. You'll find additional statistical-related posts in the categories "Adoption Statistics" and "Infertility Statistics."

Recommended Adoption and Infertility Books
Children's Adoption Books
Devotionals
Direct Links to lots of great books you can purchase from Amazon.com

Newsvine Adoption News - Real-time links to adoption news on the Web.

Right Sidebar:

Swicki Search - Search for all things adoption on this adoption search engine that I created for your convenience.

Sphere Blog Search - A super-simple way for you to search for articles on my Exploring Adoption blog.

My Blog Log - Click the icon to see the most popular hyperlinks within my posts that readers are clicking.

Recent Posts - Hyperlinks to my 10 most recent posts.

Blogroll - Find out what other adoption bloggers are writing about. My blogroll not only links you to each site, but it gives you a preview of what each blog is about.

Sites Linking Here - I'm experimenting with this one. It's supposed to show you other sites that link to mine, but so far, it doesn't seem to be working too accurately. We'll see.

Fab Non-Fiction
Marketing Books for Authors
Fun Fiction
Inspirational Fiction
Chick Lit
Fantasy
Mystery and Suspense
I am an avid reader. This list is a sampling of books I've enjoyed lately.

Blog Directories - Subscribe to my feed at any of these directories.

'Exploring Adoption' Blog Featured in 'Best of Blogs' book

I visited Barnes & Noble today to buy an adoption book. On my way to the cash register, I spotted a book called Blogosphere: Best of Blogs. I idly picked it up, thinking, “Wouldn’t it be neat if they mentioned my blog in there?”

I found the parenting section, and sure enough, they do list the very Exploring Adoption blog you are now reading. They even created two separate listings for my blog – one in the Parenting section and one in the Adoption section.

The entry in the Parenting section says:

“Adoptive mother Laura Christianson posts fresh and informative stories dealing with the realities of adoption. She combs the Web for news or research reports to comment on and peppers her blog with practical advice for adoptive families such as financing an adoption or adopting a child from outside the United States.” (p. 117)

The entry in the Adoption section says:

“Laura Christianson, author of several nonfiction books about adoption, uses this blog to post supplemental information about the adoption process. The site is a good resource for finding the latest news about international adoptions, unscrupulous adoption practices, and general information about infertility issues.” (p. 136)

One tiny correction:
I have not written “several” nonfiction books about adoption; I am currently writing my first nonfiction book about adoption. I’m glad the authors of Best of Blogs have such confidence in me! I’ll do my best to crank out “several” adoption books during the next few years.

In future posts, I’ll refer you to several of the adoption/infertility/parenting blogs featured in the Best of Blogs.

Can American Ex-Pats Adopt U.S. Children?

Lately, I have heard from several American ex-pats who hope to adopt from the U.S. They need information about whether it's possible for them to adopt from the U.S. while living in another country, and if so, how to go about doing so.

I do not have expertise in this area but realize that some of my readers do. If you are an ex-pat who has successfully adopted or have suggestions, please add them to the Comments area so others can learn from you.

• Are there adoption agencies that specialize in ex-pat adoption?
• Are there special laws or guidelines that ex-pats must follow when adopting?
• How much more difficult/time-consuming/expensive is it for ex-pats to adopt?

Here is an excerpt from an e-mail I received today:

I am a  US citizen. My husband is a Japanese national and we live in Japan. Although we are currently investigating the Japanese social welfare system (considering adopting a toddler or young child) we wondered if it is possible to adopt a child from the US. I am African-American and since so many Black and mixed race children are difficult to place in the US, we have considered this option also.

New Adoption Clothing Line: Cool or Controversial?

One mom who has some time on her hands while she waits to bring home her daughter from Guatemala launched an organization called Adopt Proud. Carla Birnberg, who started Adopt Proud May 5, says it’s an intriguing way to spark lively discussions about adoption and about family.

Birnberg, from Austin, Texas, launched a Web site and product line of colorful t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, fitted baseball caps, coffee mugs and messenger bags, all bearing one word: Adopt.

Birnberg says she’s currently donating all proceeds from sales of the merchandise to two adoption-related charities: Casa Guatemala or Love Without Boundaries.

“We believe that there is, indeed, a way to be both charitable and hip. We think that being socially aware and generous does not necessarily exclude one from wanting to look good,” says Birnberg.

She adds, “With national adoption trends reaching historic highs, we thought it was time to support the cause both visually and financially. Introducing the adoption concept changes lives…everyone’s.”

So, what do you think, readers? Would you wear this merchandise? If you did, what kind of conversations do you think it would spark?

Get "Exploring Adoption" Blog Updates Via E-mail

I so much appreciate those of you who subscribe to "Exploring Adoption" via a blog directory or aggregator. Now there's a new way to subscribe. Simply add your e-mail address to the box at the top of the left sidebar and click "Get e-mail updates." Whenever I update my blog, you'll receive an e-mail that summarizes the latest content and links you directly to the blog. Happy reading!

A Mother's Day Gift

The Fed-Ex lady just dropped off a gorgeous bouquet of flowers – a Mother’s Day gift from our son’s birth mom. Jen has been asking me for the past two weeks if we can get together on Mother’s Day to have lunch. My niece is graduating from college Sunday and I’ll be attending that her graduation, so Jen and I made plans to ‘do’ lunch someday soon, instead.

Jen is a very thoughtful person – she’s always sending cards and making sure that everyone feels cared for. At one point, she seriously considered buying a Hallmark shop because she had invested so much money in greeting cards! She loves to throw parties and she’s into scrapbooking.

I, on the other hand, tend to forget holidays and or I ignore them on the principle that most holidays were invented by the greeting card companies to part us from our hard-earned money. While I have good intentions to ‘scrapbook’, baseball, basketball, cross country and school activities seem to always take precedence. I haven’t inserted a photo into an album since our youngest son was a year old (that was nine years ago). And I detest parties – I hate planning them and I especially hate attending them. I am the original party pooper!

Next weekend, Jen is hosting a “Royal Celebration” for her “Princess” daughter who’s turning four. Last night, our (mutual) son, Ben, and I visited Toys R Us in search of the perfect gift for Miss Princess. Since we are a boys-only household, Ben and I had absolutely no idea what to get for a 4-year-old girl. We put in an emergency call to Jen.

“What does she want for her birthday?”

Jen’s not-so-helpful answer: “She’s a princess.”

“Okay, but what, exactly, does that mean?”

“She likes to play dress-up (princess costumes, of course) and read books about princesses and play pretend with her princess dolls.”

“Oh, I get it now.”

We headed to the pink aisle (a place we’d rarely visited) and began looking for “princess-y” things. Following Jen’s detailed prompting, we selected a “Leapster” game that seems very girly. “She’ll love it,” Jen announced.

Our family will head over to their “castle” next weekend, where Ben will play the role of big brother Prince Charming, entertaining all the toddlers and preschoolers with his antics and pushing them on the swingset for hours. Ben is much more like his birth mother in that he is a party kind of guy.

It’s been quite a privilege to be part of this ever-growing, ever-changing relationship with Jen over the past almost 14 years. We’ve pretty much adopted Jen, her husband, and their two little girls into our extended family, and they’ve adopted us into theirs.

We try to celebrate Mother’s Day (or a day somewhere in the vicinity of Mother’s Day) together every year. When the flowers arrived today, I felt a momentary pang of guilt. “I should be the one sending her flowers,” I chastised myself.  After all, she’s the one who handed over this really cool kid for us to raise.

But I don’t feel too much guilt because Jen is family, and I know she accepts my anti-holiday persona with grace and loves me despite my faults. That’s true family. Happy Mother’s Day, Jen! We love you!