I Could Have Written That!

by Crystal Bowman
My first big break in publishing came in the mid 1990’s. I received a contract to write a beginning reader series for Zondervan. The first contract was for four books, followed by another contract for four more. With one contract I went from a self-published author of humorous poems, to a children’s author with a major publishing house. Those were the days before publishers’ websites and online ordering, so the CBA Convention was a mega event. The show lasted for almost a week and the exhibit halls were so massive that you could not see everything in one day. 
The first time I attended a CBA Convention, I was in awe of the size of the Christian publishing industry and honored to be part of it. As my husband and I explored the exhibit halls, examining the latest titles, I picked up a children’s book titled The Rhyme Bible. It was well-written and beautifully illustrated. But instead of celebrating a wonderful new product, I had a lump in my throat. I showed it to my husband and said, “I could have written that!” 
I shared my frustration with my editor and asked if she thought I should go ahead and write a Bible storybook in rhyme—after all, no one owns a genre. She gave me the green light and so I dove in headfirst, my fingers fluttering over the keyboard faster than a hummingbird’s wings. I knocked out the story of creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, and was working on Noah. And just for fun (which revealed my less than righteous attitude) I referred to it as The Better Rhyme Bible.
As I was creating the story of Noah and the Ark, I smiled as I wrote about the cows going moo, the owls hooting who, and a duck going quack with feathers on his back. And then I heard this voice somewhere inside my head. “If I wanted you to write The Rhyme Bible, your name would be on the cover.” My fingers froze on the keyboard. I realized that my motive for writing this book was not to honor God, but to prove that I am as good as another author. How could I expect God to bless that?
I called my editor and told her I had changed my mind about writing the Bible storybook. She said she was about to tell me they were not going to offer me a contract and dreaded delivering the news. We both decided it was not meant to be.
Shortly after that, Zondervan offered me a contract to write a new collection of humorous poems for kids. I said yes and wrote a book titled If Peas Could Taste Like Candy. In the years that followed I wrote children’s books for several different companies. Some of my books were in rhyme, and some were not. In 2006, I met Cindy Kenny, who at the time was a writer and editor for Veggie Tales. We put our two blonde heads together and wrote a proposal for My Read and Rhyme Bible Storybook. It was a Bible storybook in rhyme written for beginning readers. Tyndale House offered us a contract and it had a good shelf life for more than a decade. 
Throughout my 25+ years of writing and publishing, I have seen many children’s books that I could have written, and I have written many books that other authors could have written. I have learned to accept each contract I receive as a gift. I have also learned to celebrate with my author friends when they have new releases. And if God wants my name on a cover, it will be there. 
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Crystal Bowman is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 100 books for children and four nonfiction books for women. She also writes lyrics for children’s piano music and is a monthly contributor to Clubhouse Jr. Magazine. She loves going to schools to teach kids about poetry. She also speaks at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) groups and teaches workshops at writers’ conferences. When she is not writing or speaking, she enjoys going for walks, working out at the gym, and eating ice cream. She and her husband live in Michigan and have seven huggable grandkids. 
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