Ted Dekker and the Box We're In

If you're looking for a great blog with reviews of Christian books and culture, this is a keeper. David Long at Faith in Fiction recommended it and I agree. Insightful, not always complimentary, but definitely challenging. We need more of that in Christian publishing. Most of us can't even begin to think outside the box--we can't see past the walls surrounding us as it is! So it's refreshing when there's someone out there who can at least give us glimpses to how it can be done. But the possibilities are so much greater.

Other outside-the-box thinkers? Ted Dekker, always a favorite of mine. Maybe it's because I consider him a friend (I've edited a couple of his books), but it's also that this guy was so nervy. He came into Christian publishing having never been published before, never worked for a publisher, had no inside track. Just a missionary kid. Yet he hooked himself up with Jan Dennis--the former publisher at Crossway and now literary agent--and somehow managed to get an endorsement from Frank Peretti. He knew what the potential of his writing was and asked for the money to back it up. And it's all paid off in publicity, sales, movie deals.... Some call that nerve. I think it's just smart.

If you don't believe what you're doing is great how can you expect others to? Salesmanship is a huge part of writing; don't forget that. First you sell the idea to yourself, then to your agent, your publisher (every department of the publishing house, too, BTW) and finally to the public. There are plenty of amazing writers who don't sell big--perhaps if they believed in themselves and their work half as much as Ted Dekker did they would've gone somewhere. It's a lesson for me as well.

I'm back so check often for new blogs.
Warmly,
Traci DePree