An unclear decision... what to do?

Alex H. · May 19, 2019

Dear Christian friends,

For the past few years I've been entertaining the idea of writing and perhaps even self-publishing a Christian book about the Bible. I think the idea initially came about when a friend that was new to the faith wanted to understand the Bible a little more. I decided to write a little more about my faith and show the underlying themes/prophecies and connections to Jesus in the Old Testament. Step forward a year or two later I decided to revise what I initially wrote and ended up studying and writing even more. I had a lot of fun in the process and felt it was a way I could express my faith down on paper. For me it was just a hobby and that perhaps one day I'd share it with a small circle of friends and family. As of the current moment I'm left with a completed manuscript and am thinking it could be a useful tool in spreading the gospel forward. I'm not exactly sure what God wants me to do with it. Or even if He wants me to do anything with it at all.

Realistically it probably won't be picked up by a traditional publisher. I lack all credentials, I'm not a pastor nor do I have a degree in divinity. I've never been to seminary. I'm just an individual that has been studying the Bible deeply for a very long time now. So a traditional publishing route is out of the question.

However, I can pursue self publishing. But then the question becomes the same as the above. Why would anyone pick up my book? Though we all know God can do anything. Finding the right editor and all the extra things that go along with publishing a book is very costly. We're looking in the $3000 - $5000 range (maybe even more) and doing such a thing is a very risky bet. I would like to share my faith with people and progress the God's kingdom and His agenda here on earth. I'm not interested in making any money off of it. The main concern is if I do sink in all that money and no one ever reads it then that is wasted money that could have been used elsewhere in progressing the gospel.

How do you know God is calling you to do something? Sure I can go ahead and step out in bold "faith" since we all know God can do anything. But at the same time I need to be a faithful steward of the resources God has given me and get the most bang for the buck in progressing God's kingdom here on earth. Thus this may not be the right thing to do.

What would you do?

Thanks!!

jacks · May 19, 2019

If you aren't interested in making money you could use Copy Left. HERE is another site that talks about it in more detail. It was originally set up for Open Source software, but it is often used for written works too.

Alex H. · May 19, 2019

jacks said:
If you aren't interested in making money you could use Copy Left. HERE is another site that talks about it in more detail. It was originally set up for Open Source software, but it is often used for written works too.

Thanks Jacks! It does seem very software centric but I'll read more on it.
All pieces of literature it should be reviewed by a professional editor. This is going to be bulk of the cost. Even if I want to publish it completely free, I'm hesitant to publish something without it first going through some sort of review.

maintenance man · May 19, 2019

You can publish an ebook for free on Amazon: Kindle Direct Publishing

Alex H. · May 19, 2019

maintenance man said:
You can publish an ebook for free on Amazon: Kindle Direct Publishing

Yes I'm definitely going to use KDP. Now that I think about it, I suppose my entire question boils down to whether or not it should be professionally edited first. It is around 260 pages in length and I am sure there will be grammatical/punctuation errors or even repetitive ideas/statements. But maybe I should just test the waters first and see how many ebook downloads I get. If people download it maybe it would be worth spending some money on getting it professionally polished. This might be the right route to take.

maintenance man · May 19, 2019

Alex H. said:
It is around 260 pages in length and I am sure there will be grammatical/punctuation errors or even repetitive ideas/statements.

That's a lot of pages.

Have you thought about starting a blog in which you deliver this material a few pages at a time? In that case, you might find friends or family who would be willing to proofread a few pages a week for free. Finding an editor you can trust is very, very hard. You really need to be your own editor and cut your manuscript down to the absolute best material.

The other thing a blog can do is build an audience for you. If you just publish your book on KDP with no built in audience only your friends and family are likely to buy or read it and in some cases they might be a hard sell.

Unless you are really good at doing online interviews to sell your book. Then you might have some traction if the material is new and different in some way.

Alex H. · May 20, 2019

maintenance man said:
That's a lot of pages.

Have you thought about starting a blog in which you deliver this material a few pages at a time? In that case, you might find friends or family who would be willing to proofread a few pages a week for free. Finding an editor you can trust is very, very hard. You really need to be your own editor and cut your manuscript down to the absolute best material.

The other thing a blog can do is build an audience for you. If you just publish your book on KDP with no built in audience only your friends and family are likely to buy or read it and in some cases they might be a hard sell.

Unless you are really good at doing online interviews to sell your book. Then you might have some traction if the material is new and different in some way.

Yep that's very good advice. It does appear that people who do eventually write books seem to already have an established audience on utube or blogs. That is if they are not already distinguished by the public in some other way. Either that or they have endorsements by many individuals that are established experts/authors in their respective areas. Hmmm.... perhaps this should just be something that is circulated within my immediate family and social circle. I'll have to think about this a bit more. Thanks maintenance man.

Pavel Mosko · May 20, 2019

Alex H. said:
What would you do?

Instead of publishing a book, I would make You-tube videos on your favorite topics as far as Bible commentary goes. If your really good, you may even be able to make a living off of it! (I'm not holding my breath on that for myself

).

Making audio recordings of your messages is another option. It's actually is a bit easier to work than making a video since you can read some things directly instead of worrying about how things look on camera.

Besides videos, Blogging here or on your own private Blog is another good avenue! I think this is a good place to get started for that because it cant take a while to get noticed on the Web, but you have people reading your stuff here right away, and it's free!

Skipping Stones And Telling Parables | Christian Forums

aiki · May 20, 2019

If God wants you to write and publish a book, He'll make it clear you ought to. God is not the Author of confusion, the apostle Paul wrote. Concerning His will, He's not interested in keeping us tangled up in uncertainty and mystery. And so, in His word, He's given us truth, spiritual principles, commands and wisdom through which He has expressed His will to us. Are you being careful to follow this biblical revelation of His will? It is in the midst of keeping His general will revealed in Scripture that His particular will just for you is discovered. God also opens or closes doors of opportunity and in so doing indicates which path we ought to travel. This entails material provision for whatever it is you believe He's directing you to do. Has he provided an editor? Has God provided an audience? Has He provided funds for publishing? Has He done so in a way that bears His divine stamp? Trust God to lead you clearly. Be willing to do whatever He indicates you should do (including never publishing your book). Walk well with Him. These are key to being in, and knowing, God's will.

Andrew77 · May 20, 2019

Alex H. said:
Dear Christian friends,

For the past few years I've been entertaining the idea of writing and perhaps even self-publishing a Christian book about the Bible. I think the idea initially came about when a friend that was new to the faith wanted to understand the Bible a little more. I decided to write a little more about my faith and show the underlying themes/prophecies and connections to Jesus in the Old Testament. Step forward a year or two later I decided to revise what I initially wrote and ended up studying and writing even more. I had a lot of fun in the process and felt it was a way I could express my faith down on paper. For me it was just a hobby and that perhaps one day I'd share it with a small circle of friends and family. As of the current moment I'm left with a completed manuscript and am thinking it could be a useful tool in spreading the gospel forward. I'm not exactly sure what God wants me to do with it. Or even if He wants me to do anything with it at all.

Realistically it probably won't be picked up by a traditional publisher. I lack all credentials, I'm not a pastor nor do I have a degree in divinity. I've never been to seminary. I'm just an individual that has been studying the Bible deeply for a very long time now. So a traditional publishing route is out of the question.

However, I can pursue self publishing. But then the question becomes the same as the above. Why would anyone pick up my book? Though we all know God can do anything. Finding the right editor and all the extra things that go along with publishing a book is very costly. We're looking in the $3000 - $5000 range (maybe even more) and doing such a thing is a very risky bet. I would like to share my faith with people and progress the God's kingdom and His agenda here on earth. I'm not interested in making any money off of it. The main concern is if I do sink in all that money and no one ever reads it then that is wasted money that could have been used elsewhere in progressing the gospel.

How do you know God is calling you to do something? Sure I can go ahead and step out in bold "faith" since we all know God can do anything. But at the same time I need to be a faithful steward of the resources God has given me and get the most bang for the buck in progressing God's kingdom here on earth. Thus this may not be the right thing to do.

What would you do?

Thanks!!

I meet guys all the time that are single, and I ask them how many girls have they asked out.... "none".

There was this one girl, who was super attractive. She was a model, that never modeled. Her husband, was like a 4/10 on the looks chart. Not particularly talented, basic job, middle class. I asked her how she got with him, when clearly dozens of other guys would love to be with her.

"He asked".

No one else asked her out.

There was one of those training seminars, where they interviewed the top sales people. This one guy, was a top sales in heavy machinery. $150,000 a year in commissions. He started out, selling encyclopedia Britannica, door to door. His advice, sell everything to anyone. You have to brave the doors being shut in your face 100 times, to get the one guy that buys.

The Bible says in Psalms 37:23
"The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives."

The rudder on a boat is better example, but a car works as well. Have you ever turned the wheel of a car, that isn't moving? What does the car do? Nothing. In order for turning the steering wheel of your car, to have any effect on the car, the car must be moving. Sitting there in park, turning the wheel left and right, does absolutely nothing.

In order for that wheel to have any effect on the car, the car must be moving. Whether fast, or slow, it must be moving for the wheel to have an effect.

In order for the LORD to direct your steps, you must be taking steps. In order for a man to get the woman, he must ask her out. In order for you to make any sales, you have to make your sales pitch.

No one wins anything, unless they try to win.

Now that means you could fail. The woman could say no. The customer could shut the door on you. And you could spend $3,000 on this book, and not sell a single copy.

But you have to try, or I can guarantee you won't win. There is never a guarantee of success in life. But there is a guarantee of failure, if you don't try.

Failure is part of life. I would write the book, and if it doesn't work out, you just try something else. It's only money. G-d can provide more money if it is needed.

aiki · May 20, 2019

"Just Do It" might work as a life principle for Nike, but it is not a particularly biblical way to operate. Did Moses just decide to lead the people of Israel out of bondage? Did he determine all on his own how he was going to free his people from the slavery of Egypt? Did he think to himself, "I just need to 'take steps' and let God deal with the fallout"? No. God approached Moses directly and unmistakably and very clearly told Moses what He wanted him to do. Did Abraham just take it into his head one day to be the progenitor of the nation of Israel? Did he say to himself, "Today I'm gonna' take a stab at being the father of a great nation"? No. The angel of the Lord visited Abraham and laid out what God's plan was for Abraham. How about King David? Did he try to become king of Israel all on his own? Was becoming king all David's idea? Not at all. He was appointed by God to the position through the prophet Samuel. There was no confusion or uncertainty about what God's will was for David. Same goes for the twelve disciples of Jesus. They didn't just one day on a whim choose to follow Jesus. No Jesus directly and clearly called them to follow him. Paul, too, had a very plain and direct meeting with God that set him on the path to being God's ambassador and apostle to the Gentiles. There are plenty of other instances in Scripture where God makes His will for an individual perfectly plain. The idea, then, that you just need to put yourself out there with your book and see what happens does not conform to the pattern of Scripture. It is entirely possible to write a book, get it published, and have it become a bestseller and not be within God's will at all. If your goal is to follow God's will and not simply publish a book, then you need to wait on God to direct you plainly about whether or not you should write a book and publish it.

Pavel Mosko · May 20, 2019

Alex H. said:
Step forward a year or two later I decided to revise what I initially wrote and ended up studying and writing even more. I had a lot of fun in the process and felt it was a way I could express my faith down on paper.

I forgot to mention this. This sort of thing has been something I have looked into myself. Fortunately, I had the benefit of going to an Electronic Publishing seminar, and realized just how impractical traditional publishing is, and decided early that if I do write it is going to be as an E-book rather than an actual paper document.

Anyway you should also consider that, because Electronic publishing really saves not just cost, and other logistical problems like storage and distribution of your materials, but there is a chance you could actually make a little money on your work if you charge a small fee for the down load like 1-5$ to do it. One nice thing about the digital age is people don't mind spending a few bucks for the a down load so they are much more likely to do impulse buying on a book they can read on their Kindle or home computer than a full priced actual paper book.

Joined2krist · May 21, 2019

I think you should publish on Amazon for free, you can get an editor from a freelance website like fiverr or Upwork. I think if you want to get people to download your book on Amazon, then you should blog about it and post links to your page, you can also post links on forums like reddit and quora. God bless

An unclear decision... what to do?

New Member

Er Victus

New Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Arch-Dude of the Apostolic

Regular Member

The walking accident

Regular Member

Arch-Dude of the Apostolic

Well-Known Member

Similar threads