Have you always dreamed of being an author? Do you have wisdom burning inside of you that the youth ministry universe needs to hear?
Write a book.
Does that seem like an impossible task to you? It’s not. In fact, YOU can write a legitimate, non-fiction work and publish it for consumption by youth workers around the world with NO FINANCIAL INVESTMENT.
What it does take is a significant investment of your TIME.
Can you manage to “steal an hour a day” or “three hours a week” for 30 days? If so, read on and discover how I was able to author and publish a real student ministry book for FREE in 30 days with Scrivener.
Here is how YOU CAN DO IT:
1. Begin with a topic in mind.
What wisdom have you learned during your tenure as a youth worker? What message is burning in your heart to share with every youth pastor in America?
Select a theme and topic for your book and begin!
2. Download Scrivener.
Scrivener offers you a 30 day trial (30 consecutive OR non-consecutive days of FREE, full-featured use). You can download the FREE Scrivener 30-day Trial HERE.
Use the provided tutorial (or search for user tutorials online)... it is a very user-friendly program to use for both writing your manuscript and compiling your work to the appropriate Kindle format.
I ended up using my 30 days of free trial non-consecutively over about three months. It was summer vacation, so youth ministry was in full swing and my kiddos were out of school. Technically, I only used 28 days of the free trial to complete my manuscript; however, after having used Scrivener over this season of writing, I fell in love with the program and will be purchasing it for future use.
3. Write your manuscript.
Most likely, this will be the most time-consuming part of the process.
If you write blog posts regularly (or journal your thoughts regularly) this will expedite the writing process. You can develop some of the material that you already have on paper (or electronically on a blog).
Try to “steal an hour per day.” I recently heard Saddleback’s lead student pastor, Kurt Johnson, share a training on how stealing an hour-per-day (investing an extra hour in your day in something you have always wanted to do, instead of sleeping, watching TV, etc.); so, I decided to give it a try and I can tell you the principle of “stealing an hour” works!
4. Have your work copy edited.
While not absolutely necessary, this step in the process will separate you from the amateurs and make your work much more readable and helpful for youth workers.
I had a ministry-contact friend (professional author & copy editor) who volunteered to copy edit my manuscript pro bono. You can always have your spouse copy edit for you (or another friend in ministry), but unbiased eyes help tremendously.
5. Create a cover.
While your manuscript is being edited, focus your attention on creating an engaging cover. If you want to do it yourself, you can use a free graphics program called GIMP.
Or, you can choose to find a graphic designer friend who will create your cover gratis (that’s what I did).
If you want to spend a little $$$ on your Kindle book cover and are looking for a professional cover design, I would recommend my friend, Justen Stryker at JStrykerDesign.
6. Put it all together and do a final read-through.
Once you receive your manuscript back from your editor, make sure that everything is how you like it. Double check spelling, grammar and punctuation.
7. Upload your finished work.
Using Kindle Direct Publishing program you can upload your finished manuscript and cover electronically to the Kindle Store for FREE. Within 24-48 hours, Amazon will have your Kindle book available for purchase to the world.
From there, you can choose whether you want to give away your youth ministry book for free or make it available at a cost. You will get to select how much you want to charge for your Kindle book as well as whether you want to take a 35% or 70% royalty on your book sales.
That’s it! Once you have completed these simple steps, you will be an official, bonafide student ministry author.
If you are looking to create a hard-copy of your book, there are numerous options available online for creating a paperback or hardback copy of your manuscript. Amazon offers an affordable for self-published print on demand services at Create Space.
What are you waiting for? Start writing and share your youth ministry wisdom with the world today!
Here is the book I wrote in 30 days,
How to Become a Youth Speaking Ninja,
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE from Amazon.com.
