Join the Launch Team for “The Restoration of All Things”
I’d love your personal touch in sharing my book with the world.
The other day I saw an Instagram clip of Ann Patchett being interviewed about writing and book marketing. Patchett is an accomplished author and the owner of a large, independent bookstore in Nashville. The interviewer mentioned conventional forms of promoting a book, such as book tours, podcasts, and radio interviews. Then he asked Patchett, “What actually sells a book?”
“I can give you the definitive answer to that question,” she said. “It is not a book tour, an ad, a radio show, a television show, a celebrity book club pick. The only thing that actually sells books is a person reading a book and turning around to their friend and saying, ‘Oh my,* you have to read this book.’ Books are a word-of-mouth product like nothing else.” Then she added the insightful observation that she believes “the experience of loving a book is not complete until you have turned around and said to someone, ‘You have got to read this.’”
It’s interesting how similar her last line is to a famous C. S. Lewis quote. “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment . . . . It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are.” Then he added, “The delight is incomplete till it is expressed” (Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms). Lewis gives several examples of completing joy by expressing joy, and the first example is about a book: “It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is.”
Fascinating, right? In all our ways of marketing our books and gaming the algorithms, the most important step in actually selling books is word-of-mouth: when one human likes something so much that they complete their joy by expressing it to other humans.
I think about this a lot in the context of promoting church events. Ministry leaders want their pastors to announce their events from the stage. And I understand why. It does help. But the main way it helps, I think, is by making the event legitimate in people’s minds. Knowing an event exists, however, is not the main reason people go to an event. I can tell you that the definitive reason that people go to a Bible study, a men’s breakfast, an evangelism seminar, or a women’s retreat is not an announcement from the stage or a blurb in the bulletin, but when one person turns to another person and says, “Will you go with me?”
And I guess, according to Patchett, this is what also gets people to buy books.
So, here’s my question: Would you be willing to help me get others to buy my book, The Restoration of All Things, by joining the launch team? I wrote the book to help offer more hope to people’s lives. And I don’t know anyone who couldn’t benefit from more hope.
I’m setting up a launch team to spread the word. You can sign up here.
When you join some book launch groups, the authors or publishers often give away copies of the book. I’m sorry, but I’m not in a place to buy books for fifty people. I want to do that! I just can’t.
Instead, I thought of two different “giveaway” options that I think most people might enjoy better. Everyone who joins the launch team will get either 1) a phone call to chat with me or 2) a personally recorded section of the audiobook.
If you choose the phone call, there will be no official agenda for the call. If you want to tell me something you liked about the book or didn’t like—or ask something about the book—then that’s great. I’ll be up for that. And if you just want us to get to know each other or catch up and talk about life and ministry and writing or whatever, that’s great too.
I know some of you who read my blog are friends and family, so a phone call might not be that special. Indeed, I know I’m not that special to anyone! That’s why I also have the option of a personally recorded section of the audiobook. Just pick your favorite section, and I’ll send you a recording of it with a personal note about that section. You can build a fire and sit and listen, if you like. Doesn’t that sound pleasant? (By the way, the publisher Baker Books hired a professional voice actor, as they are called, to read the book, which is why a reading of the whole book by me doesn’t exist. So you’ll have something no one else has.)
In summary, here are the requirements to join the launch team: A willingness to…
Buy and read the book
Share about the book on social media (and tag me if you want to)
Write a super short Amazon review
Most importantly, tell a real human about the book in a real, in-person conversation
Once you do that, we’ll just set up a 15-20 minute phone call to talk or I’ll ask you for your favorite section of the book so I can send you an audio file of me reading it.
Are you up for joining the team to spread the word? It would mean a lot to me if you did.
* If you watch the Patchett clip, know that she says OMG, which I omitted when I typed her answer.
** Photo by Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra on Unsplash
Soon and Very Soon: The Restoration of All Things
Soon and very soon my book about the return of Christ will be published.
A gospel song from the 1970s belts out the lines, “Soon and very soon we are goin’ to see the King.” I’ve been singing it over and over for the last few months. It’s super catchy and happy and reminds me of the goodness of the return of Christ.
If you also want it stuck in your head, you can listen to the original singer and songwriter, Andraé Crouch, perform it live here, or you can watch another more modern version here, still featuring Crouch, but also with CeCe Winans. “No more dyin’ there, we are goin’ to see the King, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we are goin’ to see the King!
Try to sing that and not smile. You can’t do it.
This is a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot—not just for the last few months, but for the last few years. Soon and very soon, the book I wrote on this topic, The Restoration of All Things, will finally be released by Baker Books. Launch day is less than a month away. But I actually wrote the first chapters of this book over six years ago! It took a while to get it published, but that’s another story.
Today, I’d love to invite you to pre-order the book. I know that’s a few dollars, and I feel weird asking. But I really believe in the book’s theme, specifically that remembering the return of Christ pours hope into a Christian’s life. And who couldn’t use more hope in their life?
You can pre-order the book at a number of places, Amazon or Baker Books, for example. The book releases on June 23, but pre-orders likely ship early, maybe even a week. And this might not be apparent to the average reader, but I’m told that the Amazon algorithm gets a lot of “juice” from pre-orders, so if you’re going to get it anyway, buy early and often, as they say.
On the Baker Books website, you can click the “look inside” button to read the entire first chapter. I have also listed the table of contents below. Most books tend to get less engaging as the pages and chapters progress. I think this book gets better and better toward the end.
And if you’d like to learn more about a seminar we’re hosting at church on this topic, we built an information page with all the details (here). It’s on Saturday, June 27. We’ll sing together some of the old hymns about the return of Christ, along with some of the best new ones. I’ll also teach two sessions about it. There’s an optional lunch and Q&A for those who have time. If you live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or want to take a road trip, registering for the seminar is a great way to get a free copy of the book (register here). If you’ve already pre-ordered, then you’ll have two copies: one to keep and one to give away!
Thank you,
Benjamin
Table of Contents
Introduction: This Train Is Bound for Glory 9
1. Feasting for the Famished 35
2. Rest for the Weary 51
3. Bodies for the Broken 71
4. Family for the Forsaken 93
5. Justice for the Wronged 111
6. Glorification for Strugglers 131
Conclusion: Loving His Appearing 151
Discussion Questions 161
* Photo by Martin Adams on Unsplash (with Baker Books cloud image added)
The Restoration of All Things: Cover, Title, and Table of Contents
An update about my first traditionally published book. May I be so bold as to ask you to share my excitement?
About six years ago—almost to this exact week in October—something unexpected happened. I wrote an article for a website, and a publisher asked if I had any books I wanted to write. I for sure wanted to write books, but I couldn’t say one book idea burned in me beyond all others.
So I thought. I prayed. I consulted friends. And out came an idea for a book about the hope of the return of Christ, especially for those who are suffering. I won’t go into the details here about why that topic burned in a way others didn’t, but it did—and still does.
Well, that publisher initially showed enthusiasm but in the end didn’t want to sign the book. And that’s okay. It’s part of the process. By the way, I submitted the proposal the week Covid hit America, so it probably wasn’t the best timing for a new author, although I had no idea about the global disruption headed for us all. No one did but the Lord.
Every six months or so I would pull out the material for that book, see if I could make it better, and try again with another publisher. I got close a few times, but still no takers. Then, just last year, not one but two publishers wanted the book. Had I changed as an author? Had the publishing landscape changed? Had something else changed? Again, only the Lord knows. I’m thankful Baker Books picked up the book, has done a fantastic job, developing the content, and will release it on June 23, 2026.
Many of you have supported me over the years. You’ve read articles and other books, which has been wonderful. This next book, however, is being published by a traditional publisher, which is a first for me. I understand that doesn’t mean a lot to everyone, and for some, traditional publishing carries too much weight. But this is something I’m really excited about. If I were to use a sports analogy, it would be like playing college football at a small school and then getting drafted by a professional team.
Today I’d love to share the official title, cover, and table of contents with you.
This post isn’t about pre-orders or sales. That comes later. And I don’t actually feel greasy about marketing. Again, with so many of you encouraging me and wanting to help, it will be easy to post instructions on how to buy the book when the time comes.
For now, maybe you could just smile with me.
Title
The Restoration of All Things: How the Promise of Christ’s Return Brings Us Comfort for Today
Cover
Table of Contents
Introduction: This Train Is Bound for Glory
1 Feasting for the Famished
2 Rest for the Weary
3 Bodies for the Broken
4 Family for the Forsaken
5 Justice for the Wronged
6 Glorification for Strugglers
Conclusion: Loving His Appearing
Small Group Discussion Questions
* Photo by Martin Adams on Unsplash
