As many of you know I have been preparing a book about worship, and I am happy to say that the first manuscript is finally completed. Stephen Fitzmaurice and I dreamed up this book while we were still in IL, and I have spent the last four years learning the writer's craft so I could bring the dream to life. The time has come.
The next stage is to prepare a book proposal that I can send to publishers to convince them that my books is worth publishing. Before I do this I would like to get it in the hands of people I know so they can read the manuscript and give me feedback on things I can improve. When I had completed the first few chapters early on, the help I received from my readers was invaluable in the learning process. You can imagine my excitement now. If you would like a copy, send me an email with your home address and the number of copies you would like (in case you would like a separate copy for your husband/wife or children or neighbors or friends or relatives or pastor or worship leader to read at the same time as you).
The competed work is over 75,000 words which is about twice the length of the thesis I will have to write for my current degree. The book is aimed at worship leaders, pastors, and college students studying church worship or spirituality. The book was written to be practical and accessible to these groups, and it is intended as a challenge to some of the trends in worship today. I have taken a somewhat unorthodox approach because, in addition to the seven chapters, introduction and conclusion, I have also included two stories that illustrate the main themes in the book. These two stories make up over a third of the book's total length. The are my first attempt at story telling on this magnitude, and I have learned a lot in the process.
Legally, the book is already protected by copyright, but I will be submitting a formal request soon (maybe today) to protect the work between now and publication. They say completing the manuscript is only half the work. I hope that's an exaggeration.