Aspire2 Blog

Make a Living (or not) at Writing

2009-11-21T16:09:00.001-06:00

Reality check time.

One of my former students, Jeff Wofford, sent me links to two stories in which a NY Times bestselling author tells the truth about a writer's income:

Last April:
http://www.genreality.net/the-reality-of-a-times-bestseller

Recent followup:
http://www.genreality.net/more-on-the-reality-of-a-times-bestseller

Summary: Don't quit your day job.

Glahn's maxim: If you love to write, get at least a part-time job as an editor or writer. (Don't expect to make it by writing books, even if you have a breakout novel.)

Another One Down

2009-11-20T16:57:00.007-06:00

Faulty Towers Meets the Academy—that’s my TV Guide description of Lucky Jim, the latest on my PhD reading list.

The story follows an inept British university lecturer bumbling through a series of social and academic disasters. His bumblings are not due to a lack of intelligence, mind you, but rather to complete disregard for academia’s absurdities such as the publish-or-perish mentality and cut-throat colleagues.

Some describe the book as hilarious, which I suppose was true forty-some years ago when it hit the shelves. But today that assessment seems overrated. Still, I did laugh out loud twice. Though it took me a full fifty pages to “get into” the 150-page book, the moments of whimsy made for a “not completely unfortunate” read.

Pregnancy Loss: Free Bible Study

2009-11-20T09:27:00.003-06:00

For the past decade friends at Threads of Hope have been selling a Bible study for those experiencing pregnancy loss. Now they have decided to make it available for free via download. It's intended for both group and individual use. You can download it here.

Population Ungrowth

2009-11-20T07:53:00.001-06:00

The Economist has an interesting article on world fertility rates dropping, titled "Go Forth and Multiply a Lot Less." You can check it out here.

U Nebraska Considers Tighter Stem Cell Rules

2009-11-20T07:47:00.003-06:00

Here's a new twist: The University of Nebraska is weighing whether to set tighter limits on stem cell research than those allowed by the government. If so, they would be the first such institution. You can read the story, which appeared in this morning's New York Times, by going here.

The Sot-Weed Factor

2009-11-18T13:15:00.006-06:00

So I'm working my way through the PhD reading list...

I spent the past week reading a 750-page historical-fiction work published in 1960 by John Barth titled The Sot-Weed Factor. Because Time Magazine included the novel in its 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005, I expected an excellent read.

“Sot-weed” is an old term for tobacco, and a “factor” is a middleman who buys for re-sale. The phrase, from which the novel takes its title, is from an actual poem by the same name published in London (1708) and signed Ebenezer Cooke.

The story is set in the 1680s in London and on the east coast of Maryland. Drawing on his mastery of Maryland’s history and the few pieces of actual information available about Cooke and his family, the novelist weaves a story of his protagonist’s adventures on his way to and in Maryland. Along the way Cooke composes his poem, which is originally intended to sing Maryland’s praises, but instead relates Cooke’s disillusionment with the place.

Sadly, the story has entirely too much coincidence, including one character's ability to maintain for months numerous disguises that make him unrecognizable to those closest to him. Then there's the constant inclusion of gross sexual references (think incest, animals, VD, prostitution), which left me with the impression that the author had a scholar’s education with a bawdy school-boy’s fascinations. He also seemed too enamored with his own cleverness and too ready to jar the reader with authorial intrusion. Seven-hundred-plus pages of seventeenth-century English also made for laborious reading.

Henceforth, methinks I shalle be me more skeptical of Time’s lauding recommendations.

Your 'Net Worth: Communicating in a Virtual World

2009-11-17T17:36:00.005-06:00

Yesterday at Dallas Seminary's women's conference I did a couple of workshops titled, "Your 'Net Worth: Communicating in a Virtual World. You can read today's blog post on the topic at the Tapestry site here. To access my notes with links, go here.

Angela Thomas was both deep and hilarious. My neighbor, Reiko, went with me, and I thoroughly enjoyed her company, too.

Now we're on break for two weeks. Whew!

In other news, my 89-year-old father just returned from a rigorous Rotary trip to Thailand. Way to go, Dad!

Plan Ahead

2009-11-13T22:01:00.002-06:00

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, and don't think I'm rushing you! But please keep in mind that anything you order from Amazon can benefit our friends in Kenya if you use the Amazon link from this blog to place your order. It costs you nothing and it benefits others. So if you order from Amazon this Christmas, please swing by here on your way.

Freebie articles

2009-11-13T21:43:00.003-06:00

Through my eleven or twelve years as editor of Kindred Spirit, I've written some articles and had book excerpts posted on the DTS web site. Here are most of them. Anything here of interest to you?

Jordan: Encounter God as Storyteller
A great narrative needs a great setting. And God has often set His redemption story in Jordan.

The Gift God Still Wants
From the time of Cain and Abel until today God has been asking for only one gift. (Christmas focus)

Informed Consent
Read an excerpt from Informed Consent, a novel that considers a compassionate response to AIDS and end-of-life issues.

Premium Roast with Ruth
Book Excerpt: In the face of famine two women journey to the “house of bread.”

Vindicate the Villain?
This brief overview will introduce you to the fundamentals of Gnosticism, the philosophy behind the Gospel of Judas.

Espresso with Esther Click here to read this excerpt

Empty Arms, Heavy Burden
One in six couples struggles with infertility during their childbearing years. But they are not alone. Read a book excerpt from The Infertility Companion.

Storytelling: The Twelve Ways of Christmas
What other time of year can we walk into the mall and hear music that directs us to worship Christ the Lord? When else can we stroll through business offices and see strings of cards depicting nativity scenes? Let’s take advantage of the seasonal opportunities, keeping our focus on Christ and sharing the gospel in the process.

Why We Honor the Human Embryo

Handful of Dust

2009-11-09T22:38:00.002-06:00

Tonight I watched "Handful of Dust," based on Evelyn Waugh's novel by the same name.

Apparently Mr. Waugh's book was terrific. He also wrote "Brideshead Revisited," which I loved in the long BBC version. But this film left me constantly asking "Huh? What just happened?" I had to read a plot summary online to figure out what I'd just seen. Eh.

Austen-esque

2009-11-08T14:13:00.006-06:00

When one of my supervising profs in my PhD program handed me a list of works to read, I gulped when I saw that list included about six pages of single-spaced titles. After I recovered, I hopped on the internet and looked up on Netflix every title I’d not yet read. And anything produced in movie form, I stuck in my queue. That way, I figured, if I don’t make it through my list before examinations, I’ll at least be familiar with all the storylines.

One such works available in DVD is Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope. I’m showing my ignorance again here, but I had never heard of him or it. But apparently Trollope (1816–1882) was one of the most successful, prolific, and respected English novelists of the Victorian era.

Yesterday, I sat for six hours watching the 1982 BBC-produced seven-part mini-series, "The Barchester Chronicles," based, actually, on two of Trollope’s books, The Warden and Barchester Towers. The series had an impressive cast with terrific performances by Donald Pleasence as the kindly Septimus Hardin; Nigel Hawthorne as the volatile Archdeacon Grantly; and Alan Rickman as the ambitious Reverend Slope. (I kept hearing “Snape.” Not far off, eh?)

Storyline: A series of reforms and reformers from both the general public and the Anglican Church hierarchy shake up the small-town diocese of Barchester. And while his superiors sometimes lose sight of true justice, Rev. Septimus Harding is a guileless, loving servant with clear vision, if little power. Yet in the end his life demonstrates how one humble person with right on his side can effect change. In a good way. When some of his clergy colleagues want to “win” at the expense of justice, Hardin’s character annoys them with what his bishop describes as his “persistent bouts of Christianity.”

When it comes to light that Mr. Harding, through no fault of his own, is being paid more than was intended (according to the terms of an endowment) for serving as warden of a hospital for the poor, he resigns. When those around him try to talk him out of it, we have this dialogue:

Sir Abraham Haphazard: Give up this idea, Mr. Harding. A man is never the best judge of his own position.

Rev. Septimus Harding: A man is the best judge of his own feelings. I would rather beg than see those words written about me in the [newspaper], and know that the man who wrote those words has truth on his side. My God knows whether I love my daughter, but I would rather that she and I begged in the streets than that she should live in comfort on money which is rightly the property of the poor! I'm sorry. And now you should know that from tomorrow, I shall no longer be Warden of Hiram's Hospital.

Sir Abraham Haphazard: You should sleep on this, Mr. Harding. Make no hasty decisions.

Rev. Septimus Harding: I have slept on it. I have done more than sleep upon it, I have lain awake on it, and that night after night. I found I could not sleep upon it. But now—now that I have made my decision, I think I shall sleep again. I shall sleep tonight.

Trollope has a new fan in me. Watching "The Barchester Chronicles" was like discovering a new Jane Austen story, the only difference being that after the first episode, my husband stuck around to watch, too. I loved and hated the characters, the period, and the honest portrayal of good and bad clergy.

And then add the romantic chemistry, clever wit, and costumes. I'll probably buy the DVD and use episodes for group discussion. Five stars.

The Martian Chronicles

2009-11-07T08:37:00.005-06:00

My latest read for my PhD examinations was The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. The book is a 1950 work of speculative fiction (i.e., it falls in the sci-fi, fantasy, or future category). In it a string of missions take humans to Mars, where they eventually kill off its inhabitants by accident with chicken pox and colonize the planet. Then the usurpers watch on their horizon as an atom bomb blows up Earth. Nice.

Bradbury called his book a "half-cousin to a novel" and "a book of stories pretending to be a novel," because the vignettes form a series of chronological short stories, often with unrelated characters. An imaginative creator of another world, Bradbury also provides a commentary on humanity. The best part for me: he gets a humorous (if sicko) last word against those who oppose comic books, fairies, trolls, Edgar Allen Poe, and munchkins.

Family Update

2009-11-05T07:14:00.000-06:00

Many have asked me how my sis is doing. On her Facebook page last week, she wrote this: Visited the cemetery on Tuesday morning after taking Julia to school. Friends had put some carnations in a vase on the grave as there is not yet a marker. It was a hard time for me, but also good. My tears flowed.

What she didn’t say there was that she had just been to receive, on Gordon's behalf, The Excellence Award, granted by the Vancouver School District. She didn't know what had been painted on the hall in the 200 wing until she walked in. Here’s what the write-up on the district's portal said:

The Excellence Award is given posthumously to Hudson’s Bay Teacher Gordon Patterson

“I love you, in a positive sort of way.” This message greets all who approach the 200 wing at Hudson’s Bay High School. It was Gordon Patterson’s catch phrase. Gordon, a 25-year veteran with Vancouver Public Schools, was revered by students, parents and staff members. He was a “kid magnet,” able to make connections with every type of student who walked the halls of Hudson’s Bay. Gordon always had a smile on his face, and if you were within 200 feet of the 200 wing you could always hear his laugh. In addition to teaching math, design technology and science, Gordon taught compassion, acceptance, and inspiration. Gordon went out of his way to acknowledge students. He had a habit of calling home to parents—not to say their child was a problem in class, but to tell them their child was a pure delight. Gordon was all about kids. He would do anything he could to help students be successful. He led the extracurricular BEST—Bay Engineering, Science and Technology team. One student went on to college and a career as an electrical designer after having Gordon as a design tech teacher. Gordon touched thousands of lives. The echo of his laugh still rings through the hallways of Hudson’s Bay High School.

Gordon's wife, Carrie, accepted the award. She was joined by Gordon's parents, Elaine and Lyle, at the recognition.

Good Show

2009-11-04T21:59:00.001-06:00

Tonight my brother-in-law, Mark, my hubby, and I watched “The Express.” All three of us gave it two thumbs up. In this flick Rob Brown stars as Ernie Davis, who on the field was the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. Off the field he fought for racial equality and taught his coach (Dennis Quaid) at Syracuse University how to stand up to racism. Here’s the line that made us chuckle with knowing laughter: “Down in Texas, football is a religion.” Sad, but true.

The Future of Books

2009-11-04T11:24:00.006-06:00

Yesterday somebody asked me if I thought someday the physical book would be obsolete, replaced by the Kindle and its cousins. My answer is no. I use my microwave all the time, but I still have a stove and an oven, don’t I? I even still boil water for coffee rather than nuking it, because my instant sissy-coffee dissolves better when I pour water over the powder than when I add powder to hot water.

And while I can heat up the Thanksgiving turkey in the microwave—I’ve done so in the past—this year I plan to cook it in my oven. I like the oven better for holiday meals. Try making an apple pie in a microwave. Or don’t. If I could have two ovens, I would. That’s how much I like oven-based holiday cooking. Have I mentioned how much I like ovens?

“You can’t highlight with a Kindle,” somebody told me hopefully. (This from a soul concerned that the true book will die.) And that’s not true. You can. In fact now you can do so without destroying property. (Insert cheers from bifocal-wearing librarians.) No, you can’t dog-ear an e-book, but you can make highlights, bookmarks, clippings, and notes. You can even look up words in the dictionary without having to get off your bum. And when you travel, you can take an entire lug-free library.

Now, I’m not saying all this because I get a cut off of Kindle sales. I don’t own one, and I don’t plan to purchase one anytime soon.

I like paper. I like sitting on my bed stretched out with a book that has a binding. I like reading at the beach without having to think about how to adjust myself so the sun won’t glare on my little screen. I like feeling “how many pages to go” until I’m finished. I like hard-copy books. I like the smell of them, the feel of them, the sound of them.

But I also welcome those readers who prefer e-anything. See, the good news about this e-revolution is that people with Kindles download more books than they used to buy. Three-point-one times as many, in fact. And far be it from this novelist to stand in the way of progress.

Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded

2009-11-03T19:46:00.010-06:00

So I’m back to gearing up for PhD exams, and that means reading. Lots of reading. The book I just finished was Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded. I confess I’d never even heard of this book until it appeared on my reading list, but I must be in good company. Only one library near me carried it, and the copy they had was a torn paperback.

What a far cry from 1740, the year Pamela was published. Back then it was Samuel Richardson’s first novel, and it was a smash hit. In fact many consider Richardson the father of the English novel, and Pamela the first modern novel. Huh.

The story was written originally as an example to the lower classes of excellent letter-writing technique, so the entire plot unfolds through letters. Richardson also intended his story as a conduct book. Oh, and I should mention that, though it was a best seller, Pamela was widely mocked. Henry Fielding (Tom Jones) even wrote a parody of it titled Shamela.

So what’s the plot? As told through Pamela’s point of view—expressed through writing to her parents or in her journal—the story unfolds of Pamela's response to her master, Mr. B, making unwanted sexual advances. She rejects him continuously, so he goes so far as to kidnap her to try to change her mind. Still, as the title suggests, eventually her virtue wins him over, and he proposes an equitable marriage. Can you imagine how nasty this must have seemed 250 years ago?

It may sound like a quirky read, but I actually really liked this book. Especially the second half—the part where she’s no longer held hostage. In it I learned a lot about eighteenth-century class structure, vocabulary, manners, and values. And hey, no matter what people thought of his story, the author really could write.

What now? I rewind an additional 1,700 years and explore the world of ancient Rome. Next stop: Robert Graves’s Claudius, the God.

Girlfriend Studies

2009-11-02T18:17:00.003-06:00

Today AusJenny and Pam feature my suggestions for creative ways to have "girlfriend" Bible studies.

Insight for Engaging the Culture

2009-11-01T16:44:00.012-06:00

There's an interview with me today posted over at Carla's Cafe'.

I've included an excerpt below, and you can hop over to Carla's place for the rest. While there, register for the free book drawing.

Question: The focus of Frappé with Philippians is the life of Paul and the early church. What kind of historical research did you do and did you learn any surprising facts as you compiled your information?

Answer: I think it's enormously important to understand the world in which Paul was writing. Let's take the view of women, for example. The Jews were the most conservative. The Greeks were better, though greatly influenced by Aristotle's low view of women. And the Roman women had the most freedom--even owning property and supervising gymnasiums. Knowing a city's predominant citizenship helps us understand Paul's letters on such issues.

My PhD work relates a lot to the Greek pantheon and Greek and Roman history. The historical backgrounds for the Bible books are essential, and fortunately they interest me.  

I also love getting a sense of the geography, if I can. I had the advantage this summer of taking a clipper to follow the journeys of Paul. Some of our stops included Corinth, Troas, Neapolis, Philippi, and Athens.  

One sentence out of the mouth of a guide in Corinth really stuck with me, as she provided a key to understanding the cities we visited. She mentioned that while American visitors seem generally uninterested in talk of gods and goddesses, knowing which member of the Greek pantheon a city worshiped is essential to understanding that city's mentality. The more I thought about this, the more sense it made:  

ATHENS. Athena was the goddess of wisdom, so citizens of Athens wanted their city to reflect culture, religion, and philosophy. And sure enough, in Acts 17 we find Stoic and Epicurean philosophers hanging out at the Areopagus (Mars Hill). Paul affirms them for being religious, and rather than dissing their many false gods, he zeroes in on their altar to the unknown God and tells them about this Almighty one who was not made with hands--one who is never far from any of us.

CORINTH. Corinth was the home of Aphrodite, goddess of love (and not the agape version). Behind the city ruins stands a towering hill at the top of which sat Aphrodite's temple. One could not walk down the street without being conscious of its prominence. Might that explain why the Corinthians had so many issues with sexual immorality, and why Paul tells them that it's good for a man not to touch a woman (1 Cor. 7:1)? For the sake of the kingdom, he encourages them to consider embracing sexual abstinence rather than marrying. How fitting that in a city that prides itself on being a center of love, Paul pens the beautiful definition of true love--known to us as the love chapter (1 Cor. 13).  

EPHESUS. Ephesus was home to the virgin Artemis who loved her virgin status and was immune to Aphrodite's love arrows. Among other things, Artemis was the goddess of the hunt. If you take a close look at the Artemis statues from the first and second centuries, you find her legs covered with numerous animals and flanked by a couple of deer. Now, usually we think of women as gatherers and men as hunters. And the fact that Artemis was a hunter suggests she had a less-than-feminine persona. In Ephesus we find stone work with the Amazon story (these women were way independent!), and guides tell visitors that the city was founded by an Amazon queen. The Book of Ephesians was probably intended for more than one city (like Laodicea), so we don't find much that points to a specific city's mentality in that book. But we do find 1 Timothy directed to Paul's protégé in Ephesus, and in it we find an emphasis on widows, women teaching false doctrines, and the need to marry and have children.

When reading the New Testament, I think it's important to find out something of its geography and certainly what member of the Greek pantheon each book's readers were up against. How its authors approached the cities' demons can provide insight for us into engaging a culture that's in love with worldly wisdom, immorality, and a low view of family.

No TIme for Hyperbole

2009-10-30T12:47:00.016-05:00

This modern art at Yad Vashem (Jerusalem's Holocaust Museum) depicts those who tried to save children but were unsuccessful.

Sometimes people compare our current or the previous president to Hitler. Sometimes we refer to 9/11 as America's Holocaust. And when we do stuff like that, we seriously minimize the horror of the real Holocaust.

Let's put this in perspective. However misguided some political efforts are, nobody's president is trying to commit genocide. Please.

And for every person killed on 9/11, five hundred Jewish children were slaughtered. That's not even counting the moms and dads, aunts and uncles, young adults...that's just the little kids.

A recent visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Museum, brought this home. Translated literally "yad vashem" means hand and name, but together the words carry the idea of a memorial. The idea is based on Isaiah 56:5, “To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.” Six million Jews were slaughtered by Hitler and his cronies. Here those innocents are remembered by name in a growing documentary. As Karl, our guide for the week, told me, the Jewish way of avenging ourselves is this: "We write history."

I found the section dedicated to children most sobering. Hollowed out to form an underground cavern, the area gives tribute to the approximately 1.5 million Jewish children who perished during the Holocaust. Inside only memorial candles, a customary Jewish tradition to remember the dead, light its dark space. They cast their reflections infinitely in mirrors, giving the impression of millions of stars shining. In the otherwise hushed setting, the names of murdered children, their ages, and countries of origin, can be heard in the background. Read endlessly.

Want to venture a guess as to how long it takes to get through them all?

The Children's Memorial was built with the generous donation of Abe and Edita Spiegel, whose son Uziel was murdered in Auschwitz at the age of two and a half. Some stuff you never "get over."

We can't do much about what already happened. But we can fight injustice wherever we see it. And that includes refusing to maximize our own dissatisfaction with politics or sense of national injury at the expense of invalidating the suffering, deep suffering, of others.

Why Are Women Less Happy?

2009-10-30T10:34:00.004-05:00

Did you see this CNN clip reporting a study that concludes women are less happy than they were thirty years ago, while men's levels of satisfaction remained the same?

The study didn't consider why women are less happy. We're not told how large the study is. And the news report raised the question of whether progress for women has been such a great thing. While nobody who knows me would lump me in with the fans of radical feminism, I'm also a little concerned when we jump on stuff like this without taking a closer look at the data.

Is there an agenda here?

Here's one woman's response, which I found interesting. She at least gave me more to think about...

Our Meeting with the Mayor of Jerusalem

2009-10-27T16:36:00.013-05:00

While I was in Israel last week, about twenty print, radio and internet journalists had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Nir Barkat, the just-turned-fifty mayor of Jerusalem, around a conference table at City Hall.

He introduced himself by speaking to us for about fifteen minutes about his background. Though raised and educated in Jerusalem, Mr. Barkat—the married father of three girls—said he lived in Pasadena and Ithaca between the ages of ten and thirteen. As a young adult, he joined the Israeli army and served as a paratrooper for six years, during which time he was shot in Lebanon. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science as well as advanced studies toward a Master’s degree in Business Management at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.

For fifteen years, Mr. Barkat worked in the hi-tech industry. Along with three other partners, he established a hi-tech group that was one of the first to develop antivirus software. He went on to serve as the CEO of Checkpoint Security. Then twelve years ago, he shifted his focus from business to philanthropy, concentrating primarily on education. In his current position he draws a salary of one shekel/year.

Mr. Barkat said he ran for mayor because he realized the challenges ahead for Jerusalem, a city he feels is “not exploiting its potential in the global marketplace.” In the past fifteen years Jews in the medium and high socioeconomic groups have left the city at the rate of about 6,000 people per year. Meanwhile the Arab and illegal populations are growing. The average income of those in East Jerusalem is $4,000/year. In his words, “Jerusalem is the largest and poorest city in the country.”

Mr. Barkat believes the population should be balanced with both Arabs and Jews. Jerusalem, he says, is a microcosm of what is happening in the world, and it has a huge say in how to manage conflict. “We must have freedom of religion,” he told us. The good news? “Never has it been more open for people to practice their religion.” He wants that trend to continue. “We must make coming to Jerusalem a strategic and meaningful event.”

Speaking in flawless English he described Jerusalem’s three circles of “shareholders”—its residents; the people of Israel who look to it as their capital; and those interested in the city as a holy destination. He seeks to benefit all three circles.

How? By increasing tourism. And the best path to more tourists, he believes, is strengthening the experience people have of coming to Jerusalem. That means pushing culture on site and developing related products. “We can create a knock-out experience for people coming to the city,” he said. “Paris, London, and New York City average forty million tourists per year, Jerusalem has only two million. That needs to change.” The municipality has a strong buy-in for increasing tourism and his team seeks a “win-win rather than win-lose strategy,” presumably with the city’s Arab population. Mr. Barkat said his team at City Hall is advancing many bi-partisan efforts, and he strongly believes in a united city.

“Salem” means “whole,” he said. “Whole and holy go together… For every complex problem there’s one simple, wrong answer… Jerusalem must be united rather than split down the middle. It’s like dividing a heart.”

Yet here’s a key challenge: the city has more than 3,000 buildings requiring protection as historical sites. That means the drain of millions of dollars on a poor population with a small tax base. In terms of archaeology, “We find more in one month than people find elsewhere in a year,” he said. “I go once a month to the City of David,” an ancient area just outside the city walls. “I am always amazed at what I find.” Just six months ago it was announced that the Palace of King David had been found. Such finds add to the attraction for tourists, but they also add to the stress on the infrastructure as well as the cost of excavation and protection on-site.

Add to that the 40,000 students who study in Jerusalem. “We have to improve the quality of life,” Barkat said. So hotels are going up. And there’s evidence of a major mass transit system. But to the mayor, the process is like “stepping on blisters.”

Still, he says, “Experience says if you have a great product, people will come. You have to come to Jerusalem at least once in your lifetime.”

During the time opened to our questions, I asked what he wants from the press. His answer? “Tell the truth. Tell of your experience here.” Journalists tend to focus only on conflict—it sells papers and magazines. But the reality is that Jerusalem “is one of the safest cities in the world. Its crime and terror rates are safer than the average city.”

Our team did indeed feel quite safe our entire time there. “We try to make the police invisible,” he said. “We put them where they’re needed and let life flow…” Still, we didn’t go to the West Bank or Gaza Strip. And there are tensions in other places.

I certainly would hate to have his job. The Jewish/Arab conflict is ever-present. “I’m pushing aggressively to improve life in East Jerusalem,” he said, referring to a part of the city with a large Arab population. “I’m committed to serving all residents of the city.”

Of course Mr. Barkat was focused on the city more than on the entire country, so the Palestinian question didn’t come up. The city itself has its own challenges. There are fifteen Christian groups alone registered in Jerusalem, and the task of unifying the various sects of Jews, Muslims and Christians is daunting. Often we can't agree among ourselves, let alone with those of other faiths, nationalities, and backgrounds. Still, Mr. Barkat wants to avoid dividing the city like Berlin. To him that is giving up.

Before our meeting, I had spoken with a grad of my alma mater who lives in Israel. I asked him, "If I could ask the mayor one question that would help Christians here, what would that be?" He expressed concern about government-tolerated persecution against Messianic Jews—people of Jewish descent who convert to Christianity but who continue to embrace their own Jewishness. This alum sent me an article about such persecution. So my question went something like this: "Your press has reported that persecution against Messianic Jews is tolerated...Do you find it difficult to defend the human rights of Jews whose views may be intolerable to many here?"

The mayor said he had no knowledge of such intolerance, but after asking me to repeat the question, he noted it on his pad.

After our time together, we all did something that I’d never seen done at a press conference. We joined hands around the table and prayed for the peace of Jerusalem.

Can I get an Amen?

Break Into Publishing

2009-10-26T14:00:00.003-05:00

Want to break into publishing?

If so, I suggest that you begin by going down to your local Half Price Books or Powells and see if you can find an old copy of one of the annual Writer’s Market books. You don’t need the most recent year. For example, you could buy the 2006 Writer’s Market. It’s about two inches thick. In the beginning pages of this annually published book you’ll find instructions for how to write a query letter and how to format a manuscript. Following some preliminary articles about writing, the text consists primarily of publisher listings and submission requirements. It’s a great resource.

When I teach my writing students at Dallas Theological Seminary, I usually tell anyone who wants to write a book that the best place to begin is by writing magazine articles on the same topic as the proposed book. (The Writer’s Market tells how to do this.) Going to a publisher with a book manuscript without ever writing magazine articles is like going to a church of 3,000 fresh out of seminary and applying for the job of senior pastor. Sometimes it’ll happen, but usually publishers want to see a track record.

They need to know you are used to “being edited,” that you can meet deadlines, that you have begun to develop a following on your subject, and that you know terms. (For example, SASE is a self-addressed stamped envelope and not some society to which you must belong, as one student thought.)

Once you’ve published several articles, put together a book proposal. Outline what you plan to include in each chapter, along with an analysis of "what’s on the market." Send the publisher your proposal, not a manuscript, with copies of your articles. If the editorial team likes your concept, the proposal will go to the marketing department. The people in this department want to see a couple of things. First, it’s unusual for any book to sell more than 5,000 copies, and the publisher wants to stay employed, so the team will need to see evidence that you can sell enough books to make a profit. You as the author are their best source of sales contacts. So they will want to see—in addition to your manuscript—some marketing information. Here’s what that involves:

1) Do a search of books related to your topic. Write up a page explaining what you found and how your book differs from every other book out there.

2) Make a list of the places where you’ve spoken in the last year. The publisher will assume that when you publish your book, you will have opportunities to sell.

3) Write a list of all the key people who could endorse the book in a variety of venues (someone in your denomination, an author, the president of an influential organization).

4) Gather a list of all the organizations to which you belong. Include alumni associations.

5) List publications where you have published articles on the topic of your book to establish that you are becoming a known source on this subject. One advantage to writing for periodicals is a broader base for ministry. As I said, the average book does not make it past the 5,000 sales mark. However, the average magazine has a distribution of more than 40,000 readers. So you will reach a much wider audience with your message by writing an article. Can you write a monthly column for the local newspaper?

The book publisher’s marketing department has a lot of say in the final decision, so this is a key document in addition to your manuscript. Publishers operate on narrow profit margins, so it’s vital to the publishing industry that each time a publisher offers a contract for a book, the company can at least break even.

Consider other vehicles for publishing, too. Self-publishing is becoming a big market. If that interests you, go to the public library and get some past issues of Writer’s Digest magazine. Look up what they have to say on the topic. An advantage there is that via Internet you can sell to readers in Britain and Australia and Kenya and South Africa, where people speak English. (Most U.S. publishers don’t have reps in those places.)

Self-publishing used to be called "vanity" publishing and it was looked down on, but now that so many movies are self-produced and called "indies," the stigma is disappearing. One advantage with these last two options is that you can keep a much greater percentage of the profits. For example, on a good book contract, right now I make about 12 to 16 percent of retail sales. With self-publishing you keep 100 percent after you’ve paid for production costs. Even though you may not write for the money, greater income means you can re-invest what you’ve made to pay for the costs of producing a second book, if you want to keep writing.

Which I hope you will do!

About Writing

2009-10-26T13:49:00.002-05:00

I'm being interviewed today on Blog Radio about writing. You can find out more about it by tuning in here. You can either go to this web site, http://www.writingandpublishingradio.com or call 347-215-9316 at 2:30 Central.

Quote of the Day

2009-10-25T12:11:00.005-05:00

Thanks to my student, Paul, for reminding me today of this quote by Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom's Cabin:

So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesn’t somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?

I did not see one old woman in Israel. Think about it...

What I miss now that I'm back stateside...

2009-10-25T06:48:00.000-05:00