My Book’s Amazon Ranking on the bestseller list sits at #136,291 in Books. That’s only 136,290 away from Michelle Obama’s “Becoming,” 136,286 away from Rachel Hollis’ “Girl Wash Your Face,” and 136,285 away from Joanna Gaines’ “Home Body.” The point? I’m on the same list as Michelle Obama, Rachel Hollis, and Joanna Gaines!
There are two ways to look at my book’s Amazon ranking. The first is what I said above: I have written a book – one that over a hundred people have purchased and read (and many have enjoyed)! This is a very cool thing. It’s a really special feeling that God has taught me some things that I have gotten to write down and share with others. It is a humbling feeling, an exciting feeling and definitely an intimidating feeling. Altogether, it is pretty amazing to write down stuff that was on my heart and to have it published! I sincerely hope that the message challenges, inspires, and aids people in their thinking about, embracing of, and living out
The second (and opposite) way to look at the above stats is to get bummed out because my book did not somehow miraculously rival the top sellers written by people with names recognizable to millions of readers. It is easy to get wrapped up in the comparison game. It is easy to feel like a failure if you can’t somehow garner instant success or celebrity status. But this is not what the Christian life is about, nor is it what following Jesus is about.
When God laid his message on Noah’s heart, only his family chose to believe. When God put his words in Isaiah’s mouth & Jeremiah’s mouth, the majority spurned their prophetic pleas. When Jesus confronted the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his day, they rejected him and plotted to have him wrongly accused and executed! None of these men of God were successful in their day by the world’s standards, yet their ministry was filled with divine purpose! God used each of them to bring about his will in the world.
I recently heard an interview on the Holy Post Podcast with Phil Visher and Skye Jethani. Skye shared a story of being in a room with some folks from publishing houses who shared with him that the writing industry has changed to the point that a person like Eugene Peterson would not be a hot commodity in the publishing industry today because he wouldn’t have a large enough following. He wasn’t marketable because he wasn’t the pastor of a mega-church and because he didn’t have celebrity status through having built a brand for himself through social media followings. How tragic to think of missing the next Eugene Peterson because they don’t have a wide enough market to tap into.
My wife and I have a friend who has written a fantastic book. She told us of a time where she met with a representative from a publishing house who read a few pages of her book and was genuinely moved by what she read. But, Christy was told that even though her writing was wonderful and exactly what their publishing house was looking for, they could never publish her book because she had no following.
It is a sad day when a person is judged not based upon their writing ability or depth of content but based on whether or not they have a ready-to-capitalize-upon market. In the podcast, Jethani expressed his relief that Peterson wrote in a day when a man like him was able to be published so that we will have the benefit of his writing to glean from for years to come, but he also shared his concern that current-day writers that would benefit so many people will be missed in the current publishing environment. I couldn’t agree more.
I write these things not because I believe myself to be even in the same galaxy as Eugene Peterson or my friend Christy, or because I somehow feel my book should be picked up by a traditional publishing house. I simply wish to illustrate an important paradigm for me as it relates to my book. Writing a book is not about achieving success or about building a brand or achieving name recognition. It is about obedience. Obedience to the God who has placed the things in the heart that
Through Obedience, God does amazing things! The things God is doing in me through this book are amazing. Things like growing me in obedience. Backbone. Love. Grit. The things God is doing through me through this book are exciting. Using things God has taught me to inform and inspire others. The things God does for me through this book… Well, that, to me is where thinking gets backward. He has already done so much for me! That is what enables me to write – as an offering back to Him. In response to his love, his teaching, his touch on my life, I write. And it is a great privilege to do so!
So, to my friends and all who read the stuff I am writing, thanks for being on this journey with me! Let’s think, write, and converse! Let’s sharpen one another and enjoy the blessings God has given us in this life! And let’s keep the proper perspective on things like writing books. That way, we can sincerely celebrate stuff such as making it to the Amazon best-seller’s list – a hundred and thirty-some thousand places beneath some incredible people!