Ready or Knot? Here We Come!
Welcome to 2019! I hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. We spent some time with Kristen's family to celebrate her parent's 50th anniversary for Christmas. On New Years Eve we had 12 ninth grade boys over to our house and we split some time with some friends eating pie as we said "Good-Pie to 2019."
This new post is all about my new book, Ready or Knot? 12 Conversations Every Couple Needs to Have before Marriage. The book comes out on February 5, 2019 with Baker Books. This book is a dream come true, and I'm so glad to finally launch this book into the world in less than five weeks.
I'm covering three main things today:
Why did I write Ready or Knot? and who is the book for?
Pre-order bonuses and why they're important.
How you can be a part of the Launch Team and get your copy before any one else!
Why did I write Ready or Knot? and who is the book for?
Why did I write it?
I've been working with premarried and married couples for over 12 years now in my role as a marriage pastor at Watermark Community Church. I now work primarily with newlyweds, and I've spent a large chunk of my time working with couples in crisis. But, the heavy majority of my time since 2006 has been serving and leading seriously dating and engaged couples.
In my time working with couples, I've come across an abundance of outstanding marriage books. I never found the premarried book I loved that we could recommend to couples in the seriously dating and engaged stages of life. Our team found great books that were biblical, practical, or authentic, but never found one that was all three. I wrote this book to be biblical, authentic, AND practical. I worked with some amazing couples and an incredible team at Baker Books, and I think this book accomplished that goal!
Who is the book for?
Seriously Dating and Engaged Couples.
Couples spend so much time preparing for their wedding day often at the neglect of their relationship. While the wedding day is important, a couple's relationship as husband and wife is much more significant. Couples need to prepare for more than just their wedding day. Ready or Knot? takes couples through 12 conversations every couple needs to have before marriage. The book covers topics such as communication and conflict, sexual intimacy, money, in-laws, and so much more. Each chapter features the real-life story of a married couple and the reader (or listener of the audio book) benefits from their successes and mistakes. Each chapter is Christ-centered, biblical, practical, and authentic. The book helps seriously dating and engaged couples take the best next step in their relationship.
Newlyweds and Married Couples
While the target audience is premarried couples, any married couple would benefit from the wisdom and stories of this book! We all need to go back to the basics from time to time. And while I do cover the basics, the book goes much deeper than Marriage 101. For newlyweds, this book will help them build their new marriage on the rock solid foundation of Jesus Christ.
Parents
I hope parents with adult children will buy Ready or Knot? for their children and for their children's friends as they get ready for marriage. We all know when couples get engaged they register for all kinds of stuff. Kristen and I did, and we loved it! But, we've learned after 17 years of marriage that good wisdom (from something like a good book) is much more valuable than any gift we received at our wedding. This book is intended to be that wisdom in written form. Get them something they registered for, but give them something much more valuable than a toaster or utensil from their registry.
Pastors/Mentors
Ready or Knot? provides a great guide for pastors or mentor couples to go through with a couple looking for premarital counseling. While I'd recommend a class like Merge, if it's not available, then this book would be the perfect guide for a premarried couple looking to prepare for more their just their wedding day. Every chapter includes questions to answer for the individual and then some questions to discuss together as a couple. I tried to make it as user-friendly as possible for pastors and mentors to use with premarried couples.
Pre-order bonuses and why pre-orders even matter
Along with the team at Baker, we put together three awesome pre-order bonuses if you order the book before it releases on February 5, 2019. Since this post is already too long, I'll save those for another post on another day.
Why do pre-orders even matter?
I've learned a whole lot about publishing in this process. I knew pre-orders were important, but I had no idea just important they really are. The number of books ordered in advance determines how many books are printed, and it helps determine the price point. Pre-orders also largely affect those infamous algorithms that affect what books show up on recommended lists on Amazon. The more books that sell in advance, the better position it gets when the book comes out. This means more people will hear about Ready or Knot?. And, the one thing I don't want to see is the dreaded "Out of stock - available in 1-3 weeks" message.
Real talk for a minute. I promise you I'm not doing this for the money. At the end of the day, I'm basically making about $0.25/hour. I'm doing all of this because I believe in the message and want couples to read this book. I want them to hear about Jesus and learn God's design for marriage. Anything you do to help this book get out there helps advance the gospel and helps couples get biblical counsel about relationships.
If you do pre-order the book...
This is important. If you pre-order (THANK YOU), then keep your receipt. This is how you will get the pre-order bonuses. You'll get them for free if you submit your receipt. I'm still working on the best mechanism of submitting your proof of purchase and the delivery mechanism of the bonuses. So, please keep your receipt and I'll make sure you are informed about how to get the bonuses. By the way, any purchase counts: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, hard copy, Kindle, or audio version (coming soon).
The best way to stay in the loop is by subscribing to my email list. If you're already subscribed, then you'll hear more when the process is solidified. If you're not, then the best thing you can do is sign-up here. Plus you'll get a free downloadable date night guide—124 Killer Date Night Ideas!
How you can be a part of the Launch Team
Baker Books has set aside 150 copies of the book for members of the team. If you’re selected to be on the team, you’ll receive a free hardcopy of the book that you’ll get in the mail before any one else does! You’ll also be a part of a closed Facebook group where we’ll interact about the book, and you’ll get the chance to ask questions, meet others, and maybe even win a prize! I’ll do a few Facebook Live videos to discuss parts of the book and answer any questions you have.
The Launch Team is a huge part of a successful book launch. You’ll have a few responsibilities if you agree to be a part of the team:
Read the book and leave a review on Amazon and/or Barnes and Noble. I can’t emphasize this enough - reviews are a huge deal and raise awareness about the book. Somehow the more reviews a book gets, the more it affects the Amazon algorithm so it shows up more often on different Amazon pages. You will agree to leave an honest review for the book on the day of launch (February 5, 2019). You can, however, leave a review on Goodreads at any point along the way.
Share about the book with your friends over social media, through texts and emails, and/or in person. If you have a blog, I’d love for you to write a review of the book. Word of mouth is crucial, especially since I don’t have a huge following. If you’re a part of the team, you’ll do things like post a picture of yourself holding the book.
Who's eligible to be on the team?
Several people have asked me this question. I want the team to be a variety of ages, stage of life (single, dating, engaged, newly married, married, single again). And I want some male, some female, some young, some older.
Spots are limited, but please know how much I appreciate your interest! You’ll need to fill out an application that will take you a few, brief moments. There will be more people who apply then available spots—this is a great problem to have!
The application opens on Wednesday, January 2nd and will close on Tuesday, January 8th. Members of the team will be selected on the 9th and 10th, and then the group will officially start on January 11th.
By the way, I'd love for you to order your own copy through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Baker Books. That way you’ll essentially get 2 copies for the price of one if you’re on the team. The ~$10 cost for the book is so worth the wisdom inside (and if you pre-order a copy, then you’ll get access to the great pre-order bonuses).
Recap!
I wrote Ready or Knot? to be a biblical, practical, authentic guide for couples. I'm so excited for you to read it!
Pre-orders are very important for the publisher and for sellers like Amazon. And, if you pre-order, you get a few awesome bonuses. Please keep your receipt.
I am looking for 150 Launch Team members who get a free copy of the book and will agree to review the book and help spread the word about Ready or Knot?. You must fill out an application to be a part of the team.