#236: Publishing a Book is a Privilege not a Pressure (Finisher Series)

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

Welcome to our Finisher series. So if you've been following along, last summer we did our breakthrough series, helping you break through those obstacles keeping you from writing your book. Then in the fall, we did our Overcomer series, just helping you overcome and really do what God has created you to do in your writing. Now it's time for the Finisher series, and we are going to be focusing this series on helping you cross the finish line of publishing your book. This is spiritual encouragement, but we're also going to be talking about some practical things, and we record these live inside our private group for Christian Book Academy. Now I would love to invite you to join us. Just go to ChristianBookAcademy.com I hope this episode encourages you today.

Hey, Christian Book Academy family, CJ and Shelley here for another edition of our weekly live video.

Hey, guys.

And go ahead and comment below. Let us know that you're here. Let us know how you're doing, how you're weathering this storm that is the COVID 19.

And we're not going to focus on that this week, but I know all of you are, are still, you know, we're all in the midst of this. We're still dealing with one thing after another and surprises in the news and maybe even in your own communities. But, you know, this week we're going to really just focus our attention on the topic at hand. And really the, the theme of this live video is it's a privilege, not a pressure. And so what we mean by that is some of us might be feeling a pressure, you know, to finish our book. And we're going to talk about that more. We go. But we want to just start off with a couple congratulations. And the first one goes to Sherry Carnahan. Sherry Carnahan has a children's book that she, she finished called Molly Gets Her Wheels, and it actually won the prestigious IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for the silver. And it's the best new voice for children, young adult, and it's one of the three finalists.

For their gold Benjamin Franklin Award in the same category to be announced online in May. So we're really proud of you, Sherry.

Yeah, that's really exciting.

You know, when you.

When you do that, when you've won an award like that, it feels like you're winning for the whole family, sort of bringing it back to the Christian Book Academy family. So we're just. We're right with you. And just so you know, you know, I'm going to be doing the majority of the talking. Shelly is dealing with a cold, thankfully. It's just a regular run of the mill cold, sore throat stuffiness, no fever.

So it's not coronavirus.

Yeah.

Or COVID 19.

But you know, she's dealing with a loss of some of her voice as well. Just feeling some strain there. So I'm gonna definitely be taking the majority of the. The, the lifting weight for this particular live video.

Yeah. And we want to congratulate Robin. I don't know how to say your last name. Esque, askew a Y S C U E. But Robin published her book this week, week Songs of the Sunrise. And we're just so happy for you. So we put links to both of their books, Sherry's and Robin's, in the description. Or if you're listening on the podcast, just swipe up and check out their books, support them. We're so excited. And keep sharing your breakthroughs in the Facebook group so we can celebrate with you.

So right now we're just going to be talking about this whole topic of do you feel pressure right now to finish your book? So if you're listening live or watching the replay, let us know. Have you ever felt that pressure to either finish writing your book or to publish your book? You know, I know that that's a common thing that comes up as we've been working with writers through the years. And so we thought this would be a great time. This is our Finisher series, really. Just talking about finishing your book, clicking that publish button. And I remember it was, I think it was last year sometime I was feeling a lot of pressure related to our business. It wasn't in particular related to publishing a book, but it was just all the responsibilities that I have with our business. And I remember CJ praying over me one time and he was just like, shelly, what if you saw this as a privilege instead of a pressure? And that was a really big mindset shift for me. That really helped me. And I just, I think about that constantly. And so that's why we wanted to share this episode with you today. And, you know, if you're feeling any pressure related to any of this process, I just encourage you to say, pressure, be gone in Jesus name. Take authority in Jesus name and replace it with gratitude. You know, how can you instead of thinking about all the things you have to do, or, you know, the, you know, the dread of, like, okay, you know, I've got to do this, or this is going to cost this amount, or, you know, like, worrying what if we would instead replace it with gratitude?

And just some examples of that gratitude. And, you know, I think this whole ordeal that we've been experiencing the last few weeks just reaffirms that when we are actually naming things that we're grateful for, there's a real positive effect that it can have on our attitudes. Otherwise, it would be really easy during this season to just be glum and kind of use that as an excuse of, you know, not getting a whole lot done or maybe just fixating on the news. Instead, we can say, thank you, God, for the privilege of being able to do what I do.

Amen.

Or thank you for the privilege of being able to use my voice for your kingdom at this time, for such a time as this in my sphere of influence, for whoever you want to reach in my influence. Thank you for this privilege of being able to share my voice, of being able to write what you've given me to write.

To share my testimony, to share what you've done, to share what I've learned, and to help other people. So there's just a, you know, when we begin to name, you know, whether it's writing down a list of things that we're thankful for, it just has this effect on us.

And study after study shows this in terms of what it does to the human brain. And just that feeling of being at peace, you know, when we're grateful, it really takes the attention off of the things that can steal our joy.

Yeah.

And so, you know, we are probably familiar with the story of Esther and just, you know, the privilege that she had to be in the role that she was in just the right time. And I want to actually read you verse From Esther, Esther 4:14. It's really her uncle Mordecai, essentially telling her, time to step up, gal, time to step up. You've been put in this place for such a time as this. And I'll read it specifically from the new living translation. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this. And, you know, for us, God's called us to be kingdom writers for such a time as this.

Just like Esther was placed in the palace for A specific assignment. You and I have been given specific assignment wherever we live in the world that we're living in right now. Your voice is a resounding yes for the kingdom of God. And I just want to encourage you there. I'm speaking to all of us here. This next little bit is just, it's a little bit of a sobering challenge for all of us. God's more than able to call others to take our place. We need to realize this. He is more than able. He's not up there, you know, putting all of his hopes on you and I. He's giving us the privilege of joining to join him. Yeah, but if you and I turn it down, if we turn down the mission, you know, you remember the movies, Mission Impossible. This is your mission mission.

If you what, choose to accept.

Choose to accept it. But we can also choose to turn it down. And it's not like God's going to whip us, you know, as a result. He's not that way. He's just giving us the invitation. He's saying, son, daughter, here's an opportunity. Would you like to accept this mission? It's an incredible privilege to be priestly pension in the hands of God, who's writing his story. With every day that passes, you and I get to be a part of that story. We're not the main character, by the way, but we get to be a part of what he's doing in this time in history. And so to be priestly pens in the hands of God during these uncertain days that we're living in, there's no pressure whatsoever. Whenever you and I are guaranteed victory, I want you to think about that for a second. If you knew you were guaranteed victory in a game, would you feel pressure? You know, it reminds me of a local hero that we have here, a guy named Matt Carpenter. Some of you are familiar with Matt Carpenter. He holds every record on our big mountain, Pikes Peak, both in the marathon, the round trip version, and the ascent just up to the top. And you know, the last time Matt Carpenter ran a race on Pikes Peak, or any race for that matter, was pikes Peak in 2011. He was 47 years old and he won the marathon. That was the last time. He's won over 18 times on that mountain when you figure in ascents and marathons. But, but I remember, and people who know Matt know that he absolutely hates to lose and he can't stomach towing the line when he thinks there's any possibility that he's going to lose. And so what's happened. He's practically been retired. Nobody knows if he might come out of hiding and run the race again. A lot of us still believe he could, you know, give people a run for their money, even at age 55. But Matt Carpenter used to always say, I feel so much pressure every time I step on that line. There's just this target on my back. And he felt the pressure. And he told his wife that morning of the last day, the last race that he ran, he says, I think I'm just gonna not show up today. And he says, you know, maybe I'm not even. Maybe I'm too light. Also, if I'm not at least 120 pounds, know the doctor says it's sort of, you know, a health risk to do that kind of effort. And his wife simply said, once you get out of bed, why don't you go and get yourself a glass of water and then weigh yourself. And if you're 120, after you drink a glass of water, then toe the line.

He was 119 pounds before he drank the glass of water. He drank 16 ounces. That put him over to 120. He ran the race that day. He won. But it's an example that he has this pressure because of all the times that he's won. And it took the fun out of it for him. He even said it many times. It's just not fun anymore. And I think you and I, if we feel this pressure on us, oh, I got to finish this book. Why haven't I finished by now? And we beat ourselves up instead. We should look at it like man. The Lord supplies the strength. The Lord supplies the energy. The Lord supplies the ability to get it done. He supplies the fruit from whatever is going to happen through this book. It's not on me. I'm just a priestly pen in his hands, writing down how he inspires me. The thoughts that he puts on my. My heart. One sentence after another turning into a paragraph, turning into a chapter, turn turning into a book. And there's no pressure there. There's just complete victory and a father who's really proud of every word that you write. And so I just want to encourage us all there to say, you know what? Don't have to feel any pressure. Even if I didn't get it done when I wanted to, isn't awesome that there are new mercies waiting for us every single day and I have to call upon those mercies as well? I have a tendency to beat myself up if I haven't accomplished something when I knew I should have or wanted to. And yet it doesn't help. It just sort of spirals us into a deeper, either depression or.

A glum mood when we can really just step up and say, man, what a privilege I have. In this day and age, especially in light of what's happened in the last few weeks, our voices are even that much more important as we speak into an atmosphere of fear, panic, light in the darkness. Yeah.

And I think this also applies to those of you that already have books published and that you're working on marketing them. So I'm working with a small group of you right now in my book Marketing Momentum program. I may open it again this fall, so stay tuned. But, you know, I just hear there's just a lot of, a lot of anxiety or, you know, just feeling that, that pressure to then market the book and sell the book. But you know what? This is, this is on God, and he will show us. He will lead us. So I encourage you to have those business meetings with God. He gives the best ideas. I just received a new product idea this week from Time Spent with the Lord. And so I just really encourage you, especially in these uncertain times. You know, I heard someone say, you know, people are thinking, you know, the, you know, everything is going to be in a financial recession. Well, not the Internet. You know, the Internet is not going to be in a recession. It's going to actually be more used, more than ever. And you know what? You know, instead of feeling a pressure or a fear or a dread, God, what does this make possible? What is my assignment in this time? And get creative with the Lord, Ask him, you know, what is it? And allow his flow, his grace to come in you instead of getting stuck. Because like CJ Said, if we get in that, that mode of beating ourselves up, it almost makes us be paralyzed more, right?

Oh, absolutely.

And, you know, one of the things I want to encourage you all to do, and I'm, I'm again, I'm speaking to myself here because, you know, I have.

You know, many times start my mornings by first of all, opening up my phone and looking at the headlines. It's easy to do, you know, you just want to see what happened. You know, as I was sleeping through the night, you know, what grand plan was unveiled, you know, as I, as I woke up this morning. But I want to encourage all of us to.

Spend that first hour. Doesn't mean you can't open up your phone. Because, you know, some of you, like me, you might have Bible plans. You're actually following on youversion or something that's on your phone. That's fine. What I'm essentially challenging all of us to do is, could we wait for at least the first hour of our day by not looking at any news headlines? Instead, we're spending that first hour just reading God's word, spending it in prayer, having our quiet time with the Lord and just saying, lord, this is going to set my day up to be a day of peace. And instead of taking the first cues from the world's headlines and the news networks and the talking heads that many times are spewing out fear and panic anyway, I want to encourage us all to take our first cues from the Lord during this time. We. We. I'll tell you what. As Kingdom writers, we can't afford not to, because it'll set the whole rest of our day either in a. In an upward or a downward turn.

Yeah. And I believe there's a lot of you that. I mean, no judgment here, but I think there's a. Just a lot of Christians that have been sabotaged during this time because we're consuming too much news and media. Instead of coming to the Lord and saying, lord, what is it you have for me today? Fill me with your peace today. Help me to grieve this or help me to process these emotions. And then coming out as a bright light, coming out with what God has laid on our hearts to share. And so don't allow the enemy to sabotage you during this time. You have a gift of time, most likely a lot of you do. And so use this to move forward with your writing. It is a privilege, not a pressure.

Yeah. And I want to read another scripture that really came to mind, especially during this time.

It says it's in 2nd Corinthians 4, 17, and 18. I'm reading from the new living, and it says, for our present troubles are small and won't last very long, yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So we don't look at the troubles we can see now. Rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone. But the things we cannot see will last forever. You know, this time period, I mean, you and I, for as long as we live, we're never gonna forget the words coronavirus and Covid, you know, 19. We're never gonna forget that. I mean, we're gonna know how many agree that season. We're not gonna forget. 9, 11. There are some things that are so etched in our memory that we'll always refer back to history by some of those major events. But what I can tell you is that one day we're going to look back.

And it's going to seem like a blip on the radar screen. It's going to be so small. In light of the vast glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he manifests himself within us, as he shines his light through us as we step into our eternal glory, one day will look back and say, man, that was nothing. And yet, at the time, it seemed like there was a lot of effort by the enemy to fill us with fear, fill us with panic, fill us with uncertainty. And yet I was just reminded, too, again today. Hebrews 13:8. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus equals stability.

Yeah.

Jesus equals uncertainty. Jesus equals a firm foundation.

Did you mean uncertainty?

Jesus equals certainty.

Yeah. Certainty.

Yeah. So in times of uncertainty, Jesus is the only sure thing that we can grab onto. He's the only chair, so to speak, that we can put our full weight into and. And know that it's not going to collapse. Okay. Even if the economy collapses, even if I get infected with the virus, Even if. Just fill in the blank. Even if. Even if. Even if. Even if we're going to look back on this and say it was small in comparison to the weight of the glory that's ahead. And so all of us, we're Kingdom writers, we have a chance to share that message, to be people that are stable in the midst of a storm, that have our gaze fixed on that same Jesus that did calm the storm all those years ago with those panicking disciples in that boat. You and I are in that boat with Jesus. And if Jesus is in our boat. And by the way, he was sleeping at the back of the boat. That's the particular story I'm referring to. He was sleeping at the time, which shows you how panicked he really was.

Or he helped me and he was not.

Well, I was sort of being sarcastic to say Jesus is. Is not fearful. He's not, like, worried. He's not. Oh, my goodness. What are we going to do now? I didn't plan for this. I don't have a plan B. No. Jesus is at peace. And if you and I have that same Jesus in our boats, we've got the same access.

Yeah. My friend Shay Vines was saying, you know, all these things are canceling. You know, I just heard recently that the Olympics have canceled for this year and they're being pushed back to next year. So Cancel, cancel, cancel. CJ's first race was canceled. You know, all these things are getting canceled. And my friend Shay Bines was like, joy isn't canceled. Hope isn't canceled. You know, yeah, peace isn't canceled. All these things aren't canceled. And this is our time to shine Kingdom writers that we were made for for this. And so rise up and move forward in the calling that God has given you.

Yeah, so we're going to close out. It's that time where we're going to take that one minute reflection and we just simply want you to ask God, what are you saying to me personally? What is it in this live video? The things that we've mentioned that maybe have spurred some thoughts in you, some things to meditate upon. What is God asking you to do or asking you to trust in terms of this whole privilege versus pressure topic? So take that one minute.

Well, if you feel comfortable, please post in the comments what you felt like God said to you or how he encouraged you. Obviously that was just one minute. We encourage you to spend much more time hearing God and listening to him. We are actually going to be doing a 24 hour prayer vigil starting tomorrow, ending on Friday. And so we encourage you to join us. The link is in the description for you or you can search for the Peace Over Panic Facebook group and find the event there. But we'll be going live the first hour, 1pm Eastern and kicking it off. And then every hour CJ's writing out prayers for different topics that we'll be posting live, you know, in the group on the top of each hour. And then we'll close it out with another live video on Friday at noon Eastern to close out that 24 hour period. So we hope that you'll join us and invite your friends. This is just a way for us to serve our online community during this time.

Yeah. And so we're gonna go ahead and close in prayer.

Before you close, I just wanted to share a picture that God had given me this week. I was reading, I've been doing a lot of reading, but both fiction and nonfiction. But I had actually read two instances, one fiction, one nonfiction, of some somebody being released from prison. And the fiction was John Grisham's novel called the Guardian. And the nonfiction was about Corrie Ten Boom. And she shares about it in her book Tramp for the Lord about how she was released from. Is it Ravensbruck? Ravensbruck. One of the worst prisons during Hitler's reign. And so, so, you know, both of those. It just came to my mind as I was praying for this time together today of what they felt, how they described it, being released from prison. I know for Corrie 10, boom. She was just like, it just feels unreal when you have been locked up and have had no ability to make any decisions, you know, and basically she's out and released. And she said, you know, her perspective on life completely changed after that period of time, because after you've been in prison, you know, you just don't care about the same things. She said most people care about money, care about the honor of men, care about success. And she's like, I didn't care about those things anymore. She says, all I cared about was sharing Jesus with other people. And she did not see it as a pressure. She saw it as a privilege that God gave her this lease on life. Like, she was actually released a week before everyone her age group was killed in that concentration camp. And it was an administrative blunder. Well, we know it wasn't. It was God. It was a miracle from God that she was released. But she. She never felt, like, this pressure or like, I have to get this success or this honor from men or this money or, you know, never felt that. I was just like, I am the Lord's servant. And she just had this childlike joy. And it just reminded me, you know, each one of us as followers of Christ, we have been released from a prison. Amen. A prison of sin. You know, a slavery to sin. And now we have that freedom. And lately I have just been feeling this overwhelming joy of, like, God, thank you for how you have set me free. And how can I not serve you? How can I not, you know, spend time with you and listen to you and. And see where you're at work and join you. How can I not share you with others? And so I just encourage you to, you know, to see that picture of yourself walking out of a prison. You are set free. You have freedom in Christ. And that freedom can just be even applied to this, of just seeing it as a privilege and not a pressure.

Yeah. Amen. So now we're going to close in prayer.

Yeah.

And as I'm praying, I just want you to just lift up your burdens to the Lord and all the pressure that you feel, just lift that up to him and let him take that load off of you. So, Father, we just thank you so much for.

Allowing us to join you in service for your kingdom and the work that you're doing on this planet. And we do pray, may your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. And we ask that you would just relieve us from any pressure, any dread, any feeling of uncertainty, any fear, any panic. Would you just release all of that from us? Would you take those burdens and throw them as far as the east is from the West? Would you just get rid of them? Lord, we ask that you would just replace those things with a peace, with a feeling of having a privilege, of joining you, of knowing that in Christ we have overwhelming victory. It's ours. It's in our hands. It's already been won for us. And I just pray that every single one of our Christian Book Academy members would be able to rest in knowing that. There's no pressure. It's just privilege. As we move forward, every word that we write is a privilege. And I pray that you'd use each and every member powerfully in their sphere of influence, whether it's their own families that they're still around, maybe their neighbors that they're still crossing paths with, and all of their online community. I just pray you'd inspire them with your Holy Spirit. Give them timely words, give them words of healing, words of comfort, words of challenge when needed. We know there's a lot of people around the world that don't know you. And they are looking at us. They are watching us. How are these Christians responding in this crisis? And we ask that you would just fill us with faith, fill us with belief, fill us with trust. May we be people that know that we're walking on a firm foundation. We're dealing with the God of the universe who never changes. And I ask that each one of us would just have this excitement, this joy as we wake up each day knowing that, man, it's another opportunity to shine in the service of the Almighty Creator of the universe. And we thank you, and we're going to ask all these things in Jesus wonderful name. Amen.

Amen. Amen. So if you haven't read that book by Corrie 10 boom tramp for the Lord, I highly recommend it. She's most well known for her book, Hiding Place. You know, it's a movie as well, and that's great. I love that book. But Triumph for the Lord, I mean, that one probably has influenced me even more because it's all about what God did after and the miracles and the faith that she had and just so many amazing stories. This is my third time, I think, reading through the book, so if you haven't read it yet, definitely check it out. She's a mentor to us and to me especially. And so we love you guys. We hope you'll join us tomorrow and Friday on our live videos for the prayer vigil and join the group if you haven't yet. Sharing encouragement there for you guys during this time and we will see you next time.

Love you guys. Peace be with you.

Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of the Finisher series. It really means the world to us that you would invest time and be here with us today today. So thank you. We have a free gift for you. We recently just made this available to the public. Previously was only available to the paid members in Christian Book Academy, but it's a copy of my publishing map. I hand drew and lettered this map out for you and it literally takes you through the steps of publishing your book and our members love this resource. Some have said they print it out and they use it every single time they publish a book. You'll also get access to a video of me explaining the publishing map to you and so I really hope that this also helps you overcome any confusion or overwhelm regarding independent publishing. And you can download this for free@trainingauthors.com publishing map or just swipe up and the link will be in your show notes. Thank you again for joining us. We love you all so much. See you next time.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories. Stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom Writers.