how to write a christian ebook

7/28/2019 How to write a Christian ebook

1/60

How-To

Write, Publish & SellYour Christian Book

By Akili Kumasi

GIL PUBLICATIONS

www.PublishChristianBooks.com(718) 386-6434

P. O. Box 80275, Brooklyn, NY [email protected]

2011, 2010 Akili Kumasi, God Is Love Ministries, GIL Publications


2/60

How to Write, Publish and Sell Your Christian Book www.PublishChristianBooks.com

- i - Revised: 1-Dec-10

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................ 3Purpose of this Book .............................................. 4

My Testimony .............................................................. 6How To Write A Christian Book ....................................... 9

What to Write About .............................................. 9Focus on Writing/Develop a Habit .......................... 11How to Get the Words on Paper............................. 11Organize Your Work............................................. 13Eliminate Obstacles to Writing............................... 14

How to Publish Your Christian Book............................... 16Publishing Houses ............................................... 17

Book Proposal.............................................. 19Literary Agent.............................................. 20

Publishing Services .............................................. 21

How Do Publishing Services Work?.................. 22Self-Publishing.................................................... 26

Pre-Press .................................................... 26Printing....................................................... 31

How to Sell Your Christian Book.................................... 34Who Is Going to Sell Your Book?............................ 34Three Categories for Marketing Your Book............... 35

In-Person.................................................... 36Traditional/Written ....................................... 37Electronic/On-Line ........................................ 37

Marketing Materials ............................................. 38


3/60


- ii - Revised: 1-Dec-10

Call to Action ............................................................. 41Make a Real Commitment .................................. 41Articles to Read................................................... 43Set a Date to Finish Your Book and See It In Print .... 43

Christian Author Publishing Service ............................... 44A Christian Authors Testimonial ............................ 48Manuscript Preparation......................................... 49Book Production and Printing................................. 49Book Registrations............................................... 50Book Marketing Services ...................................... 50Other Services .................................................... 50

Further Reading ......................................................... 52Books................................................................ 52Websites............................................................ 52

Glossary of Terms ...................................................... 54Final Comments ......................................................... 58


4/60


- 3 -

Introduction

The longer I live the more I realize that:

Whatsoever ye do,do all to the glory of God.

(1 Corinthians 10:31 KJV)

The is the first point that I wanted to make in this book

on How To Write, Publish and Sell Your Christian Book.

Whatever we do - we should do it for the Glory of God. If

what we do is not for Gods glory then it is done in vain.

The second point that needs to be made is that

Christian Authors have a particular responsibility to write

what God has revealed to them so that others can read it

and benefit from it. When we do this, then God does get the

Glory!

With those two points in mind, the material herein is

presented with a Christian audience in mind. But, even if

you are not a Christian or you just dont agree, thats okay


5/60


- 4 -

too. You can use the information herein to help you write,

publish and sell your book.

Purpose of this Book

The purpose of this book is twofold: (1) to educate

potential and present Christian authors about the publishing

industry and what it takes to get their Christian books

written, published and sold; and (2) to introduce you to our

Publishing Ministry and our Christian Author Publishing

Service.

This book will present information about the publishing

process, from book idea to the finished product to book

sales. Most of the presentation is simply an introduction or

overview. Much more detail can be gained from reading the

articles on our website www.PublishChristianBooks.com or

from the many books available on the topic. The principles

herein apply for authors of non-fiction, fiction and poetry.

Since my books are all non-fiction (so far), it is from that


6/60


- 5 -

perspective that I write. However, I have worked with

authors of all types of books and the material herein is

completely applicable.

All of the books and articles listed in the section on

Further Reading at the back of this book can be found on our

website as well.


7/60


- 6 -

My Testimony

My name is Akili Kumasi and for many years I dreamed

of having my books published. I wrote manuscripts and

then submitted them to several publishers, only to be

rejected if I got an answer at all.

After that, I went to literary agents who were polite

but they were not interested in representing my work.

Next, I tried self-publishing my books by duplicating

them in a copy machine, spiral binding them and selling

them one-by-one.

I even looked into vanity and subsidy publishers where

you pay to have your book published. All of them had

publishing packages that I could not afford and most of

them were only going to give me one copy of my own book

unless I paid much more money.


8/60


- 7 -

After too many years of un-fulfilled publishing goals, I

had had enough. I knew God had called me (and equipped

me) to have a publishing ministry, so

in 2003 I started GIL PUBLICATIONS

(the publishing arm of the God Is

Love Ministries) to publish my own

books.

Now I have over 14 of my own books published and I

operate www.PublishChristianBooks.com to help other

Christian authors get their books published.

PublishChristianBooks.com has a low-cost Christian

Author Publishing Service for those Christian authors who

are ready to see the fruits of their hard work published in a

real book.

If you want to get your Christian book published let

me help you. My service is individualized and it is


9/60


- 8 -

inexpensive! You will not only get your book published

and sold - you will get a website as well.

I hope that the information in this book is helpful for

you and whether you use my service or not, I pray that God

will make a way for you to publish your Christian book as He

has so deemed.


10/60


- 9 -

How To Write A Christian Book

The first step in the process of getting your book

published is to write the book. This section gives some

valuable suggestions on how to write your book that can be

helpful to novice writers as well as experienced writers.

What to Write About

Follow your passion. What does God speak to you

about? The best thing to write about is something that you

have a passion for or are enthusiastic about as well as

knowledgeable about.

If you have a topic that you think about all the time -

then that is your passion. What does God speak to you

about it? What do you like researching about it? What do

you like talking about it? That is your passion and as such

you already have a motivation to get you started.


11/60


- 10 -

This motivation and inspiration (that you already have)

is invaluable to getting your book written because it means

you are driven or you have a vision to communicate

something that God has given you. Use that motivation and

inspiration to propel you toward finishing your book.

And keep in mind what God has said about VISION:

Where there is no vision,the people perish.

(Proverbs 29:19 KJV)

Write the vision,and make it plain upon tables,

that he may run that readeth it.(Habbakuk 22 KJV)

For a more detailed discussion on the issue of having

and writing about your vision, please see my article, Write

the Vision: An Open Letter to Christian Authorson my

website, www.PublishChristianbooks.com.


12/60


- 11 -

Focus on Writing/Develop a Habit

Commit to writing a minimum amount each and every

day. I find that ONE-PAGE-A-DAY is a good place to start

(five, six or seven days a week). Or it could be one-idea-a-

day or one-section-a-day. Whatever you choose stick to

it. You will see results in a relatively short amount of time.

If you do not write regularly, it is easy to put the work

off. Delay after delay can lead to abandonment of the

writing project altogether.

How to Get the Words on Paper

Some people have problems writing. I am one of

them. Often it feels like I am trying to squeeze the words

out of my pen. At other times, I have a real problem writing

because I dont think that what comes out is good enough or

I am too worried about saying it right or with the proper

punctuation and grammar.


13/60


- 12 -

I have learned however, that none of those things are

important. What I need to do is just get my idea down on

paper no matter how it looks or how it sounds and then I

can pretty it up later. Here are a few tactics that I use that

work well!

Brainstorm. Just write whatever comes to your mind

and then sort it out later. This way, you get to do what I

call a data-dump. That is, get the idea out of your head and

onto the paper. Dont be concerned how it looks or sounds

just write it and fix it or tweak it

later.

Carry a pen and paper with you

at all times and use them. If you are like a lot of people

who really desire to write a book then ideas come to you all

the time. WRITE THEM DOWN! Do not let a good idea go to

waste. When you think of it write it down. Often times

when ideas come to you, it is really the Holy Spirit talking to


14/60


- 13 -

you about that idea. When God is revealing something to

you you have to write it down or you might lose it!

Use a tape recorder. Whenever an idea comes to you

that you would like to put into your book, speak it into a

tape recorder. Then, transcribe it to a computer later. This

can be very helpful when you are driving or just talking with

someone (especially over the phone). Notebooks are also

helpful.

Of course if you are preaching, teaching, giving a

presentation, workshop or seminar you should always

record your portion of the event so that you can transcribe it

or have someone else transcribe it for you.

Organize Your Work

Get (and use) a three-ring binder with tabs. Once you

have started writing, put everything

(big or small) into the three-ring

binder even if it is just one idea


15/60


- 14 -

expressed in a single sentence on a big piece of paper.

Get some tabs for your three-ring binder and start

organizing your thoughts, drafts and research into section,

chapters or sub-topics. Dont wait until you have paper all

over the place and you cannot keep track.

Even if you have not written anything, get a binder. It

will motivate you to put something in it. Dont forget to

print your Internet research and put that into the binder as

well.

Eliminate Obstacles to Writing

Commit to writing a minimum amount each and every

day. Oh, did I say this one already? Obviously, it bears

repeating. This is the single most important aspect of

writing CONSTANT PROGRESS. A friend of mine once told

me a profound truth, Writers write! That single statement

helped me get out of a mode of constant procrastination and

into a mode of constant writing. Writers write.


16/60


- 15 -

Please see the article, Writers Write at

www.PublishchristianBooks.com.

Turn off the television (or the Internet). For at least

one hour or more per day or for one

program each day, turn off the

television (or the Internet) so that

you can devote that time to writing.

Remember, Writers write.

Are you a writer? If so, then what do you do?


17/60


- 16 -

How to Publish Your Christian Book

Once you have your book written it will be time to

publish it. You do not have to wait until you have finished

writing your book to start thinking about the publishing

process. The more you think ahead, the better you will be

prepared when the time comes.

There are essentially three avenues to getting

published: publishing houses, publishing services or self-

publishing.1 Below is an introduction to each of these

publishing avenues.

1 The discussion herein is concerned with paperback book and hardcover book publishing. Descriptions of electronic media and E-Booksare not included in this book.


18/60


- 17 -

Publishing Houses

When a publishing house accepts your manuscript to

publish they will in some instances pay you an Advance

(payment up front) for a portion of the anticipated sales.

The publishing house might also pay

you a Royalty(on-going payments of

a percentage of actual sales).

Being published by a publishing

house is obviously how most authors

want to publish their books. But the

reality is that few of us ever get our manuscripts seriously

considered by a publishing house.

To break into the elite ranks of authors who are

published by a publishing house requires at least two

elements (in addition to a well-written and well-documented

book): the publisher has to believe that: (1) there is a


19/60


- 18 -

serious market for the topic of the book, and (2) there is a

serious appeal for you as the author.

Thus, you need to have credibility as an author and a

perceived following (people who know you and/or your

expertise) that will buy your book once it is published. This

is known in some circles as anAuthor-Platform.

Publishing houses have the right to be so demanding

about what they publish because they cover all the expenses

and take all the risks when publishing your book. They do

this with the expectation that everyone will make money

from the venture. If a book fails to sale, the publishing

house is the one who loses money.

Most first-time authors do not have the type of

following and in many instances they also do not have the

necessary credibility as an author to guarantee that the

publishing venture will be profitable. However, if you as an

unknown or first-time author uses the tactics described


20/60


- 19 -

herein then you can begin to develop the author-platform

that will help your work get accepted by a publishing house

in the future.

Book Proposal

Another aspect to getting published by a publishing

house that is often difficult for first-time authors is the work

that is required to develop a solid book

proposal and/or obtain the services of

a literary agent.

A book proposal will spell out at

least the following:

what your book is about, why you as the author are qualified to write the

book, the size of market for the book topic, other books have been written on the topic, and who will buy your book.

For more details and a sample book proposal outline,

please see my article, How To Write A Book Proposal,

at www.PublishChristianBooks.com.

BookProposal


21/60


- 20 -

Literary Agent

Literary agents present authors and their work to the

publishing houses. A literary agent will receive a percentage

of the sales after a book is sold to a publishing house. Since

literary agents sell to publishing house, they use the same

basic criteria used by publishing houses for considering

authors and their work. Thus, many established literary

agents will not seriously consider your book proposal2

without: (a) a market for your topic, and (b) an established

author-platform.

Authors can help to establish themselves as experts in

their fields by publishing a book on their topic through a

publishing service or by self-publishing. This is potentially a

major step to begin developing their author-platform

(credibility and a following) that will entice a publishing

2 Some Literary Agents prefer to first receive a Query Letterfrom theauthor that spells out the nature and scope of the writing projectbefore they will accept a Book Proposal. If you pursue a LiteraryAgent, check his or her website for their preferences before yousubmit anything.


22/60


- 21 -

house or literary agent to give their next manuscript a

serious look in the future.

Publishing Services

Previously, publishing books was the exclusive domain

of large publishing houses that operated large presses and

had huge staffs to meet their needs. However, the

development and proliferation of technology in computers,

the Internet, and in printing over the past few decades has

changed all of that. Now much smaller companies

(publishing services) can perform the same tasks that were

previously restricted to large publishing houses.

Since publishing services can now provide the same

level of product (book quality) to authors, they are able to

offer very valuable fee-based services to authors who would

not normally get their books published. This is very helpful

for authors who previously had to rely solely on being

selected by a publishing house.


23/60


- 22 -

Consequently, any author can get published easily if he

or she has a few thousand dollars to invest in their own book

publishing effort.

How Do Publishing Services Work?

Publishing services provide services in four essentials

categories: pre-press preparation, printing, marketing, and

distribution.

Pre-Press. The pre-press work performed by many

publishing services is their core operation. Pre-press work

involves taking your manuscript and preparing it for printing.

At a minimum this could include: cover design, book interior

layout, copyright page formatting, obtaining an International

Standard Book Number (ISBN), obtaining a barcode, and

preparation of production-ready files. Other services could

include: editing and proofreading, obtaining copyrights and

more.


24/60


- 23 -

Printing. The printing aspect of many publishing

services is often a secondary service. Thus, when an author

contracts with a publishing service the author generally gets

very few copies of their book in the basic publishing package

(i.e. one to five copies of the book for the author).

For authors this can be a significant drawback - that

many publishing services do not give

you enough books in their basic

publishing packages.

When authors dont get books to

sell, then how can they recoup the money they invested to

get the book published?

As a result, authors are obliged to purchase additional

printing services so that they will have books that they can

show to others and sell.

Print-On-Demand Digital Publishing. Publishing services

use (or sub-contract to) digital presses. They operate on


25/60


- 24 -

whats called a Print on Demand basis (known as POD).

Thats where the books are printed only when there are

orders for your book.

The cost for printing books on a POD basis is based on

a formula that may or may not mean much profit for the

author. Your profit picture will depend on the retail price of

the book, the number of pages in the book, the number of

photos in the book, the number of books printed at each

printing, the cost of shipping, the wholesale discount, the

warehousing and fulfillment charges and so on.

See more about the pre-press and printing aspects of

the publishing process below under Self-Publishing.

Marketing. The publishing services can be very helpful

to you by establishing a presence for your book with national

wholesalers such as Ingram (and its Christian wing Spring

Arbor) and Baker and Taylor as well as listing you on


26/60


- 25 -

Amazon.com and in Books in Print and other industry

databases.

They also provide essential desktop publishing services

of developing business cards, bookmarks, flyers, brochures,

post cards and the like.

These marketing services are usually separate from -

and in addition to - the basic publishing packages and the

author is charged an additional fee.

Distribution. Distribution general includes warehousing

your printed books, taking orders for your books from

potential customers and packing and shipping books. This is

also known as fulfillment services.

Each of these services can be billed as monthly service

fees with additional per unit charges. For example if you

have warehousing and shipping services you might pay a

monthly fee to have the service available to you on-demand

in addition to a per unit charge each time a book is ordered


27/60


- 26 -

and then shipped to a customer. Each publishing service

has a different fee structure but the formula is essential the

same.

Self-Publishing

In a nutshell, self-publishing means an author will do

(or contract with others to do) everything that the publishing

house or the publishing service would have done to publish

the authors book.

Lets examine (or re-examine) the publishing process:

earlier we noted that publishing services provide services in

four essentials categories: pre-press preparation, printing,

marketing, and distribution.

But, let us now look more carefully at the pre-press and

printing aspects of the publishing process:

Pre-Press

Earlier, when I described the services of the publishing

services we listed the most critical elements in the pre-press


28/60


- 27 -

process as: book layout, cover design, ISBN, barcode, and

preparation of production-ready files. These are the

minimum number of things that has to be done to your

manuscript to prepare it for printing.

You can do all of these yourself or contract with a

service or individual who can do each of them for you. Each

is described in further detail below:

Book Layout. The manuscript needs to be formatted to

a layout that is appropriate for publishing. In a great

number of instances, that will

be 5.5 by 8.5 inch pages or 6x9

pages. Headers, footers, page

numbers, font styles and sizes,

line spacing, indentation,

margins and text color are just some of the formatting

issues to be decided when formatting a book.


29/60


- 28 -

All of the formatting can be done on a word processor

by a skilled operator, but a novice will not be able to do it

without help. There are also a number of other software

programs that can format books such as InDesign or

PageMaker. There are many book design wizards available

on-line for low or no cost. This might work for you if you

have the skill level to download, install and learn how to use

them, not to mention the time.

Cover Design. Designing the front and back cover for

your book is very important. Many times authors have an

idea about what they want to see on the cover of their book,

but it may not have anything to do with the actual content

of the book. For example, your child might be cute and you

might want to dedicate the book to her, but unless she is

recognized in your field of study or the book is about her -

her baby pictures dont belong on the cover of your book.

A book cover should inform readers of the title and

subtitle of the book as well as entice them to want to know


30/60


- 29 -

more about the content of the book. It has to help you sell

the book.

International Standard Book Number (ISBN). ISBNs

are required by the book industry for books to be listed in

any of the industry databases or to be handled by

wholesalers and distributors or purchased by bookstores or

libraries. ISBNs are issued by the Bowker Company and

cannot be avoided if you want your book to be accepted as a

professional product.

You can obtain a series of ISBNs by registering as a

publisher and paying (the last time I checked) about $325

for 10 numbers (the smallest number available). This is

great if you are planning to be a self-published author of

several books. You can also purchase a single ISBN for your

own use for about $100 or so from some publishing services.


31/60


- 30 -

Bar Code. A barcode is required on the back cover of

the book. The barcode is a digital encryption of the ISBN

and the price (price is optional).

This also is an industry standard

and should not be ignored.

Books sold in bookstores or

purchased by libraries must have a bar code of the ISBN.

Without a requisite bar code your book will not even be

considered by bookstores or libraries, not even Amazon.com

will take your book without a bar code.

Production-Ready Files. After the book cover is

completed, and the book interior is formatted to the size and

look desired, the files need to be converted to a production-

ready format. Generally a pdf of high standard will do. If

you have a pdf maker (software) or use an on-line service

(about $10 per file), you can do this yourself.


32/60


- 31 -

Freelancers. There are also many Freelancers

(freelance operators) that can do any number of these

services for you. They can be found on-line on many of the

freelance websites. You would post your job on the website

and then and the freelancers will bid on your job.

Before I was able to perform certain graphic tasks for

publishing my books I used the services of a freelancer from

one of these websites. His work was very good. His prices

were reasonable and I went back to him for repeat services

a few times.

You should check the references for any freelancer that

you are considering using as well as the feedback from their

customers which should also be posted on their listing on

the website.

Printing

You can buy a machine that prints and binds paperback

books for about $10,000. I saw one at BookExpo a couple


33/60


- 32 -

of years ago (it might be a little cheaper now). The machine

was about the size of a double-wide refrigerator and it took

about twenty minutes to produce one book.

Realistically, very few of us will do our own printing

unless we plan to produce spiral-bound or comb-bound

books that can be completed at the local copy shop. This is

how I published my first book and I sold over 1,000 copies

of it through word-of-mouth, mail order, and at trade shows.

For paperback and hard cover books, offset printing

and digital printing are the industry norms.

Digital printing is cheaper for small print runs. Digital

printing is generally used for POD (Print on Demand)

printing because the files stay in the computer and can be

keyed up easily.

Offset printing, on the other hand, is done on large

printing presses. It is less expensive (per book) for larger

print jobs. But it is not practical for small print jobs as the


34/60


- 33 -

start up cost to get the large printing presses up and

running is not cheap. With the cost spread out over many

thousands of books it is the only way to go for large print

jobs.

In the next section we will deal with the topic How to

Sell Your Christian Book.


35/60


- 34 -

How to Sell Your Christian Book

Are you ready for what might be a rude-awakening?

Who Is Going to Sell Your Book?

This is a bottom-line point about being an author and

getting published that most authors never discover:

As the author, you are responsible forselling your book!

The publishing house or the publishing service can

develop all the marketing materials in the world for your

book, they can list you in every database there is, they can

print thousands of copies of your book (at your expense),

but if there is no demand for you or your book, if no one

goes to the store to ask for your book, guess what happens:

nothing!


36/60


- 35 -

Sorry to be so cynical about it, but that is the reality.

If you are to be a successful author,

you must sell your book.

Your job after you finish writing

your book is to get it published. Your

most important job after you write

and publish your book is to sell it. If

you dont do it it will not get done. Of course there are

exceptions to this, some authors write a great book, get an

Advance from a publishing house and then live happily-ever-

after. If that is you, then I Praise God for your success. But

for the majority of us, publishing our first books will involve

marketing our books by using many creative methods

including those listed below.

Three Categories for Marketing Your Book

To help me organize my marketing efforts, I have

divided book marketing into three basic categories:


37/60


- 36 -

in-person, traditional/written, and electronic/on-line. Each

of these is distinct but with significant overlapping.

In addition to these three basic categories we also need

to list the marketing materials that can be used to reach

potential buyers in each of the three basic categories.

In this e-book I am just listing the marketing methods

as a full description of each of these methods is beyond the

scope of this e-book. Several of them are described in

articles on my website, www.PublishChristianBooks.com. All

of them are explained with step-by-step instructions in the

books on self-publishing.

In-Person

A. Book Launch

B. Word of Mouth

C. Book Signings

D. Speaking Engagements

E. Book Fairs/Shows

F. Mailing List Development & Marketing


38/60


- 37 -

Traditional/Written

A. Manuscript Submission to Publishing Houses

1) Literary Agents

2) Evangelical Christian PublishingAssociation Manuscript SubmissionProgram

B. Bookstores

C. Wholesalers/Distributors

D. Libraries

E. Listings

F. Media/Press (see below)

1) Press Releases

2) Advertisements

3) Reviews (Trade publications, Christiannewspapers)

G. Coop Mailings to Bookstores and Libraries

Electronic/On-Line

A. Authors Website

1) Traffic Generators (directories, searchengines, etc.)

2) E-Commerce Payment Processor

3) Blog

4) Mailing List Development/Management

B. On-Line Bookstores

1) Amazon.com


39/60


- 38 -

2) Barnes and Noble.com

3) Borders.com

4) ChristianBook.com5) Other On-Line bookstores

6) Author Pages and Search Programs(Amazon-Search Inside and GoogleBooks)

C. Social Media

1) Facebook

2) Twitter

3) Others

4) Author marketing and networkingwebsites (Christian & Secular)

Marketing Materials

A. Media Kit

1) Cover Letter2) Press (Publicity) Release

3) Basic Flyer

4) Basic Brochure

4) Draft Review

B. Postcards

C. Poster (for events)

D. Author Biography

E. Book Fact Sheet for Book Industry contacts

F. Business Cards

G. Bookmarks


40/60


- 39 -

I can remember one day I was in a Christian bookstore

and I looked up on one of the shelves of books and saw a

book that I recognized. It took me a moment after I

recognized the book to also realize that it was my book that

I was looking at. I can remember my first thought, I know

that book. Then in a flash I said to myself, Thats me.

Thats my book. Then I looked around to see who was

looking at me. I sort of jumped up and down and smiled

ear-to-ear. I had arrived. I was an author and I was elated.

On another occasion, I was in a different Christian

bookstore in another city. I was going through the stacks

looking around at the books. I saw a book by Charles

Stanley, then another by Tony Evans and then one of my

books, Fatherhood Principles of Joseph the Carpenter. What

great company my book was in.

I had great satisfaction from seeing my book on the

shelf in the bookstore when I wasnt even looking for it and

next to very accomplished authors.


41/60


- 40 -

You too can have that same satisfaction if you are

willing to persevere and follow the steps necessary to be a

successful author.


42/60


- 41 -

Call to Action

Is this the year that you publish your book? If not this

year, then when?

Make a Real Commitment

For many years I asked myself those two questions

above. That is, until seven years ago when I finally self-

published two books that I had wanted to publish for years.

Those two books had been written years earlier but I

just could not get them into print. NOW, I HAVE PUBLISHED

OVER 14 OF MY BOOKS!

The secret to getting your book published is that there

is no secret. There are just hidden truths that can be

discovered, uncovered, understood and implemented.

The biggest truth that I had to uncover was this:

If I didnt do it,then it was not going to get done!


43/60


- 42 -

You can pray about writing a book all day and all night.

But, if you dont get up and write down what God has given

to you, then you will never complete the book.

You can pray endlessly for your written manuscript to

be published as a book. But, if you do not do your research

and find the right avenue to get your book published then

your manuscript will just gather dust and it will be a sore

topic of conversation.

You can pray for sales all day and all night. But, if you

dont tell people about the book that God had you write and

publish, then the printed books will just sit in the boxes.

They will not sell themselves.

So therefore, if you really want to publish your

Christian book then I strongly suggest you read (or re-read)

these three articles that you can find on my website

(www.PublishChristianBooks.com) AND follow the other

suggestions below.


44/60


- 43 -

Articles to Read

1) Are You a Christian Author?

2) Write the Vision An Open Letter to ChristianAuthors

3) Writers Write!

Set a Date to Finish YourBook and See It In Print

I encourage you to start out with

a clear purpose in mind to publish

your book. Set dates and diligently work toward those

dates.

1) When will you finish writing the book?

2) When will the book be printed and in your hands?

So, once again, I want to ask you this question:

Is this the year

that you publish your book?


45/60


- 44 -

Christian Author Publishing Service

GIL Publications has created a no non-sense publishing

opportunity for Christian Authors. It is straight-forward and

simple too. We can help you publish your Godly books at a

reasonable cost then show you how to sell them and make

money for your cause.

Our personalized Christian Author Publishing Service is

different.

1) We give you a minimum of 50 books. Most

publishing services only give you 1 to 5 books when you

contract with them for publishing services. Even though

those companies offer very good services they can be

expensive and they just dont give you books in your

hand that you can sell without having to pay extra fees for

printing services.


46/60


- 45 -

Books-in-handis a very important aspect of publishing,

because without getting printed books into your hand, you

cannot sell your book to make money. How will you pay for

the printing and other costs? How else can you raise money

for whatever cause you am working for?

Our motto: Give us your manuscript

and we will give you fifty book.

Its that simple. With our Christian Author Publishing

Service your book will be published. You will get enough

copies to sell and make a profit.

2) Our prices are affordable. Check our prices for

all three of our Christian Author Publishing Packages (Gold,

Silver and Bronze). You cold easily pay three or four times

as much with a publishing service.

If you have looked around and investigated publishing

services then you know this is a fabulous opportunity

because most publishing services are generally over-priced


47/60


- 46 -

and in most instances you only get one to five copies of

your book.

Most of us cannot afford this type of elite service. We

need someone to take our manuscript and give us some

books that we can sell.

3) We Provide Personalized Service. It cannot

get any more personal than me and my wife, working

together to develop this publishing ministry. You will deal

with only us. We answer the phone. We format your book.

We design your book cover and marketing materials. We

call you back and talk to you about your project, your book

and your revelation from God to write and publish your

book. At times, we even pray with you over your book

project.

4) GIL Publications is a Ministry. This aspect of

our service is the most important! It should be made clear

now, before we go any further. We are here to help you.


48/60


- 47 -

BUT, we do not publish every book that is presented to us.

First, I personally read every manuscript before we agree to

publish it. Why, because if the manuscript does not reflect

the Word of God we cannot publish it. We will be happy to

refer you to a publishing service that will publish your book,

but we (GIL Publications) only publish Godly Christian

books.

After I have read your manuscript, I will send you a

proposed agreement. When you are ready to publish, we

can get started.

5) You Can Pay as You Go. Once you agree to

have us publish your book, then we enter into a Publishing

Agreement. Our fee is then divided into three payment

amounts that are paid as follows:

a) One-third is paid at the beginning when we enter

into an agreement.


49/60


- 48 -

b) One-third is paid at the time that you, the author,

accepts the final book layout and cover design.

We then print the books.

c) One-third is paid after the books are printed and

you are ready to have the books delivered to you.

A Christian Authors Testimonial

Several months ago, I was blessed toencounter Mr. and Mrs. Kumasi [Daisy and Akili],the principals of Gil Publications. I say blessedbecause I have had interactions with other well-known publishers, which interactions resulted onlyin discouragement or disappointment. Contrarily,

my exposure, and subsequent contract, with GilPublications proved to be a refreshing alternative.

They went above and beyond the terms ofour flexible contract by providing exceptionalsupport and personal attention to my needs. Theyalso stayed in touch with me in a timely manner,through every facet of the publishing process,offering suggestions along the way that wereultimately in my best interest, and at their own

expense.

I highly recommend Gil Publications to anyauthor of inspirational works especially noviceauthors. You will not be disappointed! I personallyam indebted to them for their stellar intervention


50/60


- 49 -

in the final product my first published GospelPoetry Book, Licorice Lyrics: Poetic Praises ABook of Gospel Verse.

D. Marie Braggs

You can see Maries book on Amazon.com.

PublishChristianBooks.com takes the hassle out of

publishing your book. Our Christian Author Publishing

Service features the following:

Manuscript Preparation

Format Entire Book (from word processing files)

Custom made Cover Design (4 color cover) Format Copyright Page Convert word processing files to printer-ready files Electronic Book Layout Proof for author Bound proof for author

Book Production and Printing

Print 50, 100 or 200 copies of your book

(5.5 x 8.5 or 6 x 9) See website for currentpricing www.PublishChristianBooks.com

Four-color laminated Cover


51/60


- 50 -

Book Registrations

Copyright from the U.S. Library of Congress Library catalog number from U.S. Library of

Congress International Standard Book Number (ISBN) from

R.R. Bowker Obtain Barcode for back cover of book

Book Marketing Services

Personalized Author Webpage (for 1 year) Listing with Amazon.com and Baker and Taylor

distributors Listing in Books In Printdatabase On-Going Marketing Consultation Access to GIL Publications book marketing

techniques

Other Services

Free shipping of printed books to author(within the continental U.S.)

For more details on our Christian Author Publishing

Service please visit our website.

We also encourage you to compare our Christian

Author Publishing Service to the publishing services on-line

to see what they are offering and their prices.


52/60


- 51 -

Give us a call or send us an e-mail. We look forward to

hearing from you and answering any questions that you

have about our Christian Author Publishing Service.

Akili and Daisy [email protected]

GIL Publications

P. O. Box 80275Brooklyn, NY 11208

(718) 386-6434(347) 885-3625

You can also submit an inquiry at:www.PublishChristianBooks.com


53/60


- 52 -

Further Reading

In addition to the several articles on our website,

www.PublishChristianBooks.com, below are a number of

books and websites that I personally recommend.

Books

Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print, and Sell YouOwn Book (16th Edition), by Dan Poynter.

1001 Ways to Market Your Books: For Authors andPublishers (6th Edition), by John Kremer.

Christian Writers Marketers Guide: The Essential ReferenceTool for the Christian Writer, 2010, by Sally Stuart.

Plug Your Book, Online Book Marketing for Authors, by SteveWeber.

Get Known Before the Book Deal: Use Your PersonalStrengthens to Grow an Author Platform, by ChristinaKatz.

Websites

www.parapublishing.com Dan Poynter

More information on writing,publishing and selling booksthan you can imagine!


54/60


- 53 -

www.bookmarket.com John KremerA ton of free resources and

information.

www.michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt is the CEO ofThomas Nelson Publishers. Hisblog is packed with valuableinformation of how to publishin the Christian world.

www.weberbooks.com Steve WeberMaster book marketer,informative blog, on-linespecialist.


55/60


- 54 -

Glossary of Terms

Below are a few of the key terms used in the book

publishing industry. If these terms are not familiar to you,

try to get used to them as knowledge can be power when

trying to understand how the publishing industry works.

Advance An Advance is the amount that aPublishing House pays you whenthey agree to publish your book.

Author-Platform An Author-Platform is the authorsfollowing (people who know the

author and his or her expertise intheir field. A percentage of thesepeople will buy your book once it ispublished.

Book Proposal A Book Proposal is a paper thatdescribes the book project, thecompetition, market size and more.The Book Proposal is required bymost Publishing Houses and LiteraryAgents so they can evaluate yourbook project.


56/60


- 55 -

Books In Print Books In Printis a published book ordirectory. It is accepted as the book

publishing industrys list of all booksin print. It is used by bookstores,libraries and others to find andpurchase books.

Distributor Distributors market published booksto bookstores, libraries andwholesalers. They have teams of

marketers and marketing programsfor publishers and authors.

InternationalStandard BookNumber (ISBN)

The ISBN is required for all publishedbooks. This unique identifier numberis issued by R. R. Bowker and isused by all bookstores, libraries,wholesalers, distributors anddatabases. Without it, your bookcannot be accepted or sold in thebook industry.

Freelancer A Freelancer offers his or herservices to the general public for afee. Many freelancers can do thesame services as the publishingservices to prepare your manuscript

for printing. You can find them onthe freelancer websites.


57/60


- 56 -

Fulfillment The fulfillment aspect of publishingincludes: receiving orders, filling

orders, warehousing books, andshipping books.

Literary Agent Literary Agents market author booksto Publishing Houses and receive apercent of the authors Advance andRoyalties for their services.

Manuscript A Manuscript is your book after youfinish writing it. It is your book priorto Pre-Press formatting. .

Print On Demand(POD)

POD is made possible by DigitalPrinters who store authors books ina computer and can print books insmall quantities, from one copy on

up. POD means printing only theamount of books needed.

Publishing House A Publishing House is a largepublishing concern that contractswith authors to publish their books.They frequently pay an Advance andRoyalties when they agree to publish

an authors book.


58/60


- 57 -

Publishing Service A Publishing Service is a companythat charges a fee to prepare an

authors book for printing. They alsoprovide authors with fee-basedprinting, marketing and distributionservices.

Query Letter A Query Letter describes the natureand extend of a book project ormanuscript. Many Literary Agents

prefer to receive a Query Letter priorto the Book Proposal.

Royalty A Royalty is the amount paid by aPublishing House once the authorsbook begins to sale.

Self-Publishing To Self-Publish is when an author

publishes a book him or herself or byoutsourcing the Pre-Press, Publishingor Marketing functions.

Wholesaler Wholesalers buy published booksfrom publishers and then sells themto stores, bookstores and libraries.


59/60


- 58 -

Final Comments

We hope you have enjoyed this book and have learned

something that will be helpful to you in writing, publishing

and selling your Christian book.

If we can be of service to you please let us know and

feel free to go to our website to gain more knowledge and

information that will help to more your forward.

Please keep in mind that our Christian Author

Publishing Service (www.PublishChristianBooks.com) can

take the hassle out of publishing your book.

1) We give you a minimum of 50 books.

2) Our prices are affordable.

3) We Provide Personalized Service.

4) GIL Publications is a Ministry.

5) You Can Pay as You Go.


60/60


Give us a call or send us an e-mail to ask any questions

about our Christian Author Publishing Service.

Thank you for taking the time to read our book, How

to Write, Publish and Sell Your Christian Book. Please

feel free to pass it along to others.

Thank you.

Akili and Daisy [email protected]

GIL PublicationsP. O. Box 80275Brooklyn, NY 11208

(718) 386-6434(347) 885-3625

You can also submit an inquiry at:www.PublishChristianBooks.com

how to write a christian ebook

Documents