TIPS FOR PASTORS WANTING TO WRITE

Church Executive Magazine: So You Want to Write a Book? Experts Offer Tips

"A lot of church leaders have a story to tell but don't know how to get it from brain and heart to paper," says Warren Bird, co-author of 21 different books, who knows something about telling a story.

"They wonder whether anyone would be interested in reading it. And they don't know how to contact publishers--or whether to go the self-publishing route."

In a Web Exclusive article for Church Executive magazine for August, Bird offers advice to pastors as first-time authors. His article can be accessed under "Web Exclusive" at www.ChurchExecutive.com.

He gives answers to the most common questions asked by pastors and other would-be authors: Do I need an agent? Do I need someone to help me write the book? If I write a book, how many people will read it? Should I write my book before thinking about publishers? What about self-publishing? What about making a book into an audio book, whether for download or CD or Kindle? What's a good royalty advance for a first-time author?

On the same theme of "getting published," Church Executive's August issue features the article, "It's a Revolution Out There When It Comes to Getting Published," by Stan Jantz.

Another article for would-be authors is an interview with Cecil Murphey, author and co-author of 112 books, including The New York Times bestseller "90 Minutes in Heaven" with Don Piper.