In December, 2008, I was contacted by Bethany House Publishing (an imprint of Baker Publishing) and asked if I was interested in writing about book about Christianity and statistics. I said yes, and after a gazillion hours of researching, writing, and editing, my book is coming out on July 1st.
Here's the Amazon page for it, and it's entitled: "Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media."
I'm not sure that I would have chosen that title myself, especially the first part of it, for it has a more harsh tone than the book itself... but one of the things that I learned in the process is that authors don't get much say over titles.
The biggest surprise for me was how much I enjoyed the whole book-writing process as opposed to writing articles. There is something about having someone already agreeing to publish the book that makes it possible to sink a lot of time into it with a good attitude. The ambiguity of publishing an article--basically writing it on spec--has a very difficult feel.
Also, it was fun writing with a much more informal tone.
Given how much I enjoyed it, I'm very glad that I have a contract for a second book from Bethany House. This one is tentatively entitled: "Leadership Lessons from Pirates."
Here's the Amazon page for it, and it's entitled: "Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media."
I'm not sure that I would have chosen that title myself, especially the first part of it, for it has a more harsh tone than the book itself... but one of the things that I learned in the process is that authors don't get much say over titles.The biggest surprise for me was how much I enjoyed the whole book-writing process as opposed to writing articles. There is something about having someone already agreeing to publish the book that makes it possible to sink a lot of time into it with a good attitude. The ambiguity of publishing an article--basically writing it on spec--has a very difficult feel.
Also, it was fun writing with a much more informal tone.
Given how much I enjoyed it, I'm very glad that I have a contract for a second book from Bethany House. This one is tentatively entitled: "Leadership Lessons from Pirates."
6 comments:
Bravo, myth shatterer!! I'll be name dropping if you need me.
Excellent. Congratulations. I will definitely buy it and read it!
Thanks Ben and Tim. I mentioned that I knew both of you to my editor... he was impressed!
Gee, I wish we had statistics throughout U.S. history. Like back in the early colonial days when we had godly laws like executing blasphemers and homosexuals.
As for today, most people seem to get along if only because they realize shoving religion down everyone's throat doesn't work and religions are all so different, especially in the melting pot known as the USA.
As for hate-filled, I would never speak of "Christians as hate filled." Some people undoubtedly have, and I bet laid back Christians such as yourself get a great kick out of being spoken of in such a fashion. As for other Christians, I bet they LOVE to think of themselves as persecuted. But hey, you're the statistician, please tell us which group in the U.S. do people claim they trust the least? What do the polls say?
Congratulations! It's on my calendar to buy in July....
Thank you Jim.
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