This past week Seth Godin wrote that real-time news is neither. He said, “Go watch an hour of cable news from a year ago… what were they yelling about that we actually care about today?”
It made me think about my field of youth ministry and the books that we clamor for and trumpet each year. Some received a LOT of press when they came out but today are rarely mentioned or discussed. Others have seemed timeless and continue to inform the field. Others may not have sold as many copies, but have a devoted following.
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Posted on Monday, March 4th, 2013 at 7:11 AM in YOUTH MINISTRY. 8 comments
I recently served as a guest-presenter in a seminar titled “Writing for Youth Ministry” at the National Youth Workers Convention in Dallas, Texas. Ginny Olson, publisher for Youth Specialties (Zondervan print) was the speaker, but she asked David A. Zimmerman (Editor at InterVarsity Press) and me to join her speak about writing for the niche market of youth ministry and how the writing business is changing. And, wow, is that business changing!
Ginny and I did a similar seminar in San Diego earlier where we detailed the amount of work that an author has to do to first sell his/her book idea to an agent or editor. We followed that by discussing what is required of authors to then promote the books and how publishing companies will usually invest very little, if any at all, to market the books beyond their sales distribution. In fact, more than ever, nonfiction authors (unless they’re known well) have to make the case to publishing companies that they will market a book well.
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Posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 at 6:23 AM in CONNECT EFFECTIVELY. No comments
The end of 2010 brought to close an end of a chapter for youth ministry, and I’m not sure how many noticed. Youth Specialties’ story continues, but a chapter of that story has come to an end. The next chapter may be just as exciting and dynamic, but we are turning a page here in the world of youth ministry.
For nearly four decades, Youth Specialties produced some of the most helpful books for youth ministry leaders, dramatically shaping (and championing) the practice youth ministry around the world. From Ideas books (that helped local youth workers be creative), to nurturing and provocative titles (that helped heal and prod youth workers), to academic titles that provided a solid foundation for the next generation of youth ministry leaders, YS publishing walked closely with youth workers, listened, and responded. And risked. They lived on the ‘frontlines’ with youth workers.
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Posted on Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 at 10:40 AM in YOUTH MINISTRY. 7 comments
Yesterday I began my tenth year as a full-time college professor. I truly enjoy the teaching/writing life and the students who come to Bethel College each year. The college has grown so fast that we’ve had to restructure how we administrate it and I oversee the Department of Religion and Philosophy, a position that has been called “Chair” then “Dean” and now “Chair” again.
Each year I receive a fair amount of self-published books by authors who want us to adopt their work as a textbook. The letter or Emails usually plea that our students must read the invaluable resource, it covers what’s missing from most other books, or the urgency of the material wasn’t worth waiting two years for traditional publishing routes. And some of this may be accurate. The problem is that it is highly unlikely a self-published book will be taken seriously by the academic community. Though I’m sure some of the books have lovely writing, stellar research, and may truly focus on material overlooked by more mainstream texts , there is little or no chance that I would adopt a self-published book. And I don’t know of any other college, seminary, or university doing the same (the only exception exists when a professor uses his/her own text in a class).
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Posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 5:05 AM in CONNECT EFFECTIVELY. No comments
There’s a joke among literary agents that they can’t share with people what they do as a job or they get overrun by folks pitching them book ideas for publication. Some will corner them in restrooms, on elevators, in airplanes, and over the phone. Some of the stories they tell are hilarious. And sometimes scary. Seems like everyone has a book idea – from taxi cab drivers to dentists.
I’m amazed how often I meet people who really ARE interested in writing a book and how many of those have one in process. This isn’t a post to snuff out any dreams – this is how it starts! It does take a significant amount of work and it’s overwhelmingly competitive for fiction writers. Some hopeful authors resort to self-publishing to get their work out, especially in nonfiction books. This is the buzz out there in the publishing world. It’s physically easier to produce books now without having to fight for an agent’s or editor’s approval. Buoyed by stories like that of THE SHACK, which was largely unnoticed for years as a self-published book before topping the New York Times bestseller list for weeks, fiction authors are considering this route more and more.
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Posted on Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 5:28 AM in YOUTH MINISTRY. 2 comments
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