My first book proposal rejection is hung up in my office. The agent I pitched to was gracious enough to send me a note in return (most don’t).

Does not sound like a fit for me at this time…

Passion and vulnerability are close friends as I write my first book, Breakthrough Ways to Help Obsessive and Scrupulous Christians [working title].  Every week, I get to help people out of chaos into hope. I hear from people on either side of a tumultuous journey who have been confused about solutions. Secular psychology will sometimes not appreciate their faith convictions; some churches minimize mental suffering to spiritual platitudes. Here’s a sample of the comments I’ve been getting:

• “I want freedom from my obsessions but don’t think my therapist respects the lines of my Christian conviction. Help!”*
• “We need guidance for my son! He’s stuck in his thoughts and can’t leave his room! We don’t know where to start.”
• “We’ve tried many therapists and psychologists, and they either don’t understand OCD or they aren’t sensitive towards our faith.”
• “We are in a part of the world where no one is trained in this.”

My heart yearns to help. What is my role in this? I believe God wishes for me to:

1. Counsel
2. Write
3. Teach

Publishing a book allows me to share the following: 

a) what steps usually help people who suffer from certain disorders and

b) how this can deepen faith in Christ. 

How it started

Writing a book has been in my heart since adolescence. There’s just something about it. I believe teaching is one of my spiritual gifts (and you have some, too—see 1 Corinthians 12:4-6).  My desire to guide others joined with an interest in understanding. After my first high school psychology course, I told my parents, “I want to see what makes people ‘tick.’ I think I want to pursue this [counseling] as a career.” Thus, I gained degrees studying psychology, counseling, and theology. I never knew how much I would“fall in love” with helping people with OCD and Anxiety Disorders.

The largest focus of my career these past 16+ years has been face-to-face time with individuals and families suffering at the hands of OCD or Anxiety. After years of prayerful consideration, I felt convinced that it was time to write a book on OCD. The end of 2020 is when it all became real.

The Business of Books—And Platform

I began work with a published writing coach. To my surprise, good books are rarely about a brilliant writer who splashes words on a page, and readers come flocking. All the writers I love have a whole team—from editing to marketing, prayer, and other details.  My first lesson under the tutelage of experts is that a book is a business.

Crap. This is harder, and in different ways, than I thought. As the phrase goes, “I didn’t start it because it was easy, but because I thought it would be easy.” 😭

My coach helped me change my attitude to embrace the whole writing and publishing process. Instead of, “I hate this part of the process,” I can now say, “I commit to writing a book; the process includes success, rejection, fear, and joy. I will continue the next step in front of me while God works in this moment—you will be done, Lord.”

Down To Business

There are essentially two options in our day and age to publish:

1. Self-publishing
2. Traditional publishing

Both have pros and cons. I immediately chose the latter in my coaching process because of the scale of my conviction.  I can directly work with 100s of people already; I desire a book to reach thousands—and find many who don’t have access to care, including translating it into different languages. I want to reach family, clergy, and support in addition to people who suffer from OCD. Then, I want to move on to other topics- anxiety, doubt, and uncertainty in Christians, the church’s opportunity in mental health, and more.

The downside of traditional publishing is much like the music industry: there must be an “in” (platform, connection, prior book). A lot of control is also handed over. If I want to get something out quickly that I have total control over, Kindle has made it easy. But the average self-published book sells maybe a few hundred copies. The upside of traditional publishing is their force in the world—when they move product, they move product. The world listens. They “intercede” on your behalf to get books in stores and online. This also implies that they are selective—highly selective.

At the end of the day, publishing houses are businesses, and they want a suitable return on investment (ROI). This is completely reasonable. I don’t want them to go out of business listening to every person with a “good idea.”

But….only two people appeal to publishers outside of a unique connection:

1. Those who already have a large platform.
2. Those worth betting on that they will have a large platform.

I could have finished my book in 2022 if I had self-published it.  Instead, hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars have been dedicated to learning the business of books and writing my business proposal (i.e., “Book Plan”). I began to pitch my proposal to agents in 2023. That was my first of many rejections.  I am exposing myself to my fears (I gotta practice what I preach). Bring it on.

What In The World Is Going On?

If God is doing what I think he’s doing in the world, we are on the front side of a major shift in the church and psychology.  While psychology is now considering spirituality (as a part of the “Fourth Wave” that looks at personal growth and maturity), there is also a “coming-of-age” of mental health treatments and neuroscience. These are leading to many incredible successes in alleviating certain types of suffering (e.g.., OCD, trauma, learning differences, Social Anxiety, Panic).

This frontier is one that the body of Christ can meet with the hope of the Gospel and love of our neighbor. Psychology is not the Gospel, yet if we miss the fact that, much like medicine or math or indoor plumbing allows us to “fill the earth and subdue it” and worship God, we will become irrelevant to the world and miss out on caring for people in ways they are open and hungry—and need it in our world today.

Skeptics Prevail

Right now, people with OCD, for instance, are often caught in the crossfire of skepticism from either side. I talk regularly with those who are hopeless that the secular methods will respect their faith. On the other hand, people with some disorders in churches feel like they are wasting away mentally and emotionally, feeling ashamed that they don’t “have enough faith.”

The Church is at risk of being needlessly out of touch with a world seeking solutions. Christ has granted us all hope, but this is not a distant hope in eternity. It includes God breaking into the here and now while we experience his love, feeding the hungry, bandaging the wounded, and caring for the hurting.

 

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. ~2 Corinthians 1:20

Outsiders scoff at the reductionistic approach that they see (not always wrongly) Christian communities: “Just have faith!” Do we forget our legacy as believers? Christians have been on the front lines of caring for the hurting and broken through history. Before hospitals existed (and became businesses), care of the sick and dying was the work of many Christians, mirroring the start of the church in Acts 6:1-7. What would Jesus do today? Does that not involve those who are suffering mentally? Can these solutions entail guiding into physical and psychological treatments? If medical care or feeding the hungry in a 3rd world country precedes Bible study, is it okay if therapy does, too?

God is the one who will open the doors He wishes to.  I have little doubt. He also wants us to “ask, seek, and knock” (Matthew 7:7-12) and be persistent (Luke 18:1-8).

How it’s going

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. ~Romans 5:3-5

I persevere as I complete around 60,000 words, knowing many want to hear what I have been given. I’m not indispensable.  God could easily do this through someone else.  But I’m here and willing.

The Christian publishing industry hasn’t ventured, I would argue, into the intersection of faith and science as it concerns helping people overcome mental disorders.  Books that work with personal discipline, money, and care of the body are regularly New York Times bestsellers, such as The Daniel Plan and Total Money Makeover. Christian psychology books are often about one tool or category (Boundaries, The Five Love Languages).

I believe more complexity can be conveyed through writing and self-help, and all my clients are smart enough to grasp way more than they are currently offered through books.

Right now, I’m trying to convince an agent, then a publisher, to make a “bet” on me and my writing.  Christian publishers don’t typically go where I’m going. I’m hopeful they will. It’s time. I’m praying for guidance—after all, it is only a good thing if God is in it.

How it ends

God will see through to the end what he’s started, and He has made lovely things for me to do; I get to be a part of it! You do, too! God has works prepared in advance for his followers to do (Ephesians 2:10)! Every good work God is doing will be completed (Philippians 1:6).

I trust God’s ways and will not presume that this book must happen. For me, it “must happen” in terms of my commitment.  “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:1). God is accomplishing His purposes in His wisdom, and I will wait on Him in his timing (Isaiah 40:31).

Can You Help?

I need your help. I wouldn’t be where I am without you. Clients first told me that my vulnerability was profoundly impactful to them (my clinical training all but said to avoid self-disclosure). So here goes.

I am looking for:

• Open comment. Respectful criticism is welcome. Maybe you have thoughts about writing, social media, knowing or being an agent, speaking opportunities, strategy, etc.
• Do you see any options I am missing?
• Would you pass my newsletter to help someone? justinkhughes.com/getunstuck
• Do you directly have connections to agents or publishing houses that would be interested in my pitch?

Just reply to this email, forward it, sign up for my newsletter, fill out the form below to give feedback, and tell as many people as possible about this project (share socials, blogs, etc).  Let’s make it happen together!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Justin

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*Stories and quotes are composites of several common experiences, which allows me to obscure details to maintain anonymity, confidentiality, and privacy.  Rest assured, the examples are authentic and come up often.