How to Self-Publish a Book of Christian Devotions

Many people involved in Christian ministries, churches and other organizations consider themselves amateur writers. While they spend hours journaling their thoughts on life experiences and passages of Scripture, their work will rarely see the light of day. Self-publishing a book of devotions is a fairly simple, cost-effective way to get these messages out into the community.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Choose a theme and target audience. Most successful books have a narrow focus and a specific audience. Will your devotions be for women, families, church staff, college students, outdoorsmen, senior citizens or another demographic? Will your focus be on God’s attributes, God’s love, world missions, getting through tough times? The more specific your outline, the easier it will be to market the book and give your writers the direction they need.
2. Find a printer. Before you make any other decisions, call or visit publishing houses that specialize in self-published books. Ask them to send you copies of sample books similar to the one you have in mind so you can decide what size, paper quality and length of book you prefer. Then ask for a price quote on your project. If you will need the printer to design your book, or if you want less than a few hundred copies, the price per book will go up.
3. Set a budget. Once you have a price quote, decide how you will pay for the books and how much you will charge for them. If a church or non-profit organization is sponsoring the project, consider applying for a grant to cover the cost then use the sale of the books as a fundraiser.
4. Recruit Writers. Who you invite to contribute to your book of devotionals will depend greatly on the size and theme of your book. You may choose to invite only people within your church or organization to submit writing, but larger projects will require the help of the entire community. Consider approaching local magazines, radio stations and news stations about publicizing the opportunity.
5. Give them direction. Tell each potential writer the title of the book, the title of each chapter and a maximum word count for each devotional. When submitting their piece, whether by mail or email, have them clarify what chapter it is written for to help you stay organized.
6. Write a contract. Not everyone who submits a devotional for your book will stick to the theme, and not everyone will be a talented writer. Put together a contract explaining that all submissions will be edited for content and length, and not all submissions will make the final cut. Use this document to also outline whether or not you are accepting submissions that have been published elsewhere and whether or not you will be paying writers for their work. As you start receiving submissions to be considered, do not waste your time editing until you have a signed contract from each person.
7. Edit, edit, edit. Make sure each devotional is within the required word count, has a unique title and has no grammatical errors. If a writer used Scripture references, confirm the passage and translation of each one. If a writer covered a topic that is divisive or controversial, consider leaving it out of your book. Ask your graphic artist how they prefer for you to organize each chapter--in separate Microsoft Word files, etc.--and when a proof is ready, read through it for last minute changes and make sure all of the titles, contributors’ names and page numbers listed in the Table of Contents or Index are correct.
8. Upload to the printer. Each publishing house has a unique way they prefer to receive files. Some want PDF files of the final product on a disc and some want the graphic artist to upload the pages to an FTP site. Your graphic designer should be familiar with the options.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to sell your book in stores, make sure the publishing house knows up front so they can plan on giving you an ISBN and barcode, which will cost extra.
• When writing up a writer’s agreement, consult with a lawyer or someone familiar with freelance contracts to make sure you have covered all your bases.
• You can save hundreds of dollars by finding someone competent in graphic design to lay out the book for you instead of asking the publishing house to take care of it. Consider calling the journalism or graphic design department of an area college, as students may be willing to do the project to build up their portfolio.
• Remember that once you receive a price quote from a printer, it is usually only good for 30 to 90 days. If you will not be ready to send your book to the press within that time frame, keep in mind that the price may go up.
• Price quotes from publishing houses rarely include taxes and shipping fees.
• Be sure to consult a CPA or wealth management professional about whether or not you should charge taxes when selling your devotional book.

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