God and Money: How We
Discovered True Riches at Harvard Business School
1. What inspired you to write your book?
As MBA students at Harvard, we
wanted to broaden our perspective and enrolled in a class called “God and
Money” at Harvard Divinity School.
Despite being lifelong Christians, the reality is that we had never seriously
engaged with what the Bible and our theological tradition has to say about
wealth. We were blown away! The book
began as a term paper, and then just kept on growing. We give God the credit for opening all the
doors that made this project into a successful book.
2. What is it about?
Any person of faith who winds up
with a high income or a good deal of wealth eventually wrestles with the
question, “What do I do with all of this?”
We attempt to answer this question for the Christian reader, using a
deep study of Scripture, compelling case studies of radically generous
families, and through building a universal framework for handling wealth that
we believe reflects the practical outworkings of a Christian theology of money.
3. What do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your book?
It’s not about how much I should
give, but rather how much I should keep.
4. What advice do you have for writers?
Iterate, iterate, iterate. Your very best work has room to get better, and
will only get better through the serious and sustained engagement of outside
voices in your project. We went through
literally hundreds of readers and incorporated the best of their feedback
before we ever published our manuscript. It’s hard to over-state this
point. We threw an entire chapter in the
trash and re-wrote it from the ground up, based on reader feedback. We cut out portions that we were married to
as the writers. We swallowed our pride
and allowed the “market” to dictate what worked, and what didn’t.
5. Where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?
We’re no experts, but
self-publishing is clearly a force to be reckoned with. We only went with a publisher when it became
clear to us that they were going to be a long-term partner, not just the
provider of a one-and-done marketing blitz that would be over in 60 days. Eight months in, we are still working
hand-in-hand with Rose Publishing and have been impressed with their commitment
to the long-term success of our project.
That said, it’s a two-sided equation, and we put in many hours each week
on this project even now, many months after it has been published. We’re crisscrossing the country speaking,
writing articles for publication, and deploying marketing capital to ensure the
project continues to succeed, and our publisher has come alongside these
efforts relationally and financially.
6. What challenges did you have in writing your book?
It’s exhausting and all-consuming
to write a well-researched book. We gave
six months of our lives fully to this project, to the detriment of our
families, our studies, and our friendships.
It’s a serious undertaking.
7. If people can only buy one book this month, why should it be yours?
As a Christian, consider this: money is talked about more in the Bible than
heaven, hell, prayer, or faith. It’s a
central component of our faith journey, and yet this topic is often either
ignored entirely, or abused for the gain of the teacher. Quality research and information is hard to
come by. Our book takes a clear look at
this topic from the perspective of two young business leaders who are very much
still on the journey, and don’t have it all figured out… but want to do the
best we can to honor God with all He has given us. We’re actively discovering the joy of giving
(and in fact are giving all book royalties away), and invite you to come along
and discover it with us!
John Cortines, 27, is the co-author of God and Money: How We Discovered True Riches at
Harvard Business School (https://www.amazon.com/God-Money-Discovered-Business-Foreword/dp/1628624078).
All book royalties are given to charity.
John lives in Orlando with his family and works for Generous Giving (www.generousgiving.org), an
organization that can help you host a Journey of Generosity (www.generousgiving.org/smallgatherings)
retreat with your friends to further explore this message. John has shared the biblical message of
generosity on national radio, TV, and at conferences around the country.
Please Click On The Best Out Of 2,100 Posts
11
best author, literary agent, media interviews of the year – with an opportunity
for you to be interviewed
http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/11-best-author-literary-agent-media.html
2016 Book Marketing & Book Publicity Toolkit
2015 Book Marketing & PR Toolkit
2014 Book Marketing & PR Toolkit
Book Marketing & Book PR Toolkit: 2013
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog
are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more
important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2016 ©.
Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby
http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.