Wise words for the writers of books

In his preface to his 1950 book The Divine Conquest, A. W. Tozer says this: "The only book that should ever be written is one that flows up from the heart, forced out by the inward pressure. When such a work has gestated within a man it is almost certain that it will be written. The man who is thus charged with a message will not be turned back by any blase considerations. His book will be to him not only imperative, it will be inevitable."

A Writer's Conference to Consider

The first annual Portals Writers Conference at Corban University (in Salem, Oregon) will be held  June 21-24, 2012.
Find at more at http://www.corban.edu/news/2011-12/0223WritersConference.html, http://www.corban.edu/wordworks/writers-conference.html, and related pages.

'My thoughts go circling round a tree...'

Books tumbled off a shelf I was cleaning this Good Friday afternoon, and spilled out a faded copy of an old cherished favorite, with perfect timing -- Ringwald's "Greater Love":
"He once hung there upon a tree,
A man hung there for love of me;
Upon a leafless, fruitless tree
They nailed Him fast for you and me.
Upon the bare and graceless rood
A young man, fearless, strong and free
They nailed unto the naked wood;
There God made man was stretched for me.
Upon the stark and straightened tree
A burden hangs in agony;
A criminal there pays His fee to politics and piety.
And when spring spills her gold to see
By sinners sad and stained as we
My thoughts go circling round a tree
Where Love spent all its wealth on me.
They nailed Him to the lifeless tree,
A young man, fearless, strong and free,
Who there, in willing agony,
Gave all His love for you and me."

Year-end Praise for Two Special Books

I'm grateful to see the honor given to two books I recently edited.

----John Hendryx, in a year-end newsletter from Monergism Books, includes Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian (published by Crossway) on his list of the "10 Best Books of 2011."

----Hendryx also gives "honorable mention" to Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes" by Voddie Baucham (also published by Crossway).

Congratulations, Tullian and Voddie, and Crossway!

UPDATE (Friday afternoon, Dec. 30):

I just read that Tullian's Jesus + Nothing = Everything has won the 2012 Christianity Today Book Award in the "Christian Living" category. More good news--and further congratulations to Tullian and Crossway!

Why seek professional editing help for your book?

In our culture that so loves do-it-yourself, book publishing is becoming more do-it-yourself than ever. In so many ways, that's a good thing. You, as an author, can now be far more in control of both the process and the product than was possible, or even conceivable, not too many years ago.

So when it comes to your very own manuscript which you want the world to see and enjoy at once, why bother seeking help on it from a professional editor? Why commit the time and money?

Here are 5 random answers:

1. First, no one is a perfect writer or self-editor. You can be assured your manuscript has flaws that are invisible to you--places where the reader gets stalled or confused or bored, or strays from your intended meaning. As the author, you're simply too close to your manuscript to clearly see those. An editor's fresh, professional eyes can spot the vast majority of them and fix them, or help you fix them.

2. Your book isn't ultimately about you--it's about your readers. An editor's job is to be the advocate for your readers--and you owe that to them, for their sake.

3. Although your mother and all your best friends have pronounced your manuscript to be perfect just the way it is, the sad truth is that they simply can't be trusted on this. Only someone who doesn't know you can maintain the objectivity required to make the most of your manuscript.

4. In the grand scheme of things, the time it takes a good editor to process your manuscript is not really that long. Making your book better is well worth a delay of a few weeks, or a month or two at most.

5. The better your manuscript already is, the more likely a good editor can do what's necessary to help your book reach the upper echelons of high quality, long life, and lasting impact.

Grateful

I'm approaching the five-year mark since starting "BookOx" and becoming a free-lancer. Very grateful to the Lord for a steady supply of jobs, and new ones coming my way. Grateful as well for learning many lessons (often the hard way!) about my work capacity and job-flow issues.
THANK YOU, LORD GOD for your grace and mercy and constant encouragement, expressed through Your Word as well as through so many of Your servants who I've been privileged to work with.

Crossway Releases Tchividjian's "Surprised by Grace"

I just received printed copies from Crossway of Tullian Tchividjian's book "Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels," which I had the privilege of co-authoring with Tullian.

Tullian is as relentless in proclaiming and explaining the gospel as God is in pursuing rebels, and it brought significant fulfillment for me to work on this project with him.

My part was to start with transcripts of Tullian's sermons on the book of Jonah, then to craft and arrange that content into book chapters. I also researched and added support from various biblical commentaries on Jonah -- plus a great deal of illustrative themes and narrative and transitions, much of it based on the way the Jonah story has been perceived and retold down through the centuries in the visual arts (especially sculpture and painting) and in literature. I wove in explorations of works by folks ranging from Raphael to Salvador Dali, and from Herman Melville to Robert Frost, and many other artists and writers. (By the way, Crossway has included color reproductions in the book of many of the works of art mentioned in the text.)
I also included perspectives on Jonah from men of God such as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Spurgeon.

I set up the flow and structure of the book to try to retell the story of Jonah--as much as possible--as if we were reading or hearing it for the very first time.

What a rewarding project this was! My thanks to Tullian and to Crossway for allowing me to be a part.