By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
The Baptist Message board during its December meeting unanimously approved the creation of Message Bookswhich will be a book publishing/producing arm of the Baptist Message.
The impetus of this new endeavor came at the suggestion of Editor Kelly Boggs. He presented it not only as a new revenue stream but also as a way to promote authors with a Louisiana Baptist connection.
“I spoke to an editor of a state Baptist paper who was in the process of launching a book publishing ministry,” Boggs said. “I liked the idea, because I think we have several gifted authors in Louisiana.”
The Message plans to publish/produce two books in 2014.
One author will be well-known to Louisiana Baptists. The other is a collaborative effort that is theological in nature and will likely be viewed as somewhat provocative.
“We hope to have the two books we’re working on published by the end of the first quarter or soon thereafter,” Boggs said.
In the future, Louisiana Baptists who have a desire to be published will be encouraged to submit book proposals on their prospective projects to the Baptist Message. “This new publishing/producing endeavor is a business and so when we look at a potential author, we have to consider whether there is a market for their book,” Boggs said.
The potential of Message Books is exciting for Boggs and he believes it will be a win-win proposition.
“I hope we can find talented authors who we can help promote and publish and perhaps expose them to more traditional publishing houses,” Boggs said. “And of course I do hope it becomes a solid income stream to help with other aspects of what we want to do at the Baptist Message.”