Confessions of an Author on Launch Week

It’s launch week.

If you’ve never released a book, let me tell you what it’s like.

You suddenly care about things you promised yourself you wouldn’t care about.

Amazon rankings.

Preorder numbers.

Whether people are talking about the book.

Whether they actually read it, or just “like” the announcement on social media.

It’s a fascinating spiritual exercise.

Because somewhere along the way, every author has to answer a question that every Christian eventually faces:

Who am I doing this for?

The truth is, I do want people to buy this book. I spent years writing it because I genuinely believe its message matters. I want parents to give it to their kids. I want pastors to put it in the hands of young adults. I want college students and twenty-somethings to wrestle with what it really means to follow Jesus with their whole lives.

But launch week has a way of exposing your heart.

It reminds you how quickly good desires can become consuming desires. How easily ministry can become measurable. How tempting it is to confuse faithfulness with numbers.

And so, like so many other times in ministry, I’m finding myself opening my hands again.

I wrote the book.

I prayed over every chapter.

Now I have to trust God with what happens next.

Changing lives has never been my job.

That’s His.

So if you think of it this week, I’d appreciate your prayers. Pray that someone who’s been keeping Jesus at the edge of their life would discover He’s worthy of the center. Pray that someone who’s been following Jesus halfway would discover the joy of following Him wholeheartedly.

And since this is launch week, I suppose this is the part where I ask you to buy the book.

Truthfully, that has always felt a little uncomfortable to me. But I’ve realized that if I really believe this message matters, then inviting people to read it isn’t self-promotion—it’s simply an extension of the ministry.

So if these weekly Substack reflections have encouraged you, would you consider picking up a copy of All Your Life? Even more, would you consider giving a copy to someone in your life who’s asking the questions this book tries to answer—a son or daughter, a grandchild, a college student, a young professional, or a friend who is trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus in a confusing world?

Books don’t change lives.

Jesus does.

But God has always delighted in using ordinary things to point people toward Him. My prayer is that this book will be one of those ordinary things.

Thank you for reading these reflections week after week. Thank you for praying. Thank you for encouraging me. And thank you for helping this message reach the people who need it most.

Here’s to release week.

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