I managed to do a little better with blogging more frequently in 2012 than I did in 2011, but I still have plenty of room for improvement. I’ll keep working at it in 2013. My goal is to work my way up to weekly blog entries by the end of 2013. We’ll see this time next year, Lord willin’, if I have reached my goal by then.
In retrospect, this year was filled with both the joy of writing and publishing and with the disappointment of not being able to make a go of the new independent ministry that I felt toward the end of 2011 that God was leading me to set up. Although I managed to set up the name, bank account, and other legal and organizational aspects for the ministry, when I finally began conducting worship services, things just didn’t progress as well as I’d hoped and envisioned, so I discontinued the services. Without going into all the details (which are just too personally discouraging for me to share), I feel that God was not ready for me to begin just yet. As discouraging and disappointing as that fact is now, I am determined henceforth to wait patiently for God to instruct me further before I act on this dream again. I intend to begin an extended fast soon after the beginning of 2013 strictly for the purpose of drawing nearer to God, whether He reveals anything spectacular to me or not. I intend to make this about Him rather than about me. I will let you know what I learn from this experience after it is completed.
As for my writing and publishing endeavors, I was able to finish writing and publish my third book, entitled Seven Keys to Effective Prayer, in March of this year. What a thrill it was to finally finish and release it for the reading public! I’m currently planning to test it with a new print on demand printing service and a whole new distribution service. I’m very pleased with the POD service, and if the distribution service works out well, I will start using this service for all of my other published titles, too.
I also managed to publish two other titles in 2012 (one fiction and one nonfiction) by two different authors who are new to Parson Place Press (my independent Christian publishing company). I am already working on my next book, which will deal with the subject of God’s Plan of Salvation for humanity, though I still have plenty of work to do on it before it is finished. Because I’ve agreed to publish at least five other books by other authors (four of which are also new authors to Parson Place Press), plus I want to publish a small collection of my own poetry this year, I will have lots of work to do, so I hope I can make the time to finish writing my book about God’s Plan of Salvation, not to mention that I hope I have enough financial resources to keep my promises, too. Please say a prayer for me to accomplish all that God has planned for me in 2013, and specifically ask Him to help me keep my word.
I have plans for one other important project in 2013 — to create a course about how to be your own publisher, but I want to keep the details about that one under wraps for now until I’m ready to unveil it. I hope it will be a grand success. Be sure to follow me on this blog and on my author site for details as I make them public. Incidentally, I’ve just (in the last week) moved my blog from being hosted on WordPress’ site to being hosted on my own site. If you’re interested, you can also connect with me on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/parsonplacepress) or follow me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/@parsonp) or “friend” me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/parsonplace).
Well, that’s all I have for my review of 2012 and my preview of 2013. So, until next time, I want to wish you a very blessed and prosperous New Year in 2013. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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