How I Started a Christian Book Publishing Company
In the fall of 2013, my sister, brother, and I were thinking about what to give our parents for Christmas that year. Our father had written his memoirs, putting down the stories as he thought of them, so we decided to have our father’s memoir printed in book form. I had more free time than my siblings, so I took on the task of editing and organizing the material, dividing it into chapters and moving paragraphs as needed. As I began working on the manuscript, I realized that editing the book, finding photos, and designing a book cover would take several months to complete. We wanted to take our time with it, so we planned on giving the book to our parents the following year. While working on the book, I kept in touch with my siblings, asking their opinions and sending them files to review. Many of our family members, including Dad’s sisters and his grandchildren, were involved in different aspects of the project, including finding and enhancing photos, proofreading, and providing original artwork for the opening chapter pages. It was a labor of love and a lot of fun too. We had several copies of the book printed and gave them to our parents at Christmas 2014.
My father, Lacy Bernett Padgett, with his book Mischief, Tales, and True Stories
For several months, my mother’s good friend Frankie Wyatt had been looking for someone to help her write a book about her experiences teaching English in both public and private schools in China. She had not found anyone to help her, so I volunteered. We started working together in December 2014, using Frankie’s emails that she had sent to my mother as the basis for the book. It was fun working with Frankie; we complement each other very well. Wanting to do the best job that I could, I began researching self-publishing and editing, buying several books on those subjects, including The Chicago Manual of Style (the style guide used by most American book publishers). In July 2016, we self-published Frankie’s book Now I Know His Name through a Christian publishing company.
In December 2016, I told my Bible study group that I had helped write and edit a book. Afterward, one of the ladies, Sharon Song, told me that God had been speaking to her about writing a book. We met to talk about it, and I agreed to edit her manuscript. Working with Sharon was enjoyable and uplifting. It gave me more experience in editing and formatting books. In May 2017, we designed a cover for the book, and Sharon had copies of the book printed.
I continued learning about editing, book formatting, and cover design, adding to my growing library of reference books.
Frankie wanted to write a biography of her father, who was a remarkable man. We started working on it in the fall of 2017. It was a true collaboration: we talked on the phone as we wrote and edited, with each one suggesting a phrasing that would inspire the other.
For many years, I had been wanting to have a career that would glorify God and have spiritual value, something that would make a difference in the world. Since I love the work of editing, formatting, and designing books, God’s path for me was to start my own Christian book publishing company. My husband, Paul, has had experience starting businesses, and he helped me with the steps required. Frankie and I decided that the biography of her father, Old Man Preacher Willingham, would be the first book published by my company TABLELAND PRESS LLC.
Starting my own publishing company has been a rewarding and educational experience. I am learning how to do things that I had never had any experience with before, such as website design, ebook formatting, and marketing.
I pray that God will use me and my company to lead others to faith in Christ Jesus and to continued growth in their Christian walk.
Margaret Sorensen