What if there is another way?

For the writers: On small publishers and slow emergence

There has been much said lately on substack about the world of book publishing, creative work, the machine of Christian publishing in particular and the weariness of the writers. And basically, it’s all true. It’s broken. It’s valuable. It’s off kilter. It’s exhausting. It’s all marketing madness, plagiarism problems, numbers chasing, platform pushing, algorithm juggling insanity that leaves you feeling worn out at best, and more often, ready to throw in the towel altogether.

And yet, there is another way of navigating this world.

Since 2019 I have had the delight to be working with a smaller trade publishing house within the world of Christian publishing. And honestly, it’s pretty great. Every once in awhile I need to remind myself of that.

Most writers, when pressed, have admitted that their dream is to write, release and stay, as best we can, holed up in our writing rooms. Why can’t we just write the books we want, release them to the world and get back to the business of writing? And this is where I must confess that this is exactly what I am getting to do. I have released three books since 2020 and over these last four years I have spent the majority of my time and brain power on writing. WHAT A GIFT.

Chasing a contract with a big pub house has become its own kind of sport within the wild world of (Christian) publishing. It is a matter of clout. Yet when I speak to the writers who have gotten scooped up by the big ones there is such a level of disappointment and, dare I say, disgruntledness about them. I resist sharing about the beauty found within my own pub experience because it causes so much longing among the writers. Where they are neglected, I am ministered to. Where they feel burdened, I feel bolstered.

Do you know what is far more valuable than a large marketing budget? A publisher who believes in you as a writer, as a person.

Imagine an experience where you get to release a book and not worry about sales numbers? It’s not that you don’t want the book to sell well, because of course we all do, but the pressure about it is non-existent. Actually.

Small publishing houses might just be the thing that saves publishing. They allow for writers to write from a place totally void of striving. My experience has been one of deep care, partnership and collaboration. And most glorious of all, freedom.

I wonder if this is the world as Eugene Peterson knew it in the 80s and 90s? Writing and releasing the books in his heart and then going back to the life before him. It seems possible that it was. And somehow, my experience has been pretty similar.

Living the writer life in this way takes more personal resolve than I care to admit, even with the beauty of a small publisher. Such a vocational life, today, requires unyielding blinders. The shiny lights of social media are always on; the algorithm taunts with exposure; the ratings and reviews and accolades beckon. The pull of it is often too great and I get swept up in to the madness. But then, I recall I have this gift of a writing experience and I don’t want to muck it up. And I take a deep breath and remember that a different path has been graciously, generously laid out before me.

At a writer’s retreat this past January one of the dear ones that had gathered with me said I was given the gift of “slow emergence.” And she is right. Without the wild expectations of a larger publisher I get to enter into this world of vocational writing at exactly the pace that is best for my soul, and dare I say, best for everyone’s soul. Big, splashy releases do not allow for this. Perhaps this is part of the burnout of both reader and writer alike. The damage to the soul of the collective writer is starting to show.

Making much (or anything) of my path to writing is a terribly uncomfortable thing for me. Not because I am astounded by my success or savviness, but rather that I am overcome with the generosity I have encountered. So I tend to keep all this to myself.

But it does seem that such an experience can, and does, exist today, requires us to talk about it. This better way. Sometimes we don’t know things are possible until someone else has gone before. This is a path I am really grateful to say, I have walked. It is possible to move through this vocation in such a manner that does not require formulaic writing, snappy socials and being used up and spit out by the machine. It really is. And I will take that kind of success story any day.

Writer, be of good cheer. Tend yourself, seek the environments that cause thriving and do not chase the wrong success. Your very soul is at sake.

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Elements of all this not mentioned above yet critical to the analysis of the Christian book publishing world:

1. Working for free-this is a whole essay in and of itself

2. The marketing and commodification of the dream of a book-again, another essay

3. Writing communities-so so much to say here

4. Platform-yuck

My newest book, Peace in the Dark is available wherever books are sold. Might I suggest supporting an independent bookstore such as The Bookshelf

And of course at Amazon (reviews welcome!)

You can pickup my other books Life Surrendered or Break Bread Together:

Available wherever books are sold: Amazon | Leafwood