The Ideal Manuscript for Energion
This year (2012) we released 20 books under our main Energion Publications imprint and three additional books under our EnerPower Press imprint. That puts us at more that 70 books in our current catalog. We intentionally publish books written from a wide range of viewpoints and for audiences ranging from pastors and scholars to students and new Christians.
I thought this would be a good time to talk about the ideal manuscript. I don’t claim that every manuscript we publish fulfills all of these in the same degree. Not everyone will agree on just what each item means, but these are the things I look for when deciding what to publish.
- Challenging — The author is not afraid to address challenging and controversial questions, and does not try to gloss over issues that might annoy or stir up the audience. Some issues that come to mind include the nature of biblical inspiration, creation and evolution, religion and politics, Christians and war, divorce, and human sexuality (a range of topics).
- Faith affirming — The author speaks about these issues in the context of Christian faith, clearly addressing how her or his understanding of the controversial questions relates to faith. The reader may disagree with what the author has to say, but should understand clearly how the author has struggled with and addressed the topic in the context of Christian faith.
- Clear — The author uses the vocabulary necessary, but doesn’t use words that are more difficult than needed, or sentences that are more complex than accuracy requires.
- Applicable — The author does not just discuss theory and concepts, but eventually answers the question: “How then shall we live?”
- Personally involved — The manuscript reflects not just what the author has studied but what he or she has lived. Even if it is a very philosophical book it should serve as a testimony. It should bear witness to a life of faith.
