> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.chelseakimlong.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # I'm Writing a Book - URL: https://www.chelseakimlong.com/im-writing-a-book/ - Published: 2025-06-22T14:43:12.000Z - Updated: 2025-06-22T14:43:12.000Z - Description: I can't believe I forgot to officially tell you... - Author: Chelsea Long About a week ago I sent out my normal [mid-month email](https://www.chelseakimlong.com/5-books-for-june-2025/). About an hour later I got a text message from one of my oldest friends congratulating me for signing a book contract. She's not very active on social media, and hadn't seen my [announcement post on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJZddTCJwYz/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==). So consider this my official newsletter subscriber announcement: I get to write the book I desperately needed between 2015 and 2020, when I was painfully rebuilding my identity as a Christian woman from the ground up. I needed to know that there was another way to be a faithful Christian outside of the restrictions that I felt within patriarchal religious structures. I did eventually come to a new understanding of the world and myself, cultivating self-compassion, and learning to embody my Christian faith in a wildly different way than I was raised. In 2021, I decided to write a memoir. I quit a toxic job with no real plan. In 2022, I stepped into a new role with Parish Collective that began to heal my church hurt and remind me of my place with other Christians outside of my neighborhood faith community. That year I also wrote a 55,000 word manuscript about my simultaneous deconstruction and reproductive journeys (and also got back into therapy to process all of that). My dear friends [Erin](https://www.erinleeperkins.com/?ref=chelseakimlong.com) and Marissa served as my primary readers of those raw words on the page. In 2023 I wrote a book proposal for my memoir. Several friends in the publishing industry generously looked at it and helped me improve it (special thanks to [Sarah Carter](https://www.instagram.com/heysarahcarter/?hl=en&ref=chelseakimlong.com) and [Shannan Martin](https://www.shannanmartin.com/?ref=chelseakimlong.com)). Eventually, I learned that memoirs are nearly impossible to sell unless you’re famous or tragic, so I pivoted. (RIP *Meeting the Mother: On Being Born Again Into the Feminine Heart of God*, writing you was very therapeutic for me, and honestly, you *are* perfectly tragic). In 2023 I started coming into my identity as a lay theologian and neighborhood pastor and I rewrote the proposal with the help of [Gemma Hartley](https://www.gemmahartley.com/?ref=chelseakimlong.com) and [Shannan Evans](https://www.shannonkevans.com/?ref=chelseakimlong.com), focusing on the larger theological, cultural and other systemic issues beneath my story. Last October I signed with my agent [Morgan](https://www.morganstrehlow.com/?ref=chelseakimlong.com), and in February she started sending it to editors. In March I had calls to discuss the proposal with editors at two publishing houses, and in April I got an offer from Jessica at [Westminster John Knox](https://www.wjkbooks.com/?ref=chelseakimlong.com). In early May I signed the contract and got to writing! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/43/a9/43a9bfe2-3aa9-4a40-8bf6-2232f720d198/content/images/2025/06/announcement-blue.jpg) As of this morning I'm 25,000 words deep into my new manuscript and so thrilled that I get to write this book. It's set to publish in September 2026\. I solemnly swear to keep you in the loop, dear newsletter subscriber, and offer you news FIRST next time.