how much do authors make?

With the number of author and reader friends I have, I thought a quick snapshot of how much money author's make would be fun and enlightening.

Dana Beth Weinberg is analyzing the responses of five thousand authors to the Digital Book World and Writer's Digest Author Survey. To read her comments click here.

do you know a wise dog?

I had a great time working with a couple of publishing legends - NY Times bestselling author H. Jackson Brown Jr. and award-winning outdoor action photographer Dale Spartas - on a book called WiseDogs.

It was a fun reminder that dogs are not only great friends, but they have some simple and profound life lessons to teach.

Enjoy a few sample pages that will put a smile on your face!

simple blessings of Christmas - on sale now

The past two years, The Simple Blessings of Christmas, a gift book with 30 seasonal meditations I wrote and packaged for Simple Truths, has sold out by the end of November.

So consider this my reminder that if you are interested in purchasing a copy (or copies) for you and for others, now is the time to order.

The publisher has added a free card to go along with the free DVD "movie." It will be available through the Simple Truths website and there is a promo code to purchase it at a discount.

Enjoy and be blessed!

a timeline of Christianity

Source: A Timeline of Christianity

some things should never be forgotten - images of 9/11

is this picture enough to make me a baseball fan again?

I basically gave up following baseball during the World Series strike of 1994, so this picture probably won't bring me back to fandom.  But it's a classic that has to bring a smile to your face. Who do you most relate to?

7 changes in the book publishing industry

7 Select Developments in Book Publishing 2012-2013 from Mark Gilroy

a prayer for a job promotion

For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

Dear Heavenly Father,

When so many people are out of work I am grateful that You have blessed me with the means to a livelihood. I know that with a roof over my head and food on the table I already live better than many in the world.

So it is with a sense of gratitude for all I already have and have been given that I come to You with the request for promotion. I truly believe You have planted in my heart the desire to grow in my skills, to assume greater responsibilities, to exercise leadership to a greater degree in ways that helps others to grow.

I pray first of all that You would help me to walk worthy of a promotion. Reveal in my heart and spirit ways that I need to grow and personally improve to be ready for promotion. I pray that You will bless my work and influence and that all I do will positively contribute to the growth of my company and the workers around me.  I pray that You will bring me and my work to the attention of those in positions to offer promotion.

But I affirm that promotion ultimately comes from You and I will not forget to thank and praise You for Your work on my behalf.

In the Name of the Lord - Amen

God will help us become the people we were meant to be, if only we will ask Him. - Hannah Whithall Smith

From God's Help by Mark Gilroy
Published by Howard Books (Simon and Schuster), 2012

a prayer for courage

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

Dear God,

With You on my side, I know in my mind that I have absolutely nothing to fear. But I still have a fear in my heart. There are times when I take my eyes off You - when I forget Your promise that You will never leave me nor forsake me - and I let fear invade and take control of my life. 

Right now I feel defeated by fear. I am not doing what I am supposed to in life because I am afraid of what will happen to me. I am struggling to trust You to protect and empower me. My eyes are focused on what I perceive to be threats all around me, rather than focused on You. Even before I speak it, You know the specific fear that is most plaguing my life right now.

God, I ask that You do a work in my heart and my mind that I cannot do myself. Please remove the fear that is robbing me of joy, purpose, and success. Help me to trust You as the one true source of courage. I don't claim courage through my own strength, but I do receive the courage I need for the challenges and tasks facing me because I trust You and I know You love me.

I affirm Your promise that You will never leave me nor forsake me. Thank You for the courage that comes from that trust.

In Your Mighty Name - Amen

Believers look up - take courage. The angels are nearer than you think. - Billy Graham

From God's Help by Mark Gilroy
Published by Howard Books (Simon and Schuster) in 2012

a prayer to bless my spouse and marriage

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

John 13:34-45 (NKJV)

Loving Father,

From the beginning of creation, You have planted in our hearts the desire for the love and intimacy that can only be found in marriage. Even if in our sinful ways we have damaged the beauty and reputation of marriage, deep in our spirits, we know that You have created us for the joining of body, heart, and spirit that can only come through the covenant of marriage.

I thank You this day for my spouse. I pray that You will nourish our bonds of love, commitment, and affection for one another. I pray that we will be graceful to each other, quick to forgive, slow to anger. I pray that You will help us to season our words with grace and kindness.

I ask a special blessing on my spouse right now. I pray that they will feel Your presence in all they do today. I pray that they will feel peace and confidence in all conversations and endeavors, knowing they are loved by You and loved by me. If there are particular challenges and difficulties that arise, I pray they would be strengthened from within, knowing You are with them every step of the way.

Forgive me for any ways that I have hurt my spouse and harmed my marriage. Help me to be the partner my spouse needs - and that You have created me to be.

In Your Faithful Name - Amen

Love the family! Defend and promote it as the basic cell of human society; nurture it as the prime sanctuary of life. - Pope John Paul II

From God's Help by Mark Gilroy
Published by Howard Books (Simon and Schuster) 2012

don't wait for the perfect time - or you'll never get anything done

When the clouds are full of water, it rains. When the wind blows down a tree, it lies where it falls. Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work. Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life.

Ecclesiastes 11:3-4 (The Message)

Investors know that timing is everything - but they also know that no one gets timing right all the time. So they preach that successful investing is achieved through consistency and diversity over time. When the sun shines. Even when it rains cats and dogs.

Of course someone bought Apple stock at the right time and got rich - but Forrest Gump was a make believe character. And none of the can't-miss stock tips I've received have made me rich. (Though I may just be listening to the wrong people.)

One of my kids asked me when I knew I was ready to have kids. The answer was simple; when Lindsey, my first child was born. Nothing but the miracle of birth could have prepared me for fatherhood.

Business plans are great. Outlines are wonderful. Planning, pondering, preparing, predicting, and other forms of prognosticating on what is the best path to take are necessary for success. And there are better times to make a move than others. But if we wait for the perfect time - or until we think we know when the perfect time is - we'll never act.

Phrases that show the importance of timing, like strike when the iron is hot, are insightful, but so is the simple adage that there is no time like the present. In Aesop's Fable of the ant and the grasshopper, the ant followed Solomon's advise to not stare at the clouds but work - get on with your life. Consistency over time.

Marriage. Kids. New home. New city. New career. New workout program. New endeavor. New habit. New attitude. New mission. New you.

Plan and ponder. But don't kid yourself that you can measure every cause and effect to the point of knowing the perfect time to act and do. The uncertainties of life and the Law of Unintended Consequences mean that even the very best plans get scrapped and rewritten once we start the journey. Doesn't mean the plans were bad. But it does remind us that the only test for whether something we want to do is possible is doing it.

So what's on your heart and mind these days? And what are you waiting for?

There's no time like the present.

redundancy, repetition, and saying or doing the same thing over and over

Is it possible that redundancy is underrated?

Most of us value efficiency to a much greater degree. We want to drive redundancy out of our personal and corporate lives. Redundancy means wasted time and energy. Right?

But having spent more than 30 years in publishing, I've come to gain a begrudging respect for the sometimes necessary discipline called redundancy.

Just think about the book business. Everything is redundancy! (Is it any wonder I'm crazy after all these years?)

A writer writers a book. Then rewrites the same book. At least a couple more times. Then hands it to an editor who tells him or her how to rewrite it yet again to make it better. (The mean editors smile when they hand off their shopping list of improvements.)

When the writer is finished, the editor edits the same manuscript that has been worked over too many times to count. After that, a typesetter puts the very same manuscript into a professional and polished format, with a proof reader ready to make yet another round of marks.

What happens next? The editor and writer get to read the "blues" and then the "proofs" one more time - and invariably, find yet another error or way to improve the text. In the old days of publishing, when a writer wanted to rewrite at the "blues" stage, the contract outlined a series of fees since "cut and paste" really meant cut and paste back then.

After final corrections and changes are made, the book is printed, and a new person, the reader, pores over the same material - and sometimes finds yet another error.

Does anyone else circle printed errors they find in books?

But the end result of having numerous alert and adept people cover the same book is a work of power and beauty - or at least on that has its best chance of achieving that loft status. (And yes, occasionally, too many cooks spoil the soup.)

The old cliche tells us that anything worth doing deserves our best effort. I couldn't disagree more. There are a lot of activities in life that aren't worth our best time and energy.

But some things are. Many things are.

And when we want to put our best foot forward, redundancy - another set of pushups, another read through and light edit, another prayer, another conversation - can be our best friend.

No surprise the carpenter's motto is "measure twice, cut once."

At the risk of being redundant, when something or someone matters to you, some extra attention and repetition - also known as redundancy - can go a long way to affirming that.

a modest (and slightly defensive) defense of church attendance

Not only does church attendance in America continue to decline - now less than 17% on a given Sunday - but the trajectory is even worse when you consider population growth. The attendance line is going south while the population line is inching north.

I've heard all the reasons for not going to church - I can experience God anywhere, too much hypocrisy, it's boring, it's not relevant, it hasn't kept up with social patterns, etc. - and I've probably uttered more than a few variations of the above comments myself.

But even if all the above reasons to not to go to church are true in varying degrees, don't you suspect, in light of human nature, some of the objections are simple rationalizations based on people having different interests and priorities? It sounds better to say I don't attend church because it isn't what it's supposed to be rather than I want to go to the lake or get to the game in time for tail-gating.

Interestingly, a lot of religious thinkers are the ones that speak most negatively about the church as problematic, including the charge that church is just too religious. (Okay. I know I'm more spiritual if I say Christianity is a relationship not a religion, but ... just saying.) I'm not sure that persona of honest transparency and sophisticated thought does anything to fix real and perceived problems or attract new attenders  -  and the self-flagellation is possibly more effective at pushing even more once-regular attenders away. If it's that bad, why go?

One local church in my metropolitan advertises on the radio that they are the church for people that don't like church because they don't like church either. (My paraphrase, but fairly close.) My guess is if you attend there it will actually feel a lot like ... uh, church. I asked someone that attends and they confirmed there is a sermon, some singing, an offering, encouragement to join a small group and other things that sound an awful lot like every church I've ever attended, despite the promise of this being something entirely different. The person I asked was quick to point out they are very friendly. I've gone to lots of very friendly churches. Maybe you can drink coffee and wear shorts in the sanctuary but I forgot to ask. But what I find interesting is that in order to invite new people to come to their church, a church would use a marketing premise that basically says many other churches aren't very good places to be. Arrogant? Irresponsible?

By the way, I know some preachers preach better and some worship leaders lead music better. Some teachers teach better if you got to a Bible class. Some facilities are much better too. But without throwing a guilt trip out there, shouldn't some of the appeal to attend church be based on what you bring to the table? (Literally.) Oh, and, shouldn't we regularly show up at a place that emphasizes the importance of God even if some humans facilitate a more conducive setting to experiencing God than others? And on the subject of guilt, I'm not going to bring up what a casual to negligent attitude toward attending church says to the kids.

My point is that some of the most dismissive critics of the church take for granted their own church upbringing. They have a base of understanding and nurture where they don't have to attend a Bible study or hear a sermon to know quite a lot about God and Jesus Christ and the Bible, but they sure aren't encouraging someone with no (or limited) religious framework to experience corporate Christian fellowship sufficiently to make up their own minds. At least give someone an opportunity to reject Christ and Christians without warning them off before they show up.

I understand your church experience may have been crummy. I'm sure there's been abuse, hypocrisy, irrelevance, and so forth. But where else are you going to go?

I'm not trying to be holier-than-thou. I confess I've gone to church many times with less than stellar motives and attitudes. But sometimes something special has happened for me despite myself.

I think the writer of Hebrews - who was alarmed that the church of his day was losing its faith - has something powerful to say those of us who have spiritually evolved enough to claim church attendance as an optional activity:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:24-24, NIV

Mark Gilroy Joins Worthy Publishing Team - press release

WORTHY PUBLISHING GROWS TEAM BY ADDING

MARK GILROY AS SVP, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

The Worthy offices in Brentwood, Tennessee.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., February 1, 2013 – Worthy Publishing is pleased to announce that industry veteran Mark Gilroy has joined the executive team as a Senior Vice President, Associate Publisher. Gilroy will manage the rapidly growing Freeman-Smith imprint, working closely with founder Ron Smith, who will continue his creative work in product development and key account management.

Gilroy has had a successful career in all phases of publishing, working with top authors such as Max Lucado, Beth Moore, and Newt Gingrich, and on numerous bestseller projects. His most recent role in the corporate world was as publisher of the gift, specialty, and backlist books for Thomas Nelson.

“As we continue to build Worthy Publishing, we want to attract strong, energetic leaders and Mark Gilroy fits that bill,” said Byron Williamson, president and CEO of Worthy. “In my years of working with Mark at Integrity Publishers and Thomas Nelson, I know he has tremendous passion for books and great understanding of the marketplace. He and Ron will make a remarkable team.”

“I’ve enjoyed my recent work as an author, agent, and book packager,” Gilroy said, “but when Byron calls with a big idea you have to listen. I’m honored and excited to jump on board and work with the talented team at Worthy. I’m not sure how many individuals in publishing can match Byron’s track record for building great companies based on high-impact books.”

In addition to his work as a publisher, Gilroy has an extensive list of writing credits and in the past year has released two novels, Cuts Like a Knife and Every Breath You Take, which were met with critical acclaim in USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and other leading outlets. Gilroy has written with authors on many significant projects, including Walmart Way, with Don Soderquist, Sam Walton’s longtime right-hand man.

Worthy Publishing (www.worthypublishing.com), a privately held, independent voice in Christian and inspirational publishing, manages editorial, marketing, publicity, and distribution from its home office in Nashville, Tenn. Worthy Books focuses on a boutique list of new titles each year across a broad spectrum of genres, including fiction, current events, biography, devotionals, as well as spiritual and personal growth, and specialized Bibles. Worthy owns Ellie Claire, Gifts and Paper Expressions, as well as Freeman-Smith, a specialty book imprint.

CONTACT:

Morgan Canclini

Morgan@worthypublishing.com

817-944-1071