Christian
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Fresh Fire
Rosemary Wallis
Revelation, Revival and Renewal in NZ from 1766
Fresh Fire is startlingly wide in scope - a broad-brush history of the moves of the Spirit of God in New Zealand from 1766 to the present. It is not a theological book or exhaustive but is drawn copiously from research, original sources and interviews. 340 pages, 275 footnotes and an extensive index. The author - a fifth generation New Zealander and a missionary for many years - chose to self-publish and to distribute using her own extensive networks and outlets. She also wanted a Kindle e-book. Cover design, editing, layout and Kindle ebook by BriarsBooks. The book is available from RealNZ Books online as well as directly from the author here, and from the Kindle Bookstore
Revival and Reformation is coming NZ
David Johns
Get Ready for Transformation
This is the second book by a Christchurch author - a former lecturer and manager in the scientific sector. David has been a participant in and observer of church life in NZ for over 50 years. "The coming move of His Spirit across the globe and New Zealand will be something that has not been seen before," he says. "What God has for this nation is exciting and phenomenal. We are moving away from current church paradigms. It won't be about our programmes, but about the unfolding of God's plans and greater intimacy of the believer with God."
Facing the Final Curtain
Dr David Kyle-Foster
Looking death in the face....
An autobiographical account of what it's like to face death. This book was edited and prepared as an ebook for the author, a Christian leader in the USA who found his faith was unexpectedly deeply tested when he was suddenly faced with a perilous sextuple heart bypass operation. Full of insight and "bon mots" from others who have had to look death in the face and lived - or not! Cover design and layout by Briar's Books. Two digital formats: a PDF for a website and an EPUB for submission to digital bookstores.
Empowering by Fire
John Tan
Buddhist becomes fiery Christian
A Malaysian Buddhist became a Christian but lived a ho-hum life until he says he was powerfully encountered several years ago by God in a "baptism of Fire." He and his wife, Chooi, now travel and minister this "baptism of Fire" in NZ and Asia. The author wrote Empowering by Fire to introduce and explain the ministry. The book mostly comprises 45 daily meditative readings about the nature of this fire. The author self-published 100 copies in NZ but hopes to print fuure copies in Asia where costs are much lower. Cover deesign and layout by BriarsBooks.
The Forgotten Feminine
Denise Jordan
Theological / reflection
A5, 144 pages for international distribution: God has the heart of a mother. The author of this book provided her own cover image. Care was needed with choice of font and decorative motifs to keep the look feminine, in keeping with the subject matter. This book is will be regularly reprinted. Cover Design by JordanCreative.
Time for a New House
David Johns
Man with a message
From a first time author. This NZ writer - a retired former senior manager - believes God is radically restructuring the western church into something much more relevant and powerful - by which he doesn't mean new buildings and institutions. 80 pages. Cover design by BriarsBooks. The author expects the book to be controversial and will distribute it using his own channels.
Joining the Dots
Mike Trainer
Life lessons
2000 copies, 68 pages with colour and b/w illustrations. A former surfie and drug user turned believer, reflecting on life. The writer didn't realise that the illustrations he wanted to use were copyright-protected, so alternatives had to be found. Because he wanted the book out quickly and realised traditional publishers wouldn't be interested he decided to self-publish. He was a friendly type who conversed easily and could freely distribute the book himself. The supplied cover didn't help the book so BriarsBooks created one. The book had about a dozen illustrations but because few were in colour we went with cheaper uncoated paper.
The Marvel of Bible Prophecy
Mike Trainer
Fulfilment of biblical prophecy
Another book by the same author. He found out about biblical prophecies that had come to pass and the fulfilment of Bible prophecy fascinated him so much after that that he decided to write this book to give away freely. 300 copies for a first print run with more to come. He also wanted a Kindle e-book. Certainly not the cover I would have designed for this book, but the author had made a commitment to another designer and that's just how it goes sometimes. Obviously something about joining the dots?
Bread and Butter Miracles
Jan Jensen
Everyday miracles
88 pages, A5. 24 short stories of little miracles in the lives of everyday people - hence the title, Bread and Butter Miracles. Cover design by Tania Lee. The author - a local senior citizen - was tired of hearing about miracles that only happened overseas and had wanted for years to write a book of authentic home-grown kiwi miracles. She was delighted to have achieved her dream and the book had two print runs before she died several years later.
Empowered by the Spirit
Maurice Atkinson
Biography of a church
An A5 book of 174 pages. A South Island pastor shares his experiences and adventures with the Holy Spirit in growing a church from about 8 people to 300 over many years. We used a photo of the front of the church on the front cover - the circles of fire intended to represent the Holy Spirit. Some small chapter icons made to use throughout. Straightforward. 500 copies.
The Greatest Adventure
Bunty Bunce
Traveller's Tales
A5 book of 118 pages with 30 graphite illustrations. 400 copies. Traveller's tales by a Christian woman who visits many countries having supernatural adventures. The cover and illustrations were done by a local artist. Unfortunately the cover illustration had not been done with the ratio of an A5 book in mind so part of it had to be sacrificed to the process. The book needed editing to minimise jargon. This active author has already ordered another print run and files have been sent overseas to be used in a European edition.
Gems for Your Journey
Linda Renouf
Lessons from Life
A5 book of 142 pages. 100 copies and a 2nd print run within several months. 40 stories from a pastor's wife about the ups and downs of life and her continual discovery that God could always be trusted. The author tells her stories as small "gems" - hence the title. The challenge of this book was the editing. Preserving the author's style while eliminating jargon and poor sentence structure is always a challenge. The nature of the book invited wide margins. The cover was designed by one of the author's friends who had a great designer's eye but was using older versions of software and a free font that promised problems at the print end. The author decided to start with a small print run and reprint on demand.