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My New Book Has Taken Over My Head

My New Book Has Taken Over My Head

Last updated on: July 6, 2010 at 5:35 am by John Shore

My New Book Has Taken Over My Head 2010-07-06T05:35:57-08:00 John Shore

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What I should do is kill this blog. It’s about my only hope for finishing the book I’m now writing, which is so important to me I can’t think about anything else anyway.

Then again, stop blogging? Nayeth! I sayeth unto your eyeballs.

The working title of my new book is All In … Almost: My Life Between the Sanity and Insanity of Christianity. It’s an exploration of my thoughts and experiences of Christianity before and after my adult conversion.

The book is being represented by my new literary agent Kathy Helmers, of Creative Trust, Inc. Among the writers Kathy represents are Donald Miller, Philip Yancey, Ted Dekker, and Brian McLaren.

So, you know: Yikes.

We’re not expecting to sell All In to Christian publishers, who aren’t likely to want to be associated with what I say, or how I say it. But one never knows. A lot of people in Christian publishing these days say they want stuff that’s “raw” and “real,” that “pushes the envelope.” We’ll see.

If you’ve been following this blog for any time at all, you know that within it I write about everything from … well, Appliance Porn and My Ghetto Laundromat to Letting the Beatitudes Quell Your Attitudes. The freedom to write whatever, whenever, and however I want is my favorite thing about blogging.

But writing in my usual eclectic manner and writing All In is starting to hurt my head.

So I thought that for a while now I would combine writing my blog with writing All In … Almost; that is, that I would blog about what it’s like to be writing this book. I figure it’s possible you guys are interested in everything from how I ended up writing this particular book; to what the book means to me personally; to how I ended up with an agent like Kathy Helmers; to how books these day are being marketed and sold, and what that all might mean to me. All that sort of thing.

Plus, I thought you guys might like to track what happens to the book as, over the next two months, it moves from the outline it is now, to manuscript, to proposal, to (if I’m lucky) Actual Published Book. How’s all that that go? How many words a day am I writing? When do I have to stop writing the book, and start writing the (freaking) proposal it? What is a book proposal? Who is Kathy showing the book to? How are they responding to it? What sorts of things do publishers take into account when they’re deciding whether or not to publish your book? What happens to the book–and what do I do–if no one buys it?

Am I freaking out about the fact that it’s no exaggeration to say I’ve been working my whole life just praying that someone would ever give me a chance to write a book exactly like this one?

All that sort of stuff is the only thing I’m thinking about these days anyway. I figure I might as well share it with you guys. What’s a blog for, if not to share what’s happening in your life and head? (Oh: for what it’s worth, no content from this blog will be in All In.)

If you would like to come along with me on my journey with this book, please do. If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t even be writing it; your readership and encouragement is what has moved me to this place. (Oh: for what it’s worth, no content from this blog will be in All In.) You’ve gotten me into the big leagues; stick with me now, and let’s see now if I hit a home run, or a double, or strike out, or what.

[Update: You can read the opening of my new book here.]

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