Why I Revised Exit the Maze

By Dr. Donna Marks

During the second half of my life, I’ve learned to trust that there’s a collaborative spiritual force to help me achieve worthy goals. All major successes have been achieved through doing the footwork, then waiting to receive the next arrow pointing me in the correct direction. Writing Exit the Maze has been one of a series of miraculous events that demonstrates this invisible force.

Exit the Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure was first written with the help of an editor I’d met at a publicity summit, while pitching my first book: Learn, Grow, Forgive: A Path to Spiritual Success. We instantly connected, and shortly after that, I signed up for her upcoming workshop to develop a theme for my next book. Three months later, Exit the Maze was in hand. Since the book was self-published, I was responsible for marketing, which was something I knew nothing about. My marketing team had always been word of mouth. But now, in addition to a primary career as a psychotherapist, and an additional business to run, I buckled down and hired a marketing team. It didn’t take long to realize this was expensive and not nearly as effective as stepping back and letting the universe work its magic. I stopped the campaign. But all was not lost. One of my advisors had suggested a third book, and I also entered Exit the Maze in national contests landing 23 awards. Then, I waited for the next opportunity to present itself. Doubts tried to invade my hopes, but my trust in that divine force was strong, and I knew things would work out.

A few months later, I was in a jewelry store with a broken necklace that needed to be restrung. While chatting with the owner, he said, “You should meet my wife. She’s in a similar business as you.” A couple of months later, she and I met for lunch and shared our life stories. Then COVID hit. I didn’t panic. I knew this disaster had a silver lining. While meditating, I was inspired to do two things: shift my psychotherapy practice to concierge and write that third book previously suggested by the marketing advisor. Every morning I wrote a few pages of The Healing Moment.

Here's where the real magic takes place. The jeweler's wife contacted me about a year after our first meeting. She’d been going through some personal challenges and hadn’t had a chance to get together again. During our second lunch, she asked how Exit the Maze was doing. After mentioning the book awards, I practically passed out from shock when she said, “You should meet my friend. She’s a book agent.” I was on a Zoom call with Devra within hours, and she took me on. I was ecstatic. Soon, Devra introduced me to Michele and Richard at Beyond Words Publishing to discuss The Healing Moment. During that call, they agreed to publish it, and then, when Richard asked if I would consider revising Exit the Maze, I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. “Yes, Yes, Yes!” I replied. Tears of gratitude flooded me. After the call, I was on my knees, thanking the universe for these gifts.

The revision was an exciting process. There was so much I’d wished I said in the first manuscript, and now I could. Plus, the book was being edited by a team of experts that could only make it better. It takes one person to write the message, but it takes a team to tell the world.