I’m in the process of writing a book. It’s working title is World Remade and its being published by Resource Publications through Wipf and Stock.

When you write a book, you’re supposed to start a blog. Actually, you’re supposed to start a blog, a YouTube channel, be active on Facebook, post on Instagram, tweet on what I still call Twitter but we’re apparently supposed to call X, and write your next book. If you’re really committed, you’ll maintain a half dozen other social media profiles all while you find a way to hold down whatever job you have to actually make money.

I’m not that committed. I’m writing a blog and I’m continuing my work with families involved with Child and Family Services here in Montana. I will not be joining Facebook, Instagram, X, or any other social media site to promote my book (don’t tell my publisher!). Maybe someday I’ll play with posting something on YouTube, but I don’t recommend holding your breath.

I’ve never published a book through a publisher before, so there’s a lot about the experience that’s new to me–contract negotiations, marketing questionnaires, and actual writing deadlines to name a few. I’ve only submitted my first manuscript to this point, so I’m sure there will be a couple more surprises to come. Thus far, I’ve found that the idea of marketing a book is by far the most stressful–something in me recoils from the idea of self-promotion.

Self-promotion say, “look at me” and assumes the value of one’s contribution. But my opinion of the value of my work does not seem to me to be a particularly helpful measure of its actual value–plenty of people think they’ve written a good book, but relatively few actually have. I can’t know the value of my own work until it is tested by my communities and yet, to even have our work assessed, we have to call attention to ourselves. The reality of our current economic system is that we must assess our own creative endeavors as worth attention and put significant effort into promoting them before our communities have the opportunity to evaluate if they have value.

This (despite my feelings on the matter) is reality–creatives that want external validation before taking the risk of putting their work out there are highly unlikely to receive what they seek. Creativity is an inherently vulnerable process. I just need to get used to this bit…

But today the rabbit hole goes a bit deeper. In today’s world where algorithms ever more drive attention (and with it potential income), the skill of capturing eyeballs begins to outweigh the ability to create beauty or speak meaningfully to important issues. Of course, an algorithm’s goal is to drive viewership and ultimately ad revenue, not promote valuable content. As it turns out, people like to read things they agree with, so our algorithms have learned to create echo chambers where our current ideas are reinforced over and over. Effective self-promotion becomes an exercise in telling people what they want to hear (or simply getting your message out to the folks that already agree with you).

This algorithm driven approach to community building seems to me to stand contrary to something at the core of Christianity–the belief that God’s creation is full of diversity–deserts, jungles, plains, oceans and mountains each with their own inhabitants and ways of experiencing the world. Each ecosystem causes people to view reality differently and yet they are all held together in one creation. (I’m focusing on eco-systems here, but I could just as easily focus on personality, formative experiences, or economics…) It is my Christian conviction that we need to be in conversation with people we disagree with.

And so, my sincere hope is that this blog can somehow defy the forces of the internet and become something different–a place where people can listen to one another, speak honestly and thoughtfully, and honor the positive intent of people who don’t share their opinions. Along the way, I hope to be challenged and changed by my conversations with y’all.

So, as I post here I encourage you to comment. Tell me what resonates. Tell me what you disagree with. Tell me when your experience doesn’t line up with my thinking. As it turns out, some of my thoughts are better than others!

I’m looking forward to the journey of blogging here with y’all. I hope you find something meaningful here.