Editing and Publishing

Does the Pillar of Fire need a new book every so often for it's sales and promotion! Most publishers do.

I wrote Portune that his best sermons could be put into a book, but instead of calling it SERMONS, take the most interesting sermon title as the title for the book and then add in smaller type, with other sermons and articles. His used to be, at least in former times, full of very interesting stories and illustrations.

This letter, however, is not about that book as another...Aunt Alma used to sit alone for hours, her mind planning new steps, expansions, schools, branches and ideas, even presenting plays from Denver to Brooklyn. Did that make LIFE magazine!

If you folks are too busy to think up far out plans for cloud nine, I can't help edit anything, but can sit around and dream up suggestions like Uncle Rollie.

Along with or after the former, why not one compiling the sermons of Donald Wolfram or Robert Dallenbach. There will be a problem in that they have not much quantity yet, however high the quality and interest of their radio talks, articles and sermons. How about a Daily Bread book like Mrs Cowman's, that turned out a hundred years ago and has had high sales ever since! It was copied too many times by everyone. How about then a 52 article book of weekly articles with deeper, more extensive treatment of subjects, beginning with the New Year, later on spring, Easter, graduation, marriage, Pentecost, summer, fall, school, Thanksgiving, etc...Quantity! Use things from Dallenbach, Wolfram, Pauline, Portune and Wolfgang. Without any doubt there are very interesting things to be had from all those sources. The work then would be on to an editor and Pauline would be well capable, original, creative, a chip off the old hurricane of her namesake, especially if aided by M. Watkins Portune, Suzanne, and, maybe Phyllis, not so mobile to do teaching work, would like to read, edit, choose, and also write some.

That may be enough suggestions for now. But while at it, I have one more thought. After such a book has had its sales from local pushers, pardon, we had the word first, as the Pittsburgh guy named Hitler said, "Contact an outside distributor of Gospel books." They have tremendous sales these days. The RAPTURE has hit the top of the best sellers list. You already have contacts there in John Gross, his son, and our old hotspot preacher in Plainfield, Dan Malachuk, who came to preach over WAWZ when he was still in his teens. He has since founded churches and a publishing house, which was for a while one of the biggest in the US, but had reverses, and he is out and idle now perhaps.

Sow beside all waters. If there is anything unchanging about the work of the Holy Spirit, it is that He will always lead into ever new things. Foundations need to be solid, never changing, outreaching, dynamic, and ever new.