Just about a year ago I wrote about a tour of a tall ship on Lake Erie; how all those ropes the sailors handled was a metaphor for the many little things one had to learn before becoming really comfortable with the Divine Office.
It seemed there ought to be a book that would teach people the ropes of the Office. Not just the how-tos of finding one's place in the breviary. There are already books and websites for that. But a one-stop guide that would tell people exactly what the Divine Office is, why they should pray it, how to get started, and how to understand the psalms once they've learned what to do with the ribbons.
With that began a journey that involved getting up my nerve, making a pitch, writing a proposal, and then waiting. And waiting. And then nagging a bit.
Now, eleven months later, I still don't have a book.
But I've got a contract!
The Everyday Catholic's Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours is on its way to a Spring 2013 publication date with Servant Books.
I'm excited, not just for myself, but because this is a sign that the Liturgy of the Hours is trending upward among the laity. You know how there's dozens of books about saints, dozens more about Marian devotions. This isn't because the publishers have an obsession with saints and with Mary. It's because those topics are proven bestsellers. A huge part of the proposal review process is determining whether there is a market for the proposed book. The marketing team at Servant had to do some homework to find out whether enough Catholics would want to learn about the Liturgy of the Hours. Apparently the facts they found indicated that the interest is there.
That, rather than me writing a book, is the Big News here.
No comments:
Post a Comment