How often do you have that day? That day when the answer to every one of life’s problems seems like it could be answered simply by having more money. You could buy a better car, live in a bigger house, pay someone to cook you dinner, take the vacation to somewhere warm and tropical, quit your job, get out of debt, impress your friends, retire, travel, or even afford that one thing that always seems out of reach. There are very few things in life that money can’t buy–they’re important things for sure, but money does answer so many problems.

A more serious problem though is the reality that money so easily becomes our god, the thing we live for. I know, because I’ve lived that way before and am tempted to continue to live that way. The alternative is a much better way to live. And it’s the truth. Money is a gift from the real God. It is something we’re given to enjoy and steward.

Here are the seven most important things to know about money, taken from my book, Money: God or Gift.

1. You Don’t Own Your Money 

Even if you worked for it, you don’t own it. None of us like this truth, but everything we have comes from God and belongs to God: life, money, resources, time, jobs, talents… everything. 

“For from him, through him, and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever.” – Romans 11:32 

2. You’re either Grateful or Greedy

There are two attitudes we can have towards money: Gratitude or Greed. The pursuit of “stuff and more stuff” is a never ending, unquenchable search. We act like we deserve so much more than the incredible gifts we’ve already received.
 
Do you always desire something more for yourself? Or are you thankful and content with what you already have?

3. Make, Give, Save, and Spend—for the Right Reasons 

Working hard and making money is a good thing. Giving to your church and those in need is a good thing. Saving for the future and spending your money wisely are also good things. I encourage you to do them all diligently, but not as a means of puffing yourself up and reveling in your financial wisdom.  We move from making/giving/saving/spending for our own benefit and glory to instead looking how to bless others with the blessings we’ve received.  

4. It’s Not About the Money 

Rich or poor is not the point. Faithful stewardship is measured by what you have and not what you don’t have. The goal is to be a good steward with everything you’ve been given, regardless of the amount.

I’ve seen this lived out in the life of a single mom earning $30,000 a year and also with multi-millionaires. One is not better or more righteous than the other, because it comes down to each person’s unique position and how they respond.

5. Priorities are More Important Than Wants or Needs 

We tend to think in terms of wants vs. needs, but this leads to guilt or pride rather than humility and wisdom. It is ok to buy fun things if you take care of more important priorities first.
 
As Christians, this means Jesus is first, followed by his mission and human relationships. Work through your priority list with your resources. Also, don’t forget to lighten up and have some fun. We take ourselves so seriously.

6. Don’t Worry (That’s a Command)

Jesus isn’t Bob Marley. He does more than encourage us by telling us to not worry. He commands us to not worry, because we can trust the Father for every good thing—“Your heavenly father knows what you need.” – Matthew 6:8,32

I struggle with this regularly. It’s as if I forget God’s relentless faithfulness to meet every one of my needs and revert back to the mindset that I’m the one in charge. I’m not. He’s got it.

7. True Generosity is a Lifestyle

Generosity is about more than monthly giving to an organization or two. It’s about loving people with your money, because it’s God’s money—not ours.
 
Are you generous with your family—your spouse, kids, parents, etc? Are you generous with your friends? Are you generous with random people when you feel that tug on your heart to give?

The happiest people on the planet spend their time thinking about who they should bless.

My book Money: God or Gift is available in Kindle format on Amazon for $2.99. Check it out for yourself and find out why Pastor Matt Chandler calls it “The best book on Money. Period.”

Who’s to blame?

It’s a question that has plagued the human race since the beginning of time.

I had started this post several months ago and never finished it. But I was reminded of it again this last weekend: for the last 8 years, early June has marked the ending of Little League baseball for the Munson family. My oldest son Caleb is 12 now, but has been playing ball along with his 9 year old brother, Orin. (Today is Orin’s birthday, by the way, Happy Birthday buddy). Anyway, both boys were fortunate to make it to the championship games Sunday, so we spent the day at the ball field.

There is perhaps no clearer life example than the game of baseball to study the use of blame casting. Why did we lose? The error so-and-so made in the 2^nd inning, the strikeout by so-and-so with the bases loaded and 2 outs, or the umpire’s bad call at home plate. Yesterday’s game was filled with these types of scenarios, and I wasn’t blameless regarding blame-shifting. Orin’s team won their game and Caleb lost but was not void of controversy.

In situations like this, blame was flying all over the place, and yes, the parents are always worse than the kids.

Two people to blame

At the end of the day, there are really only two people who can be blamed for any situation: yourself or someone else. Navigating this question is critical. Each of us leans one way or the other in answering it. 

Some of us lean externally, blaming somebody else for everything that goes wrong. This breeds things like bitterness, anger, pride, frustration, and a victim mentality. On the baseball field, it tends to be the umpires fault, or at least he’s an easy target.

But others of us lean internally, pointing inwardly to our own failures and flaws for the culprit. This leads to depression, lack of confidence, doubt, self-hatred, and a beat-yourself-up mentality. You never get over the mistake you made, and take more responsibility than is right.

Is it always this simple though? The equation between a failure and who’s to blame is not always as simple as Failure X = Person Y’s Fault.

Take a different approach

Life is not always black and white, it’s more often complex, in layers of grey. Rather than jumping down the throat of someone else, or beating yourself into depression, I recommend you asking yourself these four questions as you assess the failure:

1. What personal responsibility do I hold for this failure? Honestly assess the situation and think about what you could have done differently. Don’t deny the truth or try and make yourself look superhuman and faultless. We’re blind to our own blindspots, so this may be a place where a good friend needs to give you honest feedback. Those who lean towards blaming people externally need to be sure to ask themselves honestly where they contributed to the failure.
2. Do I need to hold someone else accountable for their failure? People that don’t like conflict may err on the side of blaming themselves because it’s easier to beat themselves up than confront someone else. However, you may be neglecting the opportunity to speak truth into someones life in a way that will help them grow.
3. How can I be a teacher in the midst of giving criticism? It’s easy to point out the flaws in someone else, but a lot harder to lovingly coach them in the midst of your criticism. You can point out failure to the point of embarrassment, or you can work with them to empower them to see what they can do differently next time.
4. What can I learn from the failure? Regardless of who’s to blame, there is much everyone involved can learn. If it’s your mistake, how can you prevent it in the future? Asking this in humility allows you to be honest AND change. If it’s the mistake of someone else, how can you help them prevent it in the future? Asking this in humility allows you to hold other people accountable with their best interest in mind.

Life is full of failure – that’s no secret. But school is always in session and we can take the failures and apply the learning to future experiences.

These failures may just become our best opportunities for growth, if we work through them with humility.

Whether in football, business or a non-profit, all great teams have two things in common: Unity and Diversity.

There is a reason that 5’6″ point guards like Nate Robinson can make it in the NBA, alongside of 7’6″ centers like Yao Ming. They’re diverse in their gifts (short and tall, in this case), but they’re united in the mission to create a great team and win. This diversity allows them to fulfill the necessary roles to accomplish their collective mission.

The same idea is true of leadership teams.

Great teams celebrate Diversity.

Leadership teams within any organization are made up of different people with different skill sets. Throw a bunch of people with the exact same set of skills into a room – how will they do? Sure, they might get along, but they won’t get far.

On the other hand, if a team is the right mix of a variety of expertise, it will be much more successful. They might have more disagreements because of their different perspectives, but they will also find new ways of looking at old problems. And conflict can be good when everyone involved is committed to a common mission. The give-and-take created by a diverse team is vital to the health of your organization. The best teams are not groups of carbon-copy individuals.

Great teams celebrate Unity.

Diversity without Unity is a recipe for disaster. If your primary points of agreement are about how you’re different, you’re headed for a train wreck. The Bible provides a great metaphor for considering Diversity and Unity: “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Cor. 12:12) This is specifically referring to the relationship of Christians within the church, but it also illustrates a universal paradigm:

Organizations—and the groups that lead them—include different roles that together form one body with one mission.

I wrote at length on this subject in my recent book Authority: The Leader’s Call to Serve, looking at some important ways to build a healthy team.

It is crucial that leaders are unified with each other on what the mission is, and diverse enough to accomplish that mission. Below are some practical steps to navigating this difficult balance between Unity and Diversity. 

How To Foster Unity and Diversity in Your Leadership Team: 

• Agree on a clear mission and vision. Without a clear articulation of why you exist and where you’re going, you’re bound to lose or confuse team members. It’s not a matter of hand-holding, but rather showing and guiding the way. A clear roadmap creates a content, engaged, and strong team.
• Include people for the right reasons (skills, experience, wisdom, character), not the wrong ones (popularity, prestige, mutual backscratching, obligation). Most teams are good at sniffing out the people that are there because they earned it and those that didn’t. Favoritism hurts because it usually leads to team members that don’t pull their adequate share of the load. 
• Make your leadership team safe. A safe team is not absent of conflict, but they do know how to work through it. By wrestling through the difficult work together a teams becomes stronger and more unified. The diversity of opinions and personalities creates conflict, but is the exact thing necessary to build trust and take the team to the next level. Listen, work through conflict, encourage, and serve.
• Know your own role. The leader of a team sets the tone. The better they understand their particular strengths the better they can foster and draw out the strengths of everyone else on the team. Don’t be afraid to find and hire people that are smarter and more talented than you are.

Who’s missing from your team? How are you navigating the tension between Unity and Diversity? What steps might you need to take to foster a more balanced team?

This is probably the single most difficult piece of advice for me to follow.

I hear it all the time, but I rarely live it out.

I am so results-driven that it often leads me to be impatient. I want the mission accomplished yesterday. I want the finished product. I want it done. I need it done. The uncertainty of the middle of the process kills me. I’ve written about this topic before—about how we constantly want something more and are not content with what we have. I know I’m not alone in struggling with this.

My tendency towards discontent is most likely a sign of my desire to control my whole life; my need to be in charge of every little detail. It is natural to want to manage my life so that it goes the way I want it to. But it isn’t healthy or godly.

Discontentment is destructive.

I don’t know about you, but I get in funks. Emotional, relational, mental and spiritual funks. Confused, with a bleak outlook on life, filled with thoughts of myself.

Don’t get me wrong—I am richly blessed. I know I don’t deserve any of the gifts or opportunities I have. But sometimes the fact that I didn’t earn them saddens me. It crushes my pride. I know the real answer… I know I owe all the good things in my life to God’s grace… I know life is about much more than myself… And I know pride leads to despair because I am seeking to glorify myself, and this is a vain pursuit…

But contentment is a daily battle. Fortunately, it’s a battle that’s already been won!

As Paul says, “By the grace of God, I am what I am.” (1 Corinthians 15:10) All the things that now define me—businessman, writer, husband, father, friend—are things God gave me. I didn’t earn them. When I recognize I couldn’t have earned them even if I tried, then the fact that God gifted them to me can be relieving rather than discouraging. It is all Jesus.

Echoing Paul’s words also help me rise to the challenge and make the most out of the opportunities in front of me–not because I am great, but because I know God has placed them there and strengthens me to do his work.

Because I am what I am by the grace of God, I will be what I will be by the grace of God.

I can enjoy the process because God controls the process—not me. Humility and faith in someone bigger than me are critical to contentment.

I am blessed to be a blessing. Given grace so that I may give grace. Entrusted with a mission to steward—whether that mission is for your life, family, ministry, or business. 

This “I am what I am” attitude offers both comforting and challenging insights.

I am what I am – so be faithful.
I am what I am – by God’s grace, and not my own work.
I am what I am – be content.
I am what I am – time to get to work.
I am what I am – I will be who Jesus makes me.

The next time you bristle when someone tells you to enjoy the process, use it as an opportunity to recognize where you may be discontent. Our lives are always in process, we might as well enjoy it.

Life is bigger than you or me.

I have a challenge for you today: I want you to spend 30 minutes watching people around you – in a coffee shop, at your house, at the office, in a shopping mall. People-watch. And while you people-watch, think about those people. What is their story? What kind of family do they come from? Where are they going? Who are they talking to? How are they feeling? Spend some time imagining their story. It doesn’t take long before you’ll start to feel small compared with the vastness of human life. So many people – so many stories.

Now think of the 7 billion stories living today on planet earth.

All those people thinking, feeling, rejoicing, struggling, experiencing heartache, dealing with sickness, enjoying wealth and comfort or poor and impoverished - feeling with the same depth and magnitude that you feel the things in your life. I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel small, very small. Small isn’t a bad thing because it helps take the eyes off of ourselves as we start to more closely see the people around us. However, our selfishness vies to take over and I can be consumed with the questions, “How does my story matter? Where does my story belong?”

Where does your story fit?

If we stay in that place of selfishness, focused on our own storyline as the most important storyline, it traps us into only seeing opportunities and decisions through the lens of, “How will this benefit/advance/highlight/help me and my story?  People catch on quick and if what you’re about is you, you’ll find yourself on a solo mission pretty quickly.  But, if we can grasp that the decisions we make and things we do fit into some larger, grander scheme—for the blessing and betterment of the people around us–that will gather a crowd willing to join in and advance the blessings even further. The mindset that what you have and how you live can directly bless other people is a much more compelling long-term vision than simply building our personal kingdom. You’re blessed to be a blessing. Given grace to be a grace giver.  

Individuals and organizations that have compelling visions are the kind of people and places we want to associate with; something to get excited and passionate about. If you lead an organization, you need to know it’s story, how your story fits into it, and how your story can motivate others to add to the influence. This will give you a big vision for your life and your leadership, and empower you to leave a meaningful legacy.

It’s much, much bigger than just you or me.

How can your story benefit someone else today? Who needs grace from you today? What are you waiting for?

And while we all enjoy a clear win/lose situation on the playing field, the thought of being on the losing side of a conflict at work or at home can leave us anxious, defensive, and discouraged. It doesn’t have to be that way.  

4 ways conflict can be a good thing.

Conflict can be a good thing. Conflict reveals our character and cuts through the politics and posturing. When handled rightly it builds a stronger and more committed team. Here are four key ingredients to beneficial conflict: 

1. Attack the issue and the idea, not the person. This is called ideological conflict and is very different than personal conflict. A team needs to be able to engage in rigorous conflict around the core issues of the business. The ability to do so creates buy-in and the comfort that ideas have been fully vetted from a wide range of perspectives. Sometimes a person is the issue, if so, you better be sure before you take the conflict personal. Unnecesary and repeated personal conflict is exhausting for everyone involved and there comes a point where leaders will tap out and decide to move on, you don’t want to force premature exits of good team members.

2. Debate the subject rigorously. Get all of the difficult stuff out in the open. Even when it’s your idea being debated you need to be willing to look at the downsides; every situation has them. If your idea withstands the scrutiny, it’s more likely to gain genuine support and succeed. When the conflict opportunity isn’t capitalized on, people resort to gossip, personal attacks and other negative responses. These are actually attempts to withdraw from conflict, and they can torpedo the relationship rather than strengthen it. Don’t be afraid of a healthy debate.

3. Develop guidelines for how to respect each other during conflict. Just like a sports competition, good conflict follows rules that minimize injury and promote fairness. Every member involved in conflict must have a clear understanding of those rules and of the purpose behind the discussion. Rules for conflict should cover where conflict takes place, how long, when to take a break, and how to speak to each other. By encouraging respect in the midst of a conflict and avoiding personal attacks, ideological conflicts can solidify relationships. Sometimes a good old fight, argument, or misunderstanding can cement a relationship for the better. But this is only possible when every member of the conflict is committed to resolving the issue respectfully.

4. Don’t be afraid to seek out help. Gracious, humble, wise conflict resolution doesn’t come naturally to most people, so if you feel stuck or afraid to move forward I highly recommend Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. It discusses the dynamics of healthy conflict at length. It’s an in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of conflict, and helps leaders find ways to take advantage of relational growth opportunities that come out of conflict. The ability to process conflict could save your situation or at a minimum give you more joy and satisfaction in the midst of your work.

Are you missing out on opportunities for deeper relationships and clear resolution because of an unhealthy fear of conflict?

Do you get defensive and angry during arguments?

How can you change your attitude about conflict so that it brings your team closer together?

Part of their plan was to set up a lemonade stand to raise some of the money, so that we did. They named themselves the “Sweet and Sour Sisters”. 

To no one’s surprise, they sold out in an hour. 

That’s life, isn’t it? One day you’re selling lemonade to re-decorate your room, the next you’re working full-time to feed a family. The biblical principles of good stewardship always apply, but the details of your budget and plans will evolve with your life.

It’s important to start young in training children to steward their money well. Here are some principles from my book Money: God or Gift, to help parents teach their kids about stewardship.

Teach your kids about Jesus and their need for his grace. 

Generosity stems from Jesus. We may be excellent money managers, able to instruct our children in the way of financial planning, but if neither our children nor we understand the gospel, then all the financial knowledge in the world amounts to nothing.

Invite your kids into the conversation.

Too often we parents go about our day doing chores, paying bills, running errands, but forgetting to invite our kids to participate and learn about things like responsibility, work ethic, joy, and decision-making. Children can handle more than we give them credit for, and the sooner you begin developing them financially, the sooner they’ll learn.

Teach your kids to divide their money (from birthdays, holidays, and allowance) into three categories: give, save, and spend.

I’ll never forget when my son opened a fifth birthday card from his grandparents. There was some money in it, and he blurted out, “Yes, now I can pay my bills!” He didn’t have many bills as a five-year-old, but I loved the fact that he was beginning to think through stewardship.

Don’t stifle innovation; allow failure.

I know it’s a lot of work to setup the lemonade stand, but what a great opportunity to teach your kids about work, business principles, and managing finances. As your kids get ideas, take the time to encourage them and invest in them so that these mini-ventures can be used as teaching opportunities—whether or not they’re financially profitable.

Engage your kids and teach them discernment.

Most parents expect their kids to learn through osmosis rather than intentional development. And the truth is, without any parental discernment to guide them, kids will absorb their life lessons, but through marketing, friends, and TV—none of which tend to rely on the principles of Scripture for instruction. Kids need to be equipped to recognize the difference between truth and lies.

Model generosity.

Practice what you preach. Don’t give to impress your children, but don’t hide it from them either. (When you miss the mark, confess your sin to your family and let your kids see that Dad and Mom need a Savior, too.) Since generosity flows from grace, we can use it as a tool to teach about Jesus. 

I can tell you from personal experience – as I snapped that photo of their lemonade stand last week – it’s worth it. Watching them put a plan together for something they want – and follow through with it – was very rewarding for me and valuable for them. Not to mention, they were incredibly cute, we got to meet some neighbors, and other parents and young entrepreneurs seemed to come out of the woodwork to cheer them on. 

Click here to learn more about Money: God or Gift, or buy a copy for only $2.99 on Amazon.

I was recently asked by a friend, “How do you manage a career, writing, a family, a zillion soccer and baseball games, involvement at church, sleep, eating, and everything else?” As I pondered the question, two different answers came to mind. The right answer is what everyone will tell you these days, a perfectly painted picture of crisis-free productivity. The real answer is the answer that trumps everything, and I’m afraid that, without it, we’re lying to ourselves.

The Right Answer…

1. Prioritize. The key to managing a full life is prioritizing your day. We never get everything done on the list each day so it is vital to know which commitments are most important.
2. Wake up early. The idea of being an uber-productive morning person is super appealing. I tend to go in spurts but getting up early is one of the most critical ingredients to balancing a very full life. Michael Hyatt has a good post on How to Become a Morning Person.
3. Eat healthy and exercise. Have you thought about eating Paleo, or at least cutting out desserts? How about training for your a half-marathon? 5 am cross-fit? Taking care of our bodies with the right fuel and staying actives allows us to focus and work hard.
4. Time blocking. Multi-tasking is a myth. Scheduled time blocking improves focus and keeps distractions to a minimum. When we stick to working on one task at a time, it reduces stress and maximizes productivity.
5. Set proper boundaries. It takes a lot of mental discipline, but we need to set clear boundaries for when not at work. Being physically, mentally and emotionally present for my family and friends improves the quality of our time spent together.
6. Stay attentive to my family. They come first, before work, volunteering and hobbies. My family is more important, and I need to be aware of their needs even when I am busy.
7. Build a great team. A great team can always do more than a person on their own. As your life and organization grow it takes a team to get to the next level. A trusted group who you can delegate to and grow with, allowing you to stay focused on what only you can do. 

The Real Answer…

…is the same as the right answer plus the two most essential ingredients:

Grace and Repentance.

In a world filled with so many opportunities and distractions, you have to stay focused on the things that really matter. The problem is: you can’t, not without Grace.

God gives us Grace without strings attached, to make up for our weakness. Grace is a gift – something you and I don’t deserve, but also something we’re freely given. As my friend Justin Holcomb puts it in his new book, On the Grace of God, “Grace is unmerited favor.” Grace is God’s favor poured out on us to rescue us from our sin and empowers us to live a life that is less focused on ourselves. Grace also shows us when we screw up, leading to healthy repentance.

Repentance is hard and humbling, but absolutely necessary. I’m not perfect, in fact I’m deeply flawed. I need to be honest when I screw up (which is often); I need to apologize to God and to my family, or whoever else I hurt with my mistakes.

I need Grace in order to repent. Without it, I am too selfish to acknowledge my guilt and confess my sin. Grace is also there once I do repent, so that I can receive God’s forgiveness and continue on with joy and not condemnation.

The Right Answer is important: in one sense, I need each of those things to successfully manage my schedule, maintain energy, and keep up engaged interest. But in a more ultimate sense, all I need is God’s grace which leads me to repentance.

Change can either be a catalyst to new opportunities or it can create a crisis of identity. Or more likely, as it has been with me, it creates both. Change often is both an opportunity and a crisis of identity. The key is figuring out how to get more of the catalyst side and less of the crisis side of things.

Don’t waste the changes in your life.

Change is one of those things that elicits a wide range of responses. Fear or excitement. Concern or optimism. Joy or sadness. Changing circumstances are what they are, it’s often how we respond to them that defines our next steps and outlook on life.

Change is hard, and it is easy to let big changes discourage us. Whenever we are faced with times full of transition, we have a choice: we can allow our perspective to be controlled by anxiety and fear, or we can can instead view the change as an opportunity for growth. The choice you make determines whether you will stunt your personal growth, or cultivate it.

But it is difficult to maintain the perspective that seasons of big change are growth opportunities. Here are some things that I’ve learned to help process and make the most of life’s transitions:

4 things to do when change happens

1. Capture the wins quickly. Thankfulness is good for the soul. When you move on to something new, take time to reflect on the season you are just coming out of. Write down the successes and joys, and take them with you. This creates thankfulness, and gives you something to remember past seasons by.

2. Admit mistakes and failures. Nothing helps us process change better than admitting our faults. You’re not perfect and it’s healthy to admit and acknowledge that. Being honest about your mistakes allows you learn and grow from them rather than sweeping them under the carpet and pretending they aren’t there. If the mistakes are personal, deal with them quickly. Be honest with those you hurt or disappointed. Don’t get bitter. Don’t lie to yourself. Don’t let the mistakes define your future.

3. Purge the unneeded noise. There will inevitably be emails to archive, notes to file, things to organize. De-clutter your life as much as you can before beginning a new phase. If you don’t do it now, you never will. Compress the margin that the noise is taking up. Don’t try to stack unnecessary clutter on top of change. Your life is busy enough and your new situation will bring with it just as much noise. Purge to avoid paralysis.

4. Prioritize what to take with you. Which people, from wherever you are leaving, are most important? You will need to work to maintain those relationships. What did you learn that will forever impact you? Take note. What will you never do again? Take the time to remember. Once you’ve captured the wins and losses, it gives us a grid to prioritize what influences our next steps.

Life is a journey. We are constantly adjusting to new friendships, knowledge, disappointments, and stories along the way. We might as well make the most of these changes.

Here’s some info on how I’ve done it up to this point and how I’ll do it moving forward.

What I’ve done 

With my first book Money: God or Gift, my main goal was to be able to give it away free on my site, so I wanted it branded in a well-designed PDF. I took the MS Word manuscript and paid some friends at Baji Design Group (you should check them out) to lay it out in Adobe InDesign.

After the InDesign file was complete I used a few different people on Fiverr to convert it into .mobi (Amazon Kindle – .azw3 is the new Kindle format, but .mobi still works as well), .epub (Barnes & Noble Nook; also the generic e-book format) and an iTunes iBooks (.ibooks) version. Going from InDesign to the other formats proved to be challenging, and I went through a few design folks on Fiverr because the images didn’t transfer well. You get what you pay for, I guess. If you keep looking, though, you can find a seller who will convert the formats successfully.

Remember that you need to purchase a separate ISBN for each format you publish to – not just each book you publish.

For my second book Authority: The Leaders Call to Serve, I followed basically the same process, except I didn’t give it away free as a PDF. I still got the PDF designed nicely though, so I could send it to people who wanted an advance copy to review on their blog, and so I could put a free sample on my site.

What I’ll do next time!

I have a third book coming out later this year and I’ll follow this process next time to save time and money.

1. Make sure manuscript is 100% complete in Microsoft Word.

It is the most reliable for converting into the e-book formats directly. But if it isn’t error free, then when you convert to other formats you have to edit both the InDesign doc and the Word doc (for example), and it’s hard to keep track of these changes. If you’re interested in a branded PDF, I highly recommend making sure your Word doc manuscript is 99.9% final before moving to InDesign. I wasted some time (and money) making changes after the fact and then having version-syncing issues with the Word doc and InDesign file.

2. Send designers the file to be laid out as both a sample and full-length PDF.

This is important for marketing efforts. I think it is worth the investment in the PDF to stay away from the “home-made” look and feel you see with most e-books. But keep in mind that very little custom formatting can be done in .epub and .mobi/.azw3 formats. (For example, font size is nearly irrelevant, except for headers, because users can adjust font size on their screen). If you’re giving your e-book away for free, the PDF can be easily downloaded through your newsletter signup. I use Mailchimp for my newsletter and Digioh to offer secure PDF downloads.

3. Send Word doc and images from designers to sellers on Fiverr to create .iBooks, .epub and .mobi versions.

Then I can upload the files, each with a unique ISBN, to the various sales outlets.

There are other ways you can go, such as enrolling in Kindle Direct Publishing Select (which requires you exclusively publish on Amazon). Even though KDP Select requires exclusivity, it can be a very good route to take. It enables you to give your book away free for 5 days every 90-day enrollment period. Authority received over 4000 downloads during its free period and made it into the Top 100 of all free Kindle books on Amazon.

A simple Google search on how to publish an e-book, and where you should publish it, will provide you with plenty of extended reading.

You can peek at each of these formats on my site: www.jamiemunson.com/books. Money is available in all three formats, while Authority is only available on Amazon.

Be sure to not neglect the marketing side of things. It’s one thing to have the book done and published, it’s a completely different thing to market and sell it.

I’m still learning, and I’m hardly the expert, but I hope this gives some help to get you publishing your own e-book. It’s easier and more accessible than ever before to take your content to the world. Good luck.