Good news: I’m just one chapter away from having an entire manuscript. That will be the chapter about redeployment–title to be decided–and I’m asking for input (see below).

Bad news: I still have lots of work to do, including fixing some draft chapters, (also see below) lots of editing throughout, preparing maps, pulling together notes and references, etc, etc. And I need to find a publisher.

More good news: I submitted my first ‘query letter’ to a publisher today. I’ll be reaching out to others soon. I’ve discovered that it’s common practice for a non-fiction author to query multiple publishers. So if anyone knows about an agent or publisher that works with military history writers, please contact me.

More bad news: The publishing industry is notoriously slow, so I don’t know how long it will really take to get a printed book out the other end of this process. I do think its worth going through it, though, so the book can reach more people. It’s a great story, one that deserves a wider audience.

Here’s where I need help, especially from you vets who were there:

Stories about redeployment – I’m looking for your accounts about pulling out of Camp Gannon and Camp Al-Qaim in early Sep 2005, going through Al-Asad and Kuwait, then back to Camp Lejeune. Particularly, I want to hear about your thoughts and feelings on the way back, when you arrived in the States and in the days after returning home.

Chapter Revisions/rewrites – I’m going to be revising several chapters, and recontacting certain sources. Specifically, I’ll be reworking ‘Target Softening’ so will be reaching out to guys from Reaper as I do that.

Permissions – If I contact you asking for permission to use a quote, please reply to me quickly. Early on I committed to all sources quoted in the book that I’d get their express permission before I published their quotes. Please help me meet that commitment by quickly responding when I contact you.

–Ajax