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As of today, Holy Subversion is officially in stock at Amazon.com and will soon be in bookstores across the country.

Last Wednesday, I received my first copy of the book, graciously Fed-Exed to me by Crossway. It is indeed a wonderful feeling to hold your own book in your hands.

Now that the book is out, I’d like to mention a few things that I’ve learned about writing and about myself:

1. Writing is harder than most people realize.

As Corina looked through the book last week, she asked, “Can you believe that all these words are yours?” I looked at her and with a chuckle replied, “Frankly… YES!”

A writer slaves over his words for months. No matter how much you enjoy writing, you will find yourself bogged down in endless edits and continual rephrasing of your sentences.

It is absolutely imperative that you be passionate about your topic before you sit down to write a book. Passion keeps you going when the going gets tough. Have you ever found it harder to write a 5-page book review for a book you didn’t like than to write a 20-page research paper about a subject you found fascinating? Passion makes up the difference.

2. Writing is deeply personal.

Every writer puts a piece of his soul in his book.

As I looked through Holy Subversion last week, I scanned chapter 5, the chapter on subverting Leisure and Entertainment. Every time I look at that chapter, I remember where I was when I wrote it. That particular chapter came together the day that our daughter Julia was born. (No… I was not feverishly finishing the chapter while Corina was giving birth in the other room! I worked on that chapter all day, and Corina went into labor that evening. Just in case you were wondering…)

Likewise, I came up with the structure of the final chapter (“Subversive Evangelism”) while taking a walk one summer day through the downtown streets of our city. Even now, when I look at some of those sections, I can see the distinct buildings beside the road in front of me.

Writing is personal. That’s why, regardless of the nature of the book, authors take criticism of their work so seriously. Whenever you critique someone’s book, you are critiquing a part of their life, questioning ideas that they have devoted time and attention to.

Writers have to grow some tough skin. You write a book because you want your ideas to be made public. You invite criticism. It’s the nature of publishing. A solid critique should not be taken as a personal attack, but given the personal act of writing, it sometimes feels that way.

3. Every writer is deeply influenced and inspired by others.

The last few weeks, I have been filled with gratitude for the people who have poured themselves into my life – people like my former pastor Ken Polk, under whose expository, evangelistic preaching I sat for more than a decade growing up. I am thankful for my pastor Kevin Minchey, who has showed me what pastoral care looks like and has supported and taught me during this stage in my life.

I am thankful for parents who have encouraged me to live in light of God’s kingdom. They have always believed that ideas matter and are worth discussing, debating, and deliberating. Whenever my family gets together (brothers and sister and everyone), we don’t sit around and talk about the weather. We discuss and debate whatever theological or political issue seems most important at the time. Such conversations stimulate the mind and sharpen our thinking.

I am thankful for the quality education I received at Emanuel University in Romania and Southern Seminary in Louisville.

I am also thankful for the subscribers of this blog. I am honored by the fact that so many people would visit this site and read my book reviews and other articles. I am grateful for the writers who have participated in interviews here, and for the other bloggers who link to my work.

The good folks at Crossway have been great to work with. I will be forever grateful that they believed in this project enough to take on the risk of publishing an unknown, first-time author.

4. Authors are never fully satisfied with the final product.

Much time goes by in between the submission of a manuscript and the release date of a book. I began writing Holy Subversion in the summer of 2007. I finished the first draft in late summer, 2008. The final edits were approved in May 2009. The book hits shelves now, in 2010.

As I look back over the work, I find phrases here and there that I would tweak. A writer is never fully satisfied with his project. By nature, we are “word-tinkerers”. We keep playing with them until the publisher says, “That’s it. Time to hit the press!”

5. It is difficult for the Christian author to realize where book promotion ends and personal ambition begins.

It is not easy to separate book promotion and self-promotion. Since writing a book is such a personal endeavor, it is no wonder that it is difficult to separate the two.

A friend at church told me, “Trevin, as long as your motivation is to do good for the kingdom, you don’t need to worry about the sin of self-advancement.” That’s easier said than done. Truth be told, even my best motivations are tainted by sin, and I recognize them as such.

As I have weighed my own motivations and feelings as the release date has drawn closer, I’ve come to realize that two statements are true:

  1. If the book did not result in bearing fruit for God’s kingdom, I would be disappointed.
  2. If the book did not result in advancing my own name, I would also be disappointed.

The first statement is gospel-driven. The second is idolatrous.

I recognize that I am a mixed bag with mixed-up motives – some that need to die, and some that need to live. Writing a book and hoping it does well can be a terrible temptation to pride. I am praying that God would humble me so that he can use me.

The more I pursue humility, the more I realize that humility is a by product of pursuing something else – namely the kingdom of God and the fame of Christ. So I am constantly asking God to root out the wrong motivations and replace them with love for my King and his kingdom.

I am challenging believers to a life of holy subversion. There is no one who needs that challenge more than me.

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