Big Book News!

I have a publisher!

During the drive to Utah for the SSSR meeting on the 19th, I saw an email when we stopped at the first area in Wyoming telling me that Eerdmans was sending my Fearless Christian University proposal on to the publications committee. Last Tuesday I got another note telling me that the publications committee was supportive.

Then on Thursday I got this:

I’m still waiting for the formal contract but I know enough to have a manuscript target of February 1st and a sense of Eerdmans’ support for the project. I haven’t gotten definitive word yet, but I’m hopeful that if I’m done in February a Fall 2024 publication date is reasonable.¹

I was particularly moved to read this note in the email accompanying the OTP:

My team agrees that your thesis is exactly what people who care about Christian higher ed need to be grappling with. We see this as continuing the project begun in Arthur F. Holmes classic Eerdmans book The Idea of the Christian College and we plan to market it with great enthusiasm.

I hadn’t known that Eerdmans had published Holmes’ book. I do know that all CCCU faculty in my generation read that book as a requirement to beginning our teaching. While I think Holmes’ focus on “integration of faith and learning” was important in its time, I’m trying to expand our understanding. For my book to be considered in continuity with his work is humbling, indeed. I’ll try to meet the standard.

I’m currently in the middle of chapter five of eight chapters.² I’ve mapped out the writing schedule and it’s very doable.

However, to accommodate that schedule I’m going to cut publication of these SubStack newsletters back to one day a week, probably Fridays.

Thanks to all who have supported this project through comments, sharing posts on social media, or through personal outreach.

1. I’m open to podcasts and guest lectures!

2. I had originally planned on a chapter involving visits to outstanding campuses, but the timeline simply won’t allow it.