A Brigada reader is compiling a book featuring stories from missionaries around the world, but has run into a common challenge: traditional publishing options can be very expensive. They’re wondering if others in the Brigada community have found affordable ways to publish mission-focused books.
Have you worked with a publisher that specializes in missions or ministry stories? Or have you used alternatives such as print-on-demand services (Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu), collaborative publishing, or ministry-based presses that reduce costs? We’ve done 4 books now through Amazon KDP and they make lots of resources available. It still takes quite a bit of work – but it’s doable.
If you’ve successfully published a missions book—or know of a publisher, platform, or creative approach that keeps costs manageable—please comment below. Your insight could help this project (and others like it) move forward and bring inspiring missionary stories to a wider audience.
As a publisher of my memoirs of 65 years’ churchplanting in Japan, rather than advice I will offer what facts come to mind. My 6 children are still in Japan. They evangelise and disciple widely. My father never said, ” God guided me to dairy farming. He didn’t guide my children ,,,” Our Dad shamelessly used us 7 as slaves to milk his 70 cows twice EVERY day and we planted out his seedling onions and weeded them . If we bucked, he just “put a cut on our bottom”. We carted his veges to the station and sent them to relatives in Auckland or Napier.
I have edited my memoirs about 37 times and thoroughly enjoy them but the reaction from hundreds to whom I have sent them is almost nil after about 5 years, My son Russell appears on Nepuleague TV and he has cleverly got Amazon to produce my memoirs but I doubt whether even 10 have sold!! The memoirs are almost stunning in their absorbing content but I have to simply wait in faith for a breakthrough. Today 6th March 2026 was an exception. An email came in impeccable English saying that 20 years ago I met the Japanese writer a few days before his baptism. He praised the memoirs!. That same son Russell (60) will come with me and my daughter Joy (57) to NZ this month for 10 days to meet supporters. I am unsalaried but not unsupported. Russell is a successful interpreter. Joy’s husband is Bro Mori who operates two 7/11s. Russell paid for a big batch of the memoirs for NZ supporters. My life is wonderful by God’s grace. My Mother was a war widow but she lost their only son. Six years later Mother obeyed 1st Timothy 5 :14 and bore 7 more of us who ALL became missionaries or their helpers. Who wouldn’t tell the world of a God like that?
Thanks brother Richard Goodall, I have read your comment. I have also read and enjoyed your memoirs. Unfortunately, according to Patrick Johnstone of Operation World, interest in missions (and this would probably include the memoirs of missionaries) has declined a lot during the past 10-15 years or so. May God bless your face to face contact with people in NZ when you go soon.
My small publishing house have published numerous ebooks and print books. The learning curve to get these out and distributed is rather steep. Most “publishers” are only printers. ie. They take your manuscript, have you do all the formatting to their specifications, and then they put them on Amazon, etc., and they are available. But no one will every hear about them unless you tell them. This is true of IngramSpark and many others. They inform, but they do not distribute. My suggestion is that you hire an editor who also is able to format your book for someone like IngramSpark, and get it to completion. I use Chad Doell, who has worked for our small publishing business for several years. He is a fine believer, and has gotten several books to the published stage. (Tr*************@*****ok.com) He charges less than most others in the commercial sector. Otherwise, hunt on Upwork.com for someone to do this for you. Beware of many scammers out there who will charge you, and do little or nothing. Otherwise, get an agent who will get you through the door of a Christian publisher. That is always the best way, but often the hardest.
I AGREE with the above comment that it is HARD (impossible) to get an agent to get you book publlished. I have written 14 books and published them myself. You can use Snowfall press. Just format your book, save it as a pdf, upload it to Snowfall press and you can have books printed immediately. The other route is to publish on amazon, which also is free and gets your book up on the web for sale. But you have to do the advertising.
Here are some quick thoughts: I self-published using Amazon KDP. It was a clean, straight-forward process and it is easy to pass along the work. I only published as an e-book but I am working on editing it and releasing a print-on-demand hard copy as well. They do offer paid advertising options. I feel content that it is out there and available.
I was pleased with the work, service and price of publishing with Uptown Press (www.uptownpress.com) located in Baltimore, MD. Jack Weber is the owner/manager. If you contact him (ja**@*********ss.com), please let him know that I referred you. Blessings, Janet Dierker
I have personally used Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for our kids ministry resources books and I found it pretty straight forward to use. There are many tutorials available to help walk you through it on YouTube if you want to check those out. I love that KDP opens up a distribution system that works internationally and has low/no upfront cost because it’s all print-on-demand. It also works while I can focus on other things! While the sold numbers on KDP are low for us, I know that I can direct people from all over the place to get access to these resources where I don’t have a physical presence.
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Since 2021 I’ve printed about 70k physical books for distribtion mainly in Guatemala but that means I have had to do the editing, design, layout, file prep, cover the cost of printing, transportation and have warehouse space and my own distribution network (publicity, packing, shipping, billing, local taxes, inventory, etc.). We’ve distributed about 60% of those, so I still have to keep a dedicated warehouse space for a lot of boxes while I’m in the process of distribution.
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If you want someone to walk you through the publishing process, you can check in with Clayton at Swift Word Publishing. He can help you get it all together, layout and design, publishing, printing. Clayton can probably help you set it up on KDP for online sales as well. Depending on your own talents and abilities with these sorts of things and cost specific to your project, I’d definitely check in with Swift Word: https://swiftwordpublishing.com/
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Here’s how I see it:
+ Self-publish on KDP — Low cost, wide-distribution opportunities, higher personal responsibility for editing, design, marketing, etc. Greater control over your work.
+ Self-publish and print in bulk — higher cost and high personal responsibility (editing, layout and design, prepress preparations, printing, storage, marketing distribution, etc.). Best if you have an active, broad outlet for many books (1000 or more copies)
+ Assisted self-pub. — (like with Swift Word) medium cost with assistance for editing, design, marketing and KDP setup.
+ Traditional publishing — Potentilly more costly and harder to get started unless you have a publisher approaching you. Greater resources for marketing and open doors to established distribtion networks. Less control over your work.
I highly recommend Snowfall Press. I self-published my 400-page book with them. You upload your cover and content and then choose how many copies you’d like. My book, printed in 2024, was around $8. Several times before printing 300 copies, I ordered proof copies…same price, $8 each.
We use Lulu.com. Print as you need, discounts on volume, easy to navigate.
Ask Dave Coles & David Garrison. They both have extensive experience in these areas.
I have published my mission books (There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub, Keys to Church Planting Movements, A Life in the Saddle, etc. ) myself through a publishing company I started, Asteroidea Books. Beginning in 2007, I first went with offset printing – storing and distributing my sole title. As I published more and traveled too much to fulfil orders, I went with Print-On-Demand through Lightning Source (INGRAM SPARK). This worked well but I noticed last year my profits were decreasing as Ingram increased prices and changed their royalty structure. I decided to republish every title (updating most) through Amazon KDP which was more fair. Still working on two titles (one a republish and update project, the other my first fiction work).
My advise to missionary self-publishers: You MUST count on selling your own books. I have sold over 100,000 copies of SHEEP and it is in three translations too, but the vast majority are from my booktable at my many speaking venues. If you don’t have this outlet, you will need a plan to market your book. Most mission publishers are fairly passive when it comes to marketing.
Hi Brian, Did you serve in Mongolia years ago? This is Chris Wilkins. If you did, I met you in Ulan Baatar.
Thank you o evrone who is responding to the question about publishing !