Writing Books

Solomon said,  "Be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body."  

I am a believer.  I have just finished book three and am torn between the necessary busy work of negotiating with the publisher to get it into print and writing book four.  I had much rather write book 4.  And I am convinced, without scientific sampling, that there are more people writing books these days than there are people reading them.  The print on demand industry, which claims to be on the way to running the traditional publishers out of business, has opened the door for thousands of wannabes like me to get their books into print, dependant only on the writer's own ingenuity to find readers willing to invest the time to read their books.  Part of the problem is most writers, like me, had much rather write more books than tell people about the ones they already have in print.  And the few I know of who are trying to market their books are doing so in such a persistently obnoxious manner that they have turned me off to ever investigating one of them.

Book 3, I think, is a necessary piece.  I was really excited about it when I started it, and I enjoyed writing it.  It is about the peace Jesus promised his followers.  It calls for us to be at peace in a very unpeaceful world.  It contrasts that with how unpeaceful we seem to many non-Christian observers, particularly around the leading social issues of the day.  The book puts forth the proposition that God did not call us to legislate people into righteousness, but rather called us to teach people to love God and follow His lead.  After dealing with fear and anger, the book illustrates the proposition with such topics as abortion, same sex marriages, war and immigration.  It is an exciting idea.  But now that it is written, I am ready to move on.

Book 4 is about good news.  When I think of the requirement Jesus laid on us to spread good news to all the world, I get nervous.  In this book I want to explore those feelings.  Why am I reluctant?  If it really is good news, why am I not excited about telling people.  I think I have some important answers that I want to share.  I am ready to write.

But now I have to put on my marketing hat.  I need to catch a wave on the internet and ride it to literary success.  Otherwise I will not be able to share my excitement over these books (and #s 1 & 2) with very many people.  And I did write them with the hope that folks would read them and be changed by them.  So I am off to Facebook and Twitter and my blog and my web site to spread the news that another good book will soon be in print.