I will cut straight to the good news: I completed revisions of my manuscript and sent them to my editor at Eerdmans in February, and they were accepted. The book is now officially in production, and Lord-willing it will be published by spring of 2024!
I have not posted to this site for several months because I was uncertain about the future of the project. The anonymous reader’s report I received from the publisher last year was almost entirely critical and negative, and it was a challenge to respond to all the comments. I ultimately did not change everything that he or she indicated needed to be changed. This spring I was telling people at Trinity when they asked that I thought that there was a non-zero possibility that I would be looking for another publisher. I am very glad that the series editors for The Library of Religious Biography decided to approve the revised manuscript. I found out that things were moving forward on March 3, right before Trinity’s spring break.
During break, I put together information for Eerdmans’s marketing department about myself, about the book, and about the book’s expected audience. I also gave my ideas about the cover. One thing that the publisher has insisted upon is that the book’s title be changed. So my title, “On the Pilgrim Way”: The Faith of Laura Ingalls Wilder has been changed to A Prairie Faith: The Religious Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. They believed that 1) her years growing up on the prairie years were formative for Laura, 2) the word “prairie” connects readers to her literary legacy, and 3) the prairie landscape evokes Wilder’s steadfast but reserved faith. While I did like my title—it was the title of a chapter in By the Shores of Silver Lake and connected to a hymn by Fanny Crosby, my father’s favorite hymnwriter—I can get behind the new title for these reasons.
Next steps include copyediting, layout, and proofreading. I also need to write an index for the book.
Thanks again to everyone for your support and engagement.
Links:
The Library of Religious Biography
The Faith of Laura Ingalls Wilder 
Congratulations, John, on staying the course with presenting this important aspect of beloved author, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Your writing is respectful and doesn’t “sugar-coat” or idealize her life and faith. I look forward to reading your book next year! Blessings!
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Thanks, Connie. I’ve appreciated your encouragement very much!
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Good Luck! I’m looking forward to reading it next year.
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Thanks much!
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I am 72 years old. I read the little house books as a child. I have a recollection that I am now wondering if I dreamed reading it in one of the books or if it was edited out. I thought that I read about a sermon where Rev. Brown asked the congregation to burn their fingers so they would feel a small sample of what heaven was like. Have you had the opportunity to read first editions? No one in my circle remembers reading about the burned finger.
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Thanks for reading my blog and for commenting. No, I have never read about Pastor Brown telling the congregation to burn their finger, and I’ve read the original manuscripts and the completed book. I’m not sure where it might have come from.
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I meant to write to see what hell was like.
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Thanks for replying,I must have dreamed it, I have wondered about it for years.
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