Category Archives: Life

How to Come Up with a Great Book Concept

Book Proposal, Creativity, Goals, Inspirations, Life, Platform, Publishing, Uncategorized, Work Habits, Writing, , ,

Let me start with three reasons working on a book with a lousy concept is a bad idea:

  1. Beautiful, compelling writing is terribly important to publishers, but if your beautiful writing is in the service of a concept that no one will buy, publishers will have a hard time getting excited.
  2. A far-reaching platform is also a huge asset, but again if your concept bites, what’s the use? What’s the point of leveraging a massive platform for a book that people are not interested in? Throngs may flock to you, but if you hand them SPAM, they will be less likely to come back, and they will not send others to you.
  3. What’s the point of investing a massive amount of time and energy into a concept that won’t sell? Your time and energy are more valuable than that.

I have been in pub board sessions where I could literally see the tension in our bodies. We fairly writhe in our seats when we love the writing or the platform, or both, but dislike the concept. We writhe because we see all that potential going to waste.

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And yes, sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes we turn down a concept that another publisher picks up, and it becomes a big success. But that is the very rare exception. Far more often we give a concept the benefit of the doubt only to wish we hadn’t later. Often we dislike a concept because we have seen similar concepts fail.

By the way, the reverse of all the above is also true. It’s pure magic when beautiful writing and a good platform work together with a sweet concept. That’s the stuff that gets us up in the morning! That’s the stuff that changes lives and makes a real difference out there.

Needless to say, this up front work of coming up with a great concept is really important.

I want to recommend a two-step process for developing a compelling topic:

  1. Find the need.
  2. Brainstorm a title.

Step 1: Find the Need

It’s important to isolate the impulse to buy. This isn’t about getting rich or helping the publisher get rich. It’s about the fact that you and I don’t plunk down money for a book unless we really want it. That’s just reality.

Ask: What is the need to which your book will be the answer? What’s the itch you’re going to scratch? What’s the pain you’re going to take on as your own?

This isn’t necessarily about clever concepts, either. We see a lot of clever concepts that reflect genuine creativity, but don’t scratch an itch. And here’s what we say when we see one of these: “Clever concept, but will it sell?”

This isn’t about the need you think people have. It’s about the need they think they have.

Social networks can be key here. Talk to friends. Do some surveys. Ask, “Would you buy a book on…? And if you wouldn’t, what would you buy a book on?”

Spend some time on this. Read books and articles and blogs to help you develop your idea.

Be willing to change your concept. Sometimes a subtle change makes all the difference. Sometimes a change means more work for you, and this work is worth doing.

Step 2: Brainstorm a Title 

Some proposals reassure, “Don’t worry. I’m not married to this title. We can change it.” Make no mistake. The title you use in your book proposal has a significant influence on how publishers will respond to it. We know it’s not final, but your title still affects our reception.

Again I would point to the great power of a community here. Enlist some friends—friends you trust, friends whose opinions you value. Throw a brainstorming party, get one of those big 3M pads of paper, and go crazy. Consider doing three of these sessions. Use the ideas that come from these team sessions as fodder for brainstorming sessions you do later by yourself.

You may want to brainstorm not just titles but subtitles too, and eventually title and subtitle combinations.

Then, in your proposal use the best title and subtitle you came up with, but include a list of ten to twenty alternatives too. Titles are essentially concept labels, so if you include several, we’ll see various possible angles for the concept. By providing a list, in a sense you’re helping us brainstorm with you. We’re seeing the possibilities alongside you, and we may be able to add an additional possibility or two.

[callout]Bonus Content: I hired an artist to design an infographic that presents the information in this article in an easy-to-use visual format. I also created a video training that walks you through the infographic step by step.

Access the infographic and video.
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[Tweet “A simple step-by-step method for coming up with a great book concept via @ChadRAllen”]

[reminder]This is my best shot at helping you come up with a great book concept, but do you have other ideas? What has worked for you or people you know? [/reminder]

What’s in Your Toy Hospital?

Life, , ,

This is a picture of what I call our toy hospital. It’s a collection of things in our house that are broken–mainly toys, but also books, dishes, jewelry.

Whenever something breaks at our place, we add it to the collection.

And here and there, as we can, we pick up one of the items and try to glue it together or otherwise fix it. Oftentimes we’re successful, but sometimes we’re not, and we have to throw something away.

I have brokenness in my life, and I need a personal toy hospital–a place where I keep the pieces of my life that need further attention.

And here and there, as I can, I need to work on them. It takes some time, and often I need help from others, but if I’m diligent to work on the pieces, often I can fix them. I can make them right.

But sometimes I simply need to throw something away. It’s just broken–a grudge I’m holding, a shame I have been nursing, a remorse whose time has come. I have to look at it one last time. And I have to sigh. The sighing is very important, because I’m going to miss this thing. And then I have to throw it away.

The problem is that I sometimes pretend I don’t have a toy hospital. I fake it. I try to get you to think I have it all together.

And I don’t. I really, really don’t.

And so, that’s what I’m adding to my personal toy hospital today: my pride, my reluctance to be real with you.

There it is. I need to work on that.

How about you? What patients do you need to admit to your personal toy hospital?

Why Asking Why Is So Important

Goals, Inspirations, Life, Publishing, Work Habits, , , ,
Herman Baker, 1929

In 1939 Herman Baker was twenty-eight years old. He had a young family and a steady job working for his uncle, Louis Kregel. Everyone would have expected him to continue in that job, providing for his family and moving up the company ranks.

It was, after all, the Great Depression. Herman was lucky to have a job at all, let alone one in the sweet spot of his passion—books. If I was his friend back then, I would have told him to relax, to enjoy his work and his family.

And what Herman Baker actually did would have floored me.

He quit his job, loaded two hundred books from his own library into a storefront, and placed a sign in the window: “Baker’s Book Store.”

The original 1939 store

The rest is history. Seventy-some years later the company Herman founded is called Baker Publishing Group, and it is one of the largest Christian publishers in the world.

As grateful as I am for Herman’s bold move, I’m haunted by this question: Why?

That question sent me on a quest. I talked to people in the know, namely his son, his grandsons, and employees who worked with him.

Here’s what I learned: Herman founded this company because he saw a need that wasn’t being met. Seminary students and others did not have access, either because of price or availability, to the books they needed to be educated and nurtured in the faith.

This was Herman’s driving concern: to cultivate believers in the faith.

And his passion lives on in our mission statement:

Baker Publishing Group publishes high-quality writings that represent historic Christianity and serve the diverse interests and concerns of evangelical readers.

I can testify that this mission statement is near and dear to the heart of our current president, Dwight Baker (Herman’s grandson). He regularly quizzes us about it in staff meetings.

I love telling this story not least because my colleagues and I are now characters in it. Every day we invest our lives into its continuation, and may it live long into the future.

But the other reason I tell this story is to challenge you to ask this question: When it comes to your work, why?

What need are you meeting? What pain are you helping to heal? What itch are you scratching? What concern are you engaging?

A strong answer to why will take you a long, long way.

What Happens When We Write Down Our Dreams

Creativity, Goals, Inspirations, Life, Writing, , ,

About a year ago I read a book that had a massive impact on the way I do life. It’s called The Accidental Creative (AL) by Todd Henry, and if you’re a friend who sees me regularly, you’re sick of hearing me talk about it.

Among the practices Todd commends in the book is that of weekly, monthly, and quarterly checkpoints. These checkpoints are basically way stations on the road of life where you step back and assess where you are, where you’re going, and what  your priorities should be in light of such.

For the quarterly checkpoint, Todd recommends spending some time answering this question: What would blow your mind if it happened? The idea behind this is that if you take the time to write these things down, they are much more likely to happen.

I’ve answered with activities like running the Chicago marathon, starting a microbusiness, jumping out of an airplane, and going to Switzerland with my wife.

And then there’s one that I get to check off today.

Here it is: guest posting on AccidentalCreative.com

It really is a dream come true.

I’ll leave you with two things. First, I hope you’ll check out my post at AC. Second, I encourage you to begin writing down a list of things that would blow your mind if they happened.

Because you just never know . . .

And why not get started here? What would blow your mind if it happened?

How One Little Thing Can Lead You to a Whole New Adventure

Life, , ,

So what is that for you?

When you look at your life, your work, your spirituality, your marriage, your parenting, your house, your neighborhood, your mission, your travel—what is one little thing you can do?

What’s the one thing you’re going to do soon to move forward?

Don’t choose one thing for all of those different realms. Pick one realm. And one thing you can do within that realm.

As you look at these realms (I’ll list them again below), which one seems to have the most energy for you right now?

Life

Work

Spirituality

Marriage/Romantic relationship

Parenting

House

Neighborhood

Mission

Travel

Or fill in the blank: ___________________

Let your eyes scan this list a few times. Which one rises to the surface for you? If nothing rises, close your eyes and point somewhat randomly to the screen. Don’t like where your finger landed? Try again.

Here, I’ll do this with you. . . . My finger landed on mission.

What’s one little thing I can do to move forward with my sense of mission in the world?

Got your realm?

Muse a bit. What’s one thing you can do?

I actually can think of two very doable things (I’m violating my own rule!) that I can take action on to move forward with my sense of mission. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to place these two doable things on my calendar so they will get done. What gets scheduled gets done. While I’m gone, why don’t you do the same?

. . .

OK, done. You?

Congratulations. You’ve just taken the first step into a whole new adventure.

If you feel comfortable sharing, what was your one little thing?

What Giving Does for the Giver

Life, ,

Dedicated to those affected by Hurricane Sandy

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. . . . If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.” –C. S. Lewis

Data

According to the World Bank Development Research Group, if you make:

  • $30,000 a year, you are in the top 7 percent richest people in the world
  • $50,000 a year, you are in the top 1 percent richest people in the world
  • $100,000 a year, you are nearly in the top ½ percent richest people in the world
  • The vast majority of the world’s population (more than 80 percent) lives on less than $5,000 a year

Benefits

When I give, I . . .

  • Stand for something that will last longer than a fairly useless diversion
  • Remember that I am part of something much larger than myself
  • Am doing what I should as one of the richest people in the world
  • Remind myself that there is so much more to life than money
  • Recognize tangibly that nothing matters more than people
  • Am beginning to grasp this thing called philanthropy
  • Empower others at the same time I feel empowered
  • Give the middle finger to selfishness and greed
  • Am opening up instead becoming closed off
  • Become more of the person I want to be
  • Provide a good example for my children
  • Stand for the real American Dream
  • Remember how truly blessed I am
  • Emulate the people I admire most
  • Am doing what I can to help
  • I put my beliefs into action
  • Am doing my part
  • Help somebody
  • Follow Jesus
  • Am happy
  • Grow up

Story

We all have a story, and we either did or did not grow up in a home where giving was valued—not just as a good thing to do but as a vital part of what it means to live well.

My wife and I have been living out our own story when it comes to giving.

It’s been at times very rewarding and frankly, at times very scary. But as we talk and pray about it, deciding what to give to various causes, we repeatedly come back to this realization: Giving is an important part of what it means to be human, to say nothing of being some of the richest people in the world.

Our story’s not over, we have a long way to go. But I will say this. We have never regretted a decision to give.

To give to the Red Cross and help the victims of Sandy, click here.

Is This the Life You Want?

Goals, Inspirations, Life, Work Habits, , ,

Recently my wife and I watched a movie called “I’m Fine, Thanks.” It’s a documentary about several people who reach a breaking point in life and respond by doing something unconventional.

Several of the featured people achieve financial success but realize they’re miserable. One couple decides to pay cash for a 300-square-foot house and focus on simplicity. One man decides to ditch a prosperous career as an attorney to start a yoga studio in New York City. A family decides to drop everything and start riding their bikes; they ride from the Pacific Northwest to South America.

Themes in the film include having the courage to pursue your dreams, downsizing, not delaying your dreams until retirement, getting away from the tyranny of material possessions, unconventional living, and the importance of spending time with one’s children.

See the trailer below.

I’m Fine, Thanks – Trailer from Grant Peelle on Vimeo.

It was the kind of film that makes you think—about your life, about the choices you’ve made, about the path you’re on. It’s the kind of film that compels you to ask, Is this the life I want?

The film reveals the enormous pressure we are under to live a certain way. The difficulty of coming into awareness of this pressure cannot be overestimated.

It’s like a fish becoming aware of the water it swims in. Fact is, if that water becomes really polluted, the fish becomes aware of it very quickly and, I suspect, does all it can to find clean water. But if the water has a low level of pollution, the fish probably just lives with it, right? It swims on, does the aquatic equivalent of coughing every now and again, and that’s it.

That’s what I do. That’s what we do. We sense the life we’re in is slightly messed up, slightly off center, but it’s not terrible. We can manage it. Cough. It’s okay. So we settle. Cough. We get up the next morning. Cough, cough. Brew the coffee and do what we have to do to pay the rent or mortgage.

But there’s this little voice in the back of our minds. It’s subtle; it’s inaudible most of the time. But it’s there. And it whispers, “You don’t have to do this. There is another way.”

I’ll ask you the same question I’m asking myself: What’s one thing you can do today to turn the volume up on that little voice?

How to Get Through Hard Times

Life, , ,

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I hope you won’t mind a more personal post today.

I have several friends who are going through tough times right now. Medical issues. Pain. Divorce. Death. And you probably have some friends who are going through the same. You may be going through a tough time yourself .

Hard times force me to face this reality: everything’s broken.

Our bodies break, our marriages break, our livelihoods break, our families break, our health breaks.

This is not pessimism: it is truth.

So what do we do with all the brokenness?

I don’t know. Honestly sometimes it feels like too much to bear.

And then I remember the wood of the altar in my church.

I have the honor of reading aloud from Scripture every so often at my church. When it’s my turn I wear special vestments and process with the choir, the acolytes, the other lay reader, the priest. And I sit up there and pray.

One recent Sunday I noticed the knots in the wood of the altar.

Wood knots are a reminder of death. They come (in most cases) from dead branches that the rest of the tree grows around. They don’t get absorbed into the tree; they stay there, forever. Carpenters have to be mindful of them because they can adversely affect the integrity of the wood.

The knots tell us everything is broken.

But they also enhance the visual effect of the wood. Carpenters sometimes search high and low for wood with just the right knots. I stared at them in prayer the other day because they were beautiful.

Those knots reminded me that, yes, everything is broken, but over time the brokenness can be worked into something larger that is compelling and admirable.

This is not something to point out right away with someone who is hurting. The thing to do in those cases is listen and be attentive and simply be there.

But sitting here, as I am, with all the death and brokenness, the wood knots comfort me with another truth.

Everything is being redeemed.

Listen to the knots.