Portraits of Pregnancy: The Birth of a Mother

38

The number of times Margaret Mitchell was rejected before publishing Gone with the Wind.

I clipped this out of Oprah's Magazine about six years ago after I received a few rejection letters from publishers. I stared at it every morning and still stare at it. My book proposal went through three different incarnations over about four or five years, and whenever I was losing hope, I would spy this clipping on my dresser. Now seven years later, my book has been published. Failure is not an option if you don't quit. I didn’t quit, but many times I gave up hope. I wrote three different proposals, had two different agents, and received 37 rejection letters. But I didn't give up and finally I received a call from my agent in March of 2008.

And now as I write this, my book Portraits of Pregnancy:The Birth of a Mother has been released. I wanted to start this blog so that I could chat about all the exciting opportunities that I get, the cool people (celebrities and not) who I get to meet and photograph, and the process of putting out a book. And of course I have been too busy working to get to blogging. But now I finally have some time to sit down and reflect. First of all I should say that this book idea was hatched in my mind in 2003 after an incredible photography session with a mother who finally conceived after 7 miscarriages. She was beautiful, she was gracious, and she was strong. I was going through a difficult breakup at the time (aren't they all difficult), and her words of wisdom carried me through the toughest days. I realized that the inspiration I found through her words, might also inspire others, pregnant or not. That is the beauty of this book. It isn't just for pregnant mothers, it is for all women who need a little inspiration.

The challenges that I now face are many because I have discovered if you have a small publisher, you need to do a lot of promoting of your book yourself. My goal now is to spread the word about this book because I truly do believe that it offers an important voice, a real authentic voice about the transformative journey to becoming a mother. There are more than 50 women in this book who have opened their hearts and shared their personal journeys, often emotional, about their experiences.

This book is for everyone. If you know a pregnant woman who has had a difficult time, tell her about this book. Spread the word. If you know of a pregnant woman who is a single mother, this book is for her, spread the word. If you know of an older mom who has wanted to have a baby for a long time, spread the word. If you know of a happy couple who is beginning their new family, spread the word. If you know of a woman who is struggling with her new body, spread the word. This book can be seen, even though we don’t have a huge marketing budget, even though we don’t have a large publisher. This book will reach people because friends see it and tell their friends. Girl friends read it and think, this will be great for my girlfriend. Husbands will give it to their wives. So please help spread the word. There is a woman somewhere who needs to read this book.



For more stories about pregnancy and birth, check out my new book, Portraits of Pregnancy: The Birth of a Mother available-signed- from our website www.jenniferloomis.com or from Amazon

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We also have amazing stories on our website under "Our Mothers' Stories."