by
|
I |
f you want a real adventure, publish your own book. If nothing else, you’ll learn a lot about the politics and costs of publishing. Several years ago I wrote a book – Because There Was No Shepherd – and published it myself. It cost me big bucks to print about 2000 copies of the book, which I believed contained an important message for alienated Christians of all denominational stripes. By various means, I managed to move about 600 copies of the book into the hands of readers. Then it stopped. I had saturated the limited markets to which I had access. I couldn’t afford to advertise on the scale that would have been required to expose the book to other markets. So I have a garage full of books.
The idea of publishing the book wasn’t to make money. I knew better than that. I had, however, hoped to at least break even – to recover my costs. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon.
Nor was the book an ego trip. I honestly felt that I had a message that was, and is, vital to the thousands of Christians who have been alienated by negative church experiences.
Mind you, I’m not whining - I’m just issuing a cautionary note to those who would follow the self-publishing path. Just about every literate person I know who has shared the experience of Armstrongism has a book in him or her. I’ve even been invited to ghostwrite a few of them. Be assured that for the most part it’s a losing proposition – both for the bylined “author” and the ghostwriter.
Self-publishing is necessary if you’re not a “name” writer – that is, if you don’t have celebrity status and a built-in captive audience that will buy your book. It is also necessary if your book contains an unorthodox message. By unorthodox I mean esoteric and not in sync with mainstream evangelical or liberal theology.
Of course big name writers can get away with flying in the face of their denomination if what they write is sufficiently controversial. The name Bishop Spong of the Episcopalian church comes to mind.
When it comes to the authoritarian Churches of God Pod, if your book asserts something contrary to the doctrine of any one of them, the leadership of that group will speak against your book, and the whole denomination will then screen it out of their reading list. Only a few hardy souls on the rebellious fringe will have the courage to read it. (I guess that’s the “forbidden fruit syndrome.”) Anyway, the point is, taking exception to any doctrine further reduces your audience. Many people tend to want to hear confirmed what they already believe.
In mainstream publishing, there is a notable exception: if you are an obscure, but competent, writer who is willing to draft an expose on a celebrity Christian, you’re in like Flynn. There’s a big market for that kind of literary pond scum. The more salacious a book is, the better publishers like it. So if you have no shame, then rake muck and go mainstream.
Another kind of book that sells very well is the celebrity Christian confessional. If a big name Christian falls from grace, then repents, and returns to the pulpit, his story will be in demand – even if its ghostwritten. Readers love “juicy” personal details. The more the book includes, the better it will sell. I guess it’s the closest thing to Christian porn that we have.
Here’s another disturbing fact: About 80 percent of the business of Bible bookstores isn’t books – it’s Christian trinkets, idols, pictures, plaques, jewelry, cards, audio and video tapes and teaching materials. About 20 percent of the business of Bible bookstores comes from books – and some 80 percent of those carry a celebrity byline. It’s the name that sells the book, not the contents or the book’s literary quality. Even more shocking is the fact that many, if not most, celebrity Christians don’t actually write their own books – staff members, friends, relatives and professional ghostwriters write them. I know of one writer who ghostwrites books for celebrity Christian sports figures. He seems to make a good living at it too. On one occasion some years ago, I was introduced, as a writer, to the well-known pastor of what later became a “mega-church.” The first words out of this big name pastor were, “Oh, a writer; perhaps you can help me with my book!”
I’m not saying that ghostwriting for celebrity Christians is unethical, though some believe that it is. I’m just pointing out some of the ugly realities of Christian publishing.
Many of the books that appear under celebrity bylines are devoid of meaningful content. To add insult to injury, some of them are poorly written and lacking substance. They sell because of who wrote them, not because of what they say or how well they say it.
If you ever visit a Christian booksellers convention (I have several times), you’re in for a form of culture shock. They are zoos. Celebrity writers sit at tables in front of which are long lines of people waiting to have them autograph their latest book – no matter what it’s about. The crass commercialism of these fairs is enough to turn your stomach. Talk about a “salvation supermarket.” Every thing and everyone, it seems, is for sale. Christian publishers, and Christian business people, if they are successful, are every bit as pragmatic and cold-blooded as their worldly counterparts. They will do what it is in their interests to do, and nothing else. The purpose of these conventions is relentless, aggressive, in-your-face self-promotion. It’s hard selling at it’s best – or worst.
Returning to the Churches of God “market,” I discovered
another interesting thing: the people whom I thought would help me distribute
my book didn’t, and folks I’d never heard of, did. A gaggle of neat people in
A writer I am (well kinda), a marketer I’m not. If you’re going to write and publish your own book, you’d better commit to putting in just as much energy into marketing it as you did writing it. The world is full of good books that are gathering dust in warehouses, and bad books that have become bestsellers. The difference is marketing. If you’re a non-celebrity like I am, you’ll find that selling books is much like multi-level marketing: once you’ve given away copies to your relatives and friends, the demand drops off dramatically.
My advice to you is this: If you want to publish your own book, and you know up front that you can’t sell enough copies to cover your costs, don’t do it. It’s money down a rat hole – unless you’re independently wealthy and you can afford to “ego-publish.” (It’s not called “the vanity press” for nothing.)
Having written all the above, there is one more thought I’d like to project on the subject. If you feel that you have been led by the Holy Spirit to write a book – or anything for that matter – you’d better write it. I certainly felt that I was led to write the book that I did. I still feel that way, and I believe that the Holy Spirit will also get it into the hands of the people God wants to read it. It may take years or even decades, but it will happen.
In printing
2000 copies, I may have overestimated the number of people God wanted to read
it. If it turns even a few lives around, it will have been worth the effort and
the investment. For instance, I know of one pastor up in
Writing and publishing your own book can take years of your life. If God is involved in it, it will produce good fruit no matter how bleak the economics of it. If God is not involved in it, then there’s no point in writing it. It’s just another book and the world is full of those.