I have always wanted to write books. So far, I have written three, am in the process of writing four others, and have developed rough outlines for about twenty more.

You can’t find them on Amazon, or any other bookstore. Why not? Because they’re not published. But then, it’s hard to get published when you never submit any work to a publisher. I have never even submitted a query letter.

Part of this, I’m sure, is fear of rejection, but as I’ve thought about writing for publication over the past few years, I’m actually quite relieved those three books are not published. As I read them now, I shiver at some of what I wrote.  I have changed so much over the past few years in my beliefs and general approach to life, I would be ashamed of those books if they were in print now.

And so a part of me has hesitated to write anything else. What if I write something, and it gets published, and then I change again? If I can’t believe what I thought and taught ten years ago, what if the “me” of ten years from now feels the same way about the “me” of today?

But I’ve recently realized that it doesn’t matter. I need to write. I love to write. I just love writing. When I write, I write primarily for me. I write to think. I write to learn. I write to remember. I also write to amuse myself.

And so I don’t really care if anyone reads. Sure, I want people to read what I write, but if they don’t, it doesn’t matter. I will still write because I write primarily for me.

The problem, of course, is that publishing companies care if people read. They need people to read. If people don’t read what an author writes, publishing companies don’t make any money. So publishing companies don’t care too much about how good the content is, or if it is insightful, thought-provoking, or helpful. They are primarily concerned with one question: Will it sell?

And how do they know if something will sell? Generally, the main thing they look at is if the author already has a large audience. This is why most book deals go to radio personalities, famous politicians, rock stars, sports professionals, motivational speakers, and mega-church pastors. Such authors have a ready-made audience who will buy their book, even if the content stinks.

This is why no-name authors rarely get published, even if they have the greatest content in the world. Take The Shack by William P. Young. Though he submitted it to numerous publishing houses, nobody would publish it. Religious publishers thought it was too controversial, and secular publishers thought it was too religious. Nobody thought it would sell. After all, who was William P. Young? So he started his own publishing company, and the rest is history. One could fill a book with stories like this. (But unless you’re a well-known author, you probably couldn’t get it published!)

I’m not saying that I have a book like The Shack inside me. But like William Young, I am a nobody. I don’t have an audience. I don’t go on speaking tours. I didn’t run for president. I’m not on the radio. I am not the pastor of a mega-church. Also, most of my books would be too controversial for the average publisher to touch. 

But I’ve decided to shoot for publication anyway. However, since I don’t have an audience (other than the few readers of this blog), and so that I don’t have to write “with the publisher in mind,” I am going a different route, a route I believe is the publishing wave of the future. I’m going to publish electronically for eBook readers like the iPad, Kindle, and Nook. This process is cheaper for everybody involved, makes it easier for books to go viral, and keeps me from having to worry about an editor who might be having a bad day.

And yet I still need input, feedback, and the eyes of others to find misspellings, grammar mistakes, and sections that don’t make sense. So rather than just write a book and put it out there, I will write the chapters and post them here on this blog in sections. Then, when the book is all done, I will compile the entire thing, including any helpful suggestions, and make it available as an eBook.

I’m going to start with a book I referenced in my previous post, Close Your Church for Good. Check back soon for chapter 1.