TMOC: The Plan for Publication

First, I am deeply grateful to everyone who shared in this task. I feel it was a start, something which should get better as we move forward into similar projects. There is nothing suggesting we can’t press ahead with a strong message which offers hope to those who believe but don’t get what God wants them to have from the mainstream church. Together we become a virtual pastoral staff for them. I am painfully aware I could never help them by myself, and God uses people in my calling in ways I’ll never know in this life.
I’m hoping to get a more active level of participation in future projects. A handful of people who visit this blog, and a couple who don’t, all offered suggestions for questions and issues which should be addressed. If all I have to go on are my own experiences, I’m not going to touch nearly as many people as I would with questions which simply would not occur to me. Having a decent education and access to the Holy Spirit to answer questions doesn’t accomplish much if we never ask anything. The best answers always come from good questions. I can only do so much when all I answer are my own individual concerns. If you so much as prayed for me, you were a contributor and this is your book, too.
Everyone who contributed did so in the spirit of helping with the project, not for their own glory. I certainly had no intention of promoting my own name, but the honest truth is I am the guy who wrote the words of this book. I would rather have had more help, but I’m all too willing to charge ahead when the Spirit moves me. This one time, I am going to publish this work under my own name as author. I will most certainly make mention of those who helped, so if you don’t want your name in the book, now is your chance to complain.
Today I am reviewing the text one last time. I will post afresh the link to that text in a subsequent blog post. Then it will be submitted to at least one competent editor to check for blind spots and common human errors. After final corrections, the first edition will be formatted and submitted for publication at Smashwords. The final book will always remain free for downloading on my static site, linked here, and wherever else anyone wants. You will always be free to make as many copies as you like and distribute at will. The only copyright on this book will be for academic attribution: Unlimited copying and distribution for non-commercial uses, making sure folks know who is the official author. There will be a few versions with a minimal price because that’s the only way to get it published for things like Amazon’s Kindle. The whole idea is to use Smashwords’ full range of publication options because it reaches a much wider audience than those likely to stumble across this blog.
It’s not possible to get attention to this message without getting my name out there, at least among the folks we hope to reach. That’s the way of this world, much as I would prefer to stay out of sight. I want more names included on this message in the future, because I cannot possibly do this alone. That in itself is part of the message. The whole idea is letting other people share in the truth which has made such a difference for us. Stick around, because I’ll have more ideas for books, and I would love very much to hear your ideas. What do we need? What do you believe is going to help folks get free from the bondage of this broken world? I’m glad to grind out the words if you know what needs to be said. Let’s not stop here, least of all because, in this first attempt things moved so fast and there were surprises.