Kickstarter Project: Counted Worthy, A Novel by Leah Good

On March 3rd, the Rebelution blog posted an article titled “Changing the Face of Literature”. It was a popular post, drawing nearly 60 comments from a wide variety of people.

No question about it, Rebelutionaries are readers. But, as Ilana Reimer’s article pointed out, good books written with a Christian worldview are increasingly hard to find. It’s a problem I’ve identified with for a long time. How can voracious readers find a consistent stream of edifying books?

We could read only classics, but not all classics cultivate good morals, and not all of us can tolerate a steady diet of lengthy exposition and outdated phraseology. We can scour reviews on Amazon, but who knows what standards random reviewers hold a book to? Our best finds often come through the recommendations of people we trust, or from the pens of authors we have come to love.

My mission to help people find quality, God-honoring books started with the creation of Leah’s Bookshelf, a blog I started several years ago. But running a book review blog doesn’t magically make awesome books appear on the market. Of course, some books already exist to fill that category. I love sharing these stories with readers. Books like Cloak of the Light, A Journey of Faith, and most recently, Prophet (currently $0.00 for Kindle).

But books like this are the exception. More often my reviews simply inform readers which books are “safe.” They tell readers they can pick a book up without worrying about cursing, explicit content, and overtly anti-God material. They tell readers which books have great prose.

“It is time to alter the focus of books from immorality and sin to novels that are light-filled, pure, and lovely in the eyes of God.” — Ilana Reimer

Light-filled, pure, lovely books will not produce themselves. We need a generation of authors dedicated to moving beyond “safe” books. We need authors to write deep, meaningful, stories. Stories that embrace the heart of God.

I want to be part of making that vision a reality. As a writer, I’ve spent the last five years working, learning, and polishing stories as I try to improve the quality of my writing. Now it’s time for those stories to meet the world. My goal is to write “fiction with a mission.”

Fiction with a mission means novels that take real life situations like persecution, human trafficking, and the world orphan crisis and turn them into stories people can relate to.

Fiction has a lot of power. People who would never listen to a sermon or read a non-fiction book about these important topics might have their eyes opened by a story that both entertains and enlightens.

I want to write those kinds of stories and make them available to the world of readers. That’s where you come in. Producing a quality book that doesn’t succumb to the stereotypical pitfalls of self-publishing requires a hefty up-front investment.

Several years ago, Alex and Brett introduced what they called a Fundraising Tool for Rebelutionaries here on this blog. That tool is called Kickstarter, and I’m using it to try to raise the money needed to produce my first book, Counted Worthy.

Counted Worthy is about a young woman living under persecution. She works to save Bibles from government ordered incineration and smuggles them to Christians. When the police follow a tracked Bible to her home, her world crumbles. She is left with a few short days to save her father from execution.

Kickstarter works by allowing people to pledge support to a project. In this case you’d pledge to support the publication of Counted Worthy.

I’m trying to raise $1,000 to pay for editing, cover design, and interior formatting. If the campaign does not reach $1,000 in pledges, no one will be charged. You’ll keep your money, and I won’t send out any of the promised rewards.

If the campaign does reach the targeted pledge amount, you’ll donate your promised amount and receive a gift that corresponds with your pledge. Prizes include having your name in the acknowledgements or receiving a copy of the book.

$1,000 may sound like a lot of money to put towards producing a book, but it’s actually quite modest. I could just publish Counted Worthy as it is, but without editing it would have typos and plot holes that would counteract the desire to bring glory to God and impact readers.

Stories that make a difference must display excellence to the best of their ability and excellence requires investment. Your pledge will help support that vision.

Please click over to Kickstarter to help add a rebelutionary story to the world of fiction.

Let’s make this book happen, rebelutionaries!

Discuss below and donate today! Even $5 helps.

There are currently __ Comment(s)

Amazon links are affiliate, meaning TheRebelution.com earns a percentage of any purchase. All proceeds go towards the maintenance of this website and to make copies of Do Hard Things and Start Here available to those who can’t afford them.