My first print book, Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into Your Comfortable Life, comes out next month (Aug. 1).
If you wait until the release week to buy it, I'll give you over $158.00 worth of free stuff (more details on this soon).
Don't worry: These aren't stickers with my picture on them. They're REAL products with real value.
Why am I doing this? I'll tell you in a minute.
But now, let's talk about the book — specifially, the story behind it.
It all started with a manifesto
A couple years ago, I wrote an eBook for Change This, a website that Seth Godin helped start. The eBook was about my experience working with the nonprofit Adventures in Missions and how I saw lots of young people going overseas and returning home, feeling “wrecked.”
After serving in the developing world, these people couldn't go back to their old, normal lives. The way they saw the world had been changed, ruined for good. I had a hunch that other people (not just missionaries) had experienced this, too, but I had no idea…
Over the years, thousands of people have come out of the woodwork to share their “wrecked” stories with me — in person, online, over the phone, wherever. This is an epidemic.
Then, a call from a publisher
Those of you familiar with my story may remember that I started this blog in 2011 and in about eight months had a book deal.
The longer version of that story is Moody Publishers contacted me last summer, wondering if I'd be interested in turning that manifesto into a full-length book.
I said I'd never thought of that, but I loved the idea.
A few days later, I told them I was “in.”
A year later, a book
It took four months to write the book and several more to edit it. What emerged from the process was a message about the choices we make that shape us into the people we're supposed to be.
Wrecked is about the life we’re afraid to live — one full of radical sacrifice and selfless service. It’s a look at how we discover fulfillment in the least likely of places.
The book is divided into 10 chapters, each covering a different aspect of leaving comfort, finding an adventure, and committing to your life's work. Some of the main lessons are:
- Your life is not about you.
- Compassion doesn't come without suffering.
- We are most alive when pouring out our lives for others.
- Commitment (not adventure) is what really causes us to grow.
If you're someone who knows you were born to make a difference but are struggling to find your way, this book will help — and frustrate — you.
Why the freebies?
So here's why I'm doing this, why I'm “bribing” you to buy a $14 book with stuff that's worth well over 10 times that amount:
- I don't think of you as customers. I consider you my “tribe” — the people who help me reach a larger audience. I don't take that permission lightly. This is my way of showing my gratitude for your attention.
- Book publishing is weird. If a book does well the first week, it has a greater likelihood of reaching more people. If it doesn't, you face an uphill battle. These incentives are an attempt at giving my book a fighting chance.
- I'm a new author. I'm still earning the trust of readers. Since this book isn't simply an extension of my blog, I don't take for granted that people will read it. If this offer helps get the book into more people's hands, then the ideas in it will spread (which is what it's all about).
I don't really think of this as bribing you (I was just trying to be clever). Honestly, I thought it would be a fun way to launch a book and create some momentum.
So… are you in?
Have you ever been “wrecked”? Share your story in the comments (we'll be doing something cool with these next week).
*Photo credit: La Flaf (Creative Commons)
