What type of book should I write? How should I start writing it? These questions and more are answered in this Journal Entry for Christians as 7 ideas are explored for self-publishing with a biblical perspective. Check out our webpage for more Self-Publishing Helps and other biblical topics!
What to self-publish? Sometimes we need some inspiration in the right direction for our creativity. We are created in God’s image, and He loves to create things! He also loves what He created. Publishing is usually of written work. However, we can also have illustrations or audio works published as well with the written work. Publishing means someone is posting written work to be easily accessible by others to consume the information. So, let’s look at the possibilities of what to publish.
Here are 7 ideas to jump start Christians on the road to self-publishing!
1. Children’s Picture Books. We started off our publishing experience with children’s picture books. These books were stories my Mama had created in her lifetime. The Lord used these books to get us on the path that He wanted us to run on. On the most part, children’s picture books are the easiest to make. They are simple short stories with pictures. Think about why you are wanting to write the children’s book. Are you wanting to teach on a topic, encourage or motivate a child; what is your purpose of writing the children’s picture book? Get to the point of your purpose quickly. Children’s picture books can have a wide range of drawing skills, and the written work can be a few words under a picture, only pictures with no words, to a paragraph on one page and a picture on another. The point is to keep the story from being too complex. With Children’s books we want to keep the wording simple and to the point. Use creative writing, but not so complex that a child can’t understand it. The main reason for these books are the pictures. If you are unable to create the illustrations or take professional photographs, there are different sources online who can draw the art work or take photographs for you for a decent price, or maybe you know someone who would be willing to take photographs or illustrate the book for you for a reasonable price. A person is worth their hire (1 Timothy 5:18), so remember to respect and honor their labor to help you.
2. Chapter Books. There are many kinds of chapter books. There are children’s chapter books. Teen chapter books. Young adult chapter books. Adult chapter books. Then there are different categories of chapter books. There are non-fiction books that include: biographies, historical events, autobiographies, How-to books, and Christian living to name a few. There are fiction books that include: drama, romance, historical background, adventurous, and biblical background to name a few. Each of these categories can be for any age group. The point is to be aware of who your audience is that the book is written for. When it’s a children’s book, write to the age group for the children you have in mind. If adults then write to the type of adult you are writing to; such as, if you are writing a book about everyday Christian living, then write to the average adult using everyday words. The average Christian hasn’t gone to a seminary, so break down phrases or words so the average person can understand them. Using a theologian word here and there is ok; kind of like putting sprinkles on a cupcake, but avoid mass jargon and word usage that only a professor of theology would know. Each type of chapter book can be different lengths. Some may only be 10 or so pages, and others may be 2,000 pages. It’s up to you of how much information or story you want to share. A chapter book helps to break up ideas. This dividing of information helps the reader to consume and find the information more easily. It also helps the reader to want to read more of the information in the book. Keep this perspective in mind when you are adding your chapters.
3. How-To Books. These can fall under the chapter books list, but they are also in a category of their own. These books can come in a range of topics from building a shed in the back yard or cultivating a garden, to making homemade products or prepping for hard times. There is an endless amount of ideas for How-to books. How-to books are in the chapter category because they do have chapters, but the chapters are for the different kinds of projects or step-by-step instructions of how-to do or make something. When writing these books remember to include pictures. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. I know my favorite how-to books have pictures in them to help me get a visual of what the writer is explaining. The pictures can be a photograph or even simple to complex drawn illustrations.
4. Teacher Lesson Books. These are also in the chapter section, but worth their own category, as well. These are books with many lessons about teaching on a topic. We often see these types of books in Sunday school classes to teach on a chapter or book of the Bible. These lessons can have instructions of activities to help understand the Bible lesson. There can be questions to answer, coloring pages, fill in the blanks, worksheets of all kinds, and so many more worksheet ideas. Depending on the age group you are focusing on will depend on what learning materials would be included in the lesson. There can be many lessons in one book for several topics, or several lessons for one topic.
5. Journals. Journaling books can be daily interactive books about a specific topic, or a different topic for each day, week, or month. We often see journaling books with a scripture verse and a place to write what the Lord is sharing with us about the scripture verse. There can be questions to help inspire the reader to express what they are learning from the Lord, and there can be places to express with drawings or photographs what the reader is hearing from the Lord about the scripture verse.
6. Poetry. Poetry can be a stand alone of only words, or there can be illustrations or photographs to go along with them. The poetry can be a collection of poems on one topic or several topics. There can be interactive questions or suggestions to go along with each poem or each subject of poems.
7. Audiobooks. Often this category is passed over, but Audiobooks are a huge hit right now, and the Christian market for audiobooks is very small. We need to get to work in this category, people! It can seem daunting at first, but reading the work we have created is personal and real to the reader. We can also hire someone to read our work for us, but I find the audiobooks I enjoy the most, especially by Christian writers, are the ones that are narrated by the author. The author knows what they were trying to portray at the time, and there is a sense of connection to the author when listening to them read their own book to us.
Hopefully these ideas get the gears moving in your brain for ideas of what to start with or to continue your journey with self-publishing. These ideas are not an exhaustive list of what to create. They are just a boost to inspire you to move forward. Most importantly, remember to spend time with the Lord. He must lead and guide you through the whole process. We need the Lord to help us decide what to write about, how to write about it, what photos or illustrations to use, and what words to use to speak to your audience. The Lord wants to team with you to build a personal platform to share the good news of His Kingdom. Be creative! Have fun! (To learn more on why a Christian should self-publish check our blog here.)
-The George Family Library Publishing Company
