Why I Founded The Salish Sea Publishing House
There's an old story about God trying to publish the Bible in Victorian London. One of London's leading publishers, Henry Colburn, reviewed the manuscript and, while acknowledging its "general merit," worried it wouldn't appeal to the fashionable crowd. His suggestion? Add some juicy gossip about King Herod's court to make it more marketable.
This centuries-old satire cuts to the heart of why The Salish Sea Publishing House must exist. In today's publishing landscape, algorithms and market research have replaced creative intuition. When I started out as a writer, there were publishers who wanted something original and fresh and new. My best-seller SoulTsunami was a huge risk for Zondervan. Since then, I have been very fortunate in publishers who risked their reputations publishing my seventy-plus books. But in the last few years, the norm for publishers has been to chase the “Next Big Thing”--as long as it's just like the last big thing. Innovation increasingly is being sacrificed on the altar of predictability and sales.
The Cost of Playing It Safe
Every day, brilliant manuscripts are rejected not because they lack merit, but because they don't fit predetermined marketing categories. Every quarter, innovative voices are silenced because they don't mirror what worked last season. We're witnessing the slow death of creativity by a thousand cuts of "market research" and "proven formulas."
But history teaches us something profound: every breakthrough book, every revolutionary work that changed how we think, feel, or see the world, was once a risk. Consider Henry David Thoreau's "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers"–rejected by four publishers (even after Ralph Waldo Emerson’s intervention on his behalf), self-published, and initially a commercial failure. Thoreau paid himself to have it published in an edition of 1000 copies, of which 706 went unsold, with Thoreau famously noting that he had "a library of nearly nine hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which [he] wrote [himself]." Today, it's celebrated as a pioneering work of environmental literature and philosophical inquiry. Sometimes, the most important voices are the ones that take time to be heard.
Our Vision
The Salish Sea Publishing House stands as a beacon for literary courage and Christian innovation. We love books, but we're not here to publish mere books–we're here to publish transformation and transfiguration. As a start, and as a personal investment in this project, from here on out all my books (and those I invite to co-author with me) will be published by The Salish Sea Press.
Our Mission
Champion works that illuminate the Christian journey in fresh, powerful ways
Foster voices that bridge traditional divisions and spark new dialogues
Create literature that serves as a lighthouse for seekers and disciples alike
Build a community where commercial viability and creative audacity strengthen each other
Your Role in the Revolution
By supporting The Salish Sea Publishing House, you're not just funding a publishing company–you're investing in the future of Christian literature. Your partnership enables us to:
Discover and nurture emerging voices that might otherwise go unheard
Develop groundbreaking works that traditional publishers won't risk
Create beautiful, thoughtfully crafted books that honor both content and form
Build a sustainable model for innovative Christian publishing
The Impact
Every dollar invested in The Salish Sea Publishing House goes toward creating ripples of transformation:
In individual lives, as readers encounter perspectives that challenge and inspire
In communities, as new ideas spark meaningful dialogue and action (with extensive discussion guides where appropriate)
In the broader culture, as Christian thought engages contemporary issues in fresh ways
In the publishing industry, as we demonstrate that courage and commerce can coexist
Our Promise
The Salish Sea Publishing House commits to:
Editorial excellence that honors both creator and creation
Design that reflects the beauty and dignity of the message
Distribution strategies that ensure our books find their intended audiences
Trusteeship that maximizes the impact of every resource entrusted to us
Join Us
In an era when traditional publishing plays it increasingly safe, we're charting a bold course toward literary innovation and spiritual impact. We invite you to join us in this venture–not because it's safe, but because it's necessary. Together, we can create a legacy of literature that doesn't just reflect the light of Christ but magnifies it for generations to come.
The most dangerous thing a publisher can do isn't taking risks – it's refusing to take them at all. Partner with us in taking the right risks for the right reasons.
