Becoming an Author: Finding Your Editor (Yes, you definitely need one)
Testimonial for Brad and Uber Writers
I never dreamed of being an author. I'd have much preferred "rock star." When I realized God was calling me to share my own journey, of integrating my faith with my work, starting with a book, to help many other leaders and businesses do the same ... well I knew I needed some help. I mean, I knew that God had equipped me to write. I've been writing my whole career. But that's definitely not the same thing as being an author. The first thing I did, of course, was talk to some friends who'd already written and published their own books ... and it became apparent one of the most important things for me to do was to engage a professional editor that could help me through the process.
I interviewed a number of editors, some that were recommended to me, some I found with a google search. Through that process, I came to see there were realized three factors that were most important for me, and quantifying those help guide me to my choice:
Aligned with purpose. Maybe you want to write a book to establish "thought leadership" or build your personal brand. Maybe you're trying to launch a new career as a speaker or consultant. Maybe you just want to sell a lot of books. Those are all fine - you just want to make sure you understand your purpose so you can assess if the editors you're talking to are aligned with that. In my case, it was none of the above. It's more about spreading the message and operationalizing the content. A few highly recommended editors, in the interview process, said "if you'd like, go ahead and send me a chapter or two and we'll get started." But my brain doesn't work that way. I couldn't write chapters until I could "architect" the book top-down then plug detailed "design elements" into their proper places, ensuring a smooth flow through all of it. I didn't need someone who could just "tighten up text." I needed someone who could collaborate with me in communicating the fullness of the message. And not everyone can do that.
Preserve my voice. If it's not obvious from this video, I'm comfortable speaking. I've done plenty of it throughout my career. So I simply write like I speak. Because my purpose is more operationalizing the content than about being a professional author ... I needed an editor who would preserve my voice in the process. Sure, my writing would need to be cleaned up, tightened up, reeled in, and clarified. And probably a lot of it cut out. But it still needed to sound like me. On a good day.
Spirit-led and Kingdom-minded. This was the most important thing for me. The entire message of my book is about partnering with God to see His Kingdom come and His will be done, in your workplace as in Heaven. You can't do that with logic, reason, best practices or even Biblical principles alone. You need all that and Holy Spirit. Mostly Holy Spirit. And if you can't do the work without Holy Spirit, I certainly couldn't communicate the message without Him. I had to have an editor was just as committed to seeking God's guidance in and through the entire process as I was.
These criteria led me to Uberwriters, led by Brad Rahme - and I couldn't recommend them more. If you want an intro, just let me know. Naturally, you may settle on different evaluation criteria, and that may lead you to a different editor or they may lead you to a publisher, but I hope my evaluation criteria provides a helpful example to you as you define your own.
Bottom line. If God's called you to write, I pray you'd respond to the call, you'd feel His blessings on the journey, and He'd amplify your voice. But writing a book can still be a daunting, even overwhelming task. If you take the time to define what's most important - and then engage a team who shares those goals - it will bring you that much closer to a successful release you can be confident in sharing.
Testimonial for Brad:
I never dreamed of being an author. I'd have much preferred "rock star." When it became apparent God was calling me write a book, I knew I needed some help. I mean, I knew that God had given me a voice and he'd equipped me to write. But that's not the same thing as being an author. Turns out I knew several - and they all counseled me to engage a professional editor. Through the process, I realized there were three things most important to me in making my choice:
Aligned with purpose. I had a very specific purpose for the book, and it was all about spreading and operationalizing the content. A few highly recommended editors, in the interview process, said "if you'd like, go ahead and send me a chapter or two and we'll get started." But my brain simply doesn't work that way. I couldn't write chapters, at least not "edit-ready" ones, until I could "architect" the book top-down, plug "design elements" into their proper places, ensure things flowed smoothly through all of it, maybe even move pieces here or there in the overall structure. I didn't need someone who could just "tighten up text." I needed someone who could help me communicate the fullness of the message, starting from the big picture.
Preserve my voice. I'm comfortable speaking. I've done it most of my career. I simply write like I speak. I needed an editor who would preserve my voice in the process. Sure, my writing would need cleaned up, tightened up, reeled in, and clarified. And probably a lot of it cut out. But it still needed to sound like me. On a good day.
Spirit-led and Kingdom-minded. This was the most important thing for me. The entire message of my book is about partnering with God to see His Kingdom come and His will be done, in your workplace as in Heaven. You can't do that work without Holy Spirit. And I couldn't communicate the message without Holy Spirit either. I had to have an editor was just as committed to seeking God's guidance in the process as I was.
These criteria led me to Uberwriters, led by Brad Rahme - and I couldn't recommend them more. They did a masterful job with all of the above. Bottom line: Uberwriters helped turn a daunting challenge into a successful book which I'm confident in sharing. And which serves as a solid foundation for all I'm called to next.
Prefer video? You can watch my vlog on the topic on my YouTube Channel.