Whew! Done and a Problem

If you have been following my blog for the past couple of weeks you know I've been working on a new nonfiction. "Are You a Survivalist or a Prepper?" An interesting point came up at one of the weekly meetings of my group...dinner at Mom's House.

By going worldwide public with this book, does it put us in jeopardy?

This book has a heavy emphasis on security as well as everything else. Now there are tons of books out there which cover most of the material I cover in mine. So what is the risks in publishing? Well, I'm fairly well known in my community for starters. I've held many high profile jobs and I have lived here off and on for over thirty years.

While I've done very little to promote my books locally, call it a hindsight is 20/20 thing which I will rectify, I am a known author. Many in my town know where I live, so doesn't that give many an insight into where to come when things get rough? I can't say there isn't concern over this fact especially when faced with a bugging in situation. Right now I'm juggling the good it will do everyone who reads it versus my own security. This poses a huge problem. Of course this is all academic until the stuff hits the fan (SHTF) scenario. It would also depend on how many people actually buy and read my book too.

In my mind it's like painting a target around us, or a waving a red flag at a bull, or one of those "you are here" type maps. This is the main problem with writing nonfiction. Which most times sells better than fiction. My last nonfiction sold twice as many copies of all my fictions combined. This isn't to say my fiction is not selling well.

That's what makes this a scary prospect. I know only a couple hundred people who buy my books since all the sites I publish through keep buyer information private. The only ones I know about are the ones who e-mail me, meet at conferences or book signings, I give copies to directly, or have said so here. That's how all authors "meet" their readers.

I keep thinking about the old word of mouth backbone of marketing concepts...one person will tell ten. I'm not scared of much, but I can have concerns. While most of my other nonfiction books deal with authors, finances, inspiration and ministry, or life in general this actually exposes specific lifestyle preparations with a common sense approach. It's more than just baring my soul.

So what would you do?

Keep writing and loving the Lord.