“I don’t want to publish books,” I sometimes tell the authors I am working with.
They look startled, wondering if I—the Publishing Director of a company that… well… publishes books—have completely lost my marbles.
So I quickly continue: “I want to communicate Christian truth to people effectively, so that their minds and hearts are changed.”
I spend a fair bit of my time interacting with authors—some experienced and able—others just starting out on their first piece of published writing. For all of them, I want to help them not just “write a book”, but craft a book that achieves a specific objective. And that objective is different for each book:
But notice the focus in each of these examples. It is the reader who I am focussing on: their needs, their struggles, and how we can communicate with them. The aim of producing a book and getting it into someone’s hands is, for us at least, about changing hearts and minds for the glory of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The aim of producing a book is, for us at least, about changing hearts and minds for the glory of God.
I’ve recently been editing Tim Chester’s guide to 2 Samuel for the God’s Word For You series, due out later this year. The book is a delight—well written, warm, pastoral and informative. But I have been more struck by the book of 2 Samuel itself. It has long been a favourite of mine, and as I have been working on 2 Samuel For You my admiration for it, purely as a piece of writing, has grown and grown.
The story itself is a page turner. David, Bathsheba, Uriah, Nathan’s prophesy, Tamar and Amnon, the revolt by David’s son Absalom, David’s exile, Absalom’s defeat and the end of David’s reign. There is drama and excitement on every page. And there is heart-rending pathos, exemplified by the scene at the end of chapter 18, where David breaks down on hearing the news of Absalom’s death:
“The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!"
The way the story is told is truly inspired. It has in it everything (and more) that I encourage my authors to do. The stories are told with precision, and clarity. There is wordplay and tasty phrasing. There is compelling description. But before any of those features that are essential for a writer to have done their job well, there has been considerable planning. Planning the structure, the length and the precise messages and audience you are addressing are crucial.
We are left at the end hungry for a chosen king who will not fail…
Hidden from plain sight, but there to discover, is a wonderful symmetry to 2 Samuel, which shows the careful and thoughtful planning behind the way it was put together. There is a bigger narrative to the story that is told, not just in the words, but in what is put in where, and what is glossed over. We are shown David, the chosen king in all his God-given glory, who then throws it all away, and reaps appalling consequences for his family and his future. And yet through it all, the promises of God remain true. We are left at the end hungry for a chosen king who will not fail…
We will sometimes give our authors a copy of the excellent book on writing On Writing Well by William Zinsser. Perhaps in future I’ll also encourage them to spend some time in 2 Samuel. It will do their souls—and their writing—much good.
Pre-order 2 Samuel For You now, or explore our whole range of expository guides to books of the Bible here.
Tim Thornborough is the founder and Publishing Director of The Good Book Company. He is series editor of Explore Bible-reading notes, the author of The Very Best Bible Stories series, and has contributed to many books published by The Good Book Company and others. Tim is married to Kathy and has three adult daughters.
