Although Jacobs escaped from slavery at age 27, she did not write her book until nearly 10 years later, following numerous attempts to gain support for the publication of her manuscript. She had initially sought support from Harriet Beecher Stowe, who had gained renown with her publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin. But instead of helping her, Stowe offered to include Jacobs' story in her book, The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Disappointed and determined to tell her own story, Jacobs began compiling her narrative in 1853, completing it in 1858.
After traveling to Boston to obtain letters to abolitionists abroad, she sailed to England to sell her book. She was unsuccessful, and she returned home and approached Boston publisher, Phillips and Sampson, who agreed to accept the manuscript, and then went bankrupt. Undaunted, Jacobs sent her manuscript to Thayer and Eldridge, another Boston publisher, who agreed to publish it on the condition that it included a preface from Lydia Maria Child. Jacobs' friend, William C. Nell, introduced Jacobs to Child, who agreed to write the preface and act as Jacobs' editor. Shortly after the contract is signed (with Child acting for Jacobs), Thayer and Eldridge also went bankrupt.
At this point, Jacobs decided to purchase the plates of her book and publish it herself. It was finally published in 1861 by a third Boston printer. In 1862, the English edition, The Deeper Wrong, was published in London.
