Exploring Books, Life, and Writing
The other day one of our editors, Dave Zimmerman, came to me with a proposal from a prospective author for a book. It was on prayer, mission, evangelism, the history of global Christianity, the future of Christianity, the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God and justice.
I looked at Dave and said, “First-Book Syndrome.” He grimly nodded in agreement.
What is First-Book Syndrome?
Continue reading “The First-Book Syndrome”
Joe Klein wrote in his book Politics Lost that maybe the reason Al Gore lost the 2000 election is that he listened to political handlers too much. They massaged and homogenized his message so much that it felt flabby. Gore was passionate about the environment but the polling said the public was not. So, don’t talk about global warming, Al.
Continue reading “Integrity and Mission”
Recently an author told me, “After I finished writing my book, I thought my job was done. I then discovered that my job was only half done.”
Continue reading “Why Publishers Rely on Authors More Than Ever”
Earlier I blogged about market research and how expensive it can be. Here’s one source that is free (for now!).
Continue reading “TitleZ Is a Handy Tool”
In another blog I promised to wrestle the serial comma into abject submission. Watch and be amazed.
Many writers and grammarians and punctuationists have traditionally preferred adding a comma before the word and in a list. So, for example, they would write, “I had bananas, blueberries, and strawberries on my corn flakes this morning.” (This, of course, is not to be confused with the cereal comma.)
At InterVarsity Press, we have a general policy of not using a serial comma. Many are horrified, disgusted, shocked, dismayed, repulsed and find themselves on antidepressants as a result of this. Why have we done so?
Continue reading “The Serial Comma and the Plagues of Egypt”
One of the dirty little secrets of publishing is that publishers often do market research by publishing books.
If a publisher wants to know what customers are interested in reading or buying, doing full-blown market research can be expensive. You probably need to get professionals involved with focus groups or surveys with all manner of scientific, sociological number crunching. It can easily cost $20,000, $30,000 or $100,000 for even a modest project. Because of this, often publishers will cooperate through a trade association or other umbrella group and buy in to a project.
Continue reading “Market Research by Publishing Books”
For most people, no matter how exciting the change is, the big meaning of change is loss. I once heard a pastor tell how he implemented needed changes. His church had become calcified and stuck in its ways. It needed to break out of its doldrums. But there was resistance, of course. How did he move forward?
Continue reading “Honoring the Past to Reach the Future”
Have you ever noticed that when people don’t like a decision, they start obsessing about process? They complain about the timing of an announcement (not on a Friday but on a Monday) or how it was made (it shouldn’t have been via email but on paper, not via paper but in person, not in a large group but one on one) or how they weren’t adequately consulted or that they didn’t know a decision was about to be made.
Continue reading “Gaining Buy-In”
It’s dangerous, of course, to impose any mode of thinking on Jesus. It is his mode of thinking that should be imposed on us.
I suppose it is doubly dangerous when talking about business models.
Continue reading “What Would Jesus Delegate?”
Most supervisors (myself included) tend to lean on one style of leadership. You find what works for you, and you stick with it. Or, worse yet, even if it doesn’t work, you stick with it anyway. You’ve fallen into one pattern out of habit or because it makes you comfortable (even if it makes those who work for you uncomfortable).
Continue reading “The One-Note Manager”