In the world of nonfiction, there are two kinds of writers: authors who speak and speakers who write. Which feels easier to you, writing or speaking? If you would rather do anything than speak on stage, you’re probably an author who speaks. But if you feel comfortable speaking while the blank screen intimidates you, you may be a speaker who writes.
Many pastors are speakers first. It’s easy for them to put together a sermon, but many have unfinished books that may never get done. How do you fix that? How do you get that book written?
I asked Caleb Breakey, CEO of Sermon to Book and Speak It to Book. He’s been helping pastors and speakers turn their ideas into books for years.
While we’ll focus on pastors in this discussion, the steps we’ll outline apply to anyone who speaks on stage.
Why is writing so hard for pastors?
Caleb: Writing is hard for pastors because I’ve never met a pastor with extra time. Between hospital visits, drop-ins, sermon prep, calendar events, picking up the kids, and being a good husband and father, there’s no margin left.
I spent about six months writing my first book. I had no kids and intentionally created a schedule with as much time as possible, and it still didn’t feel like enough. Writing takes both time and energy. Creative work is draining. I’m an introvert, and while creativity energizes me in the moment, afterward it feels like my CPU has been running on high the whole time.
Another reason writing is hard is that speaking and writing are two different skills. I’ve had pastors call me after preaching, saying they can’t stop thinking about their sermon as a book, but they freeze when they try to write. I tell them, “Don’t think of it as a book. Just give us the Word of God. Do what you’ve always done.” You can’t do both at the same time because they’re different modes of communication.
How are sermons and books different?
Thomas: I came across a statistic that said the average American church has between 80 and 150 congregants. While we hear a lot about megachurches, most people still attend small churches. In a congregation of 80 people, the pastor does everything. He’s not surrounded by a large staff.
That’s a heavy time burden, especially if the church isn’t in a wealthy area and the pastor needs a side job to make ends meet. Chase Replogle, who hosts the Pastor Writer podcast, is one example. He pastors a church and also works as a web designer to help cover expenses.
Given how busy pastors are, it’s tempting to think, “I’ll just get my sermons transcribed; that’ll be my book.” But that doesn’t really work. How are sermons or speeches different from books?
Caleb: Think about some of the best talks or speeches you’ve heard, the ones that moved you to tears. Many of them wouldn’t work on paper. They might seem simple or even clumsy in print because the power came from the speaker’s delivery, body language, voice inflection, and pauses.
Speakers have more tools than writers. For example, if I pause right now, that pause adds weight to what I say next. You can’t do that effectively on the page. In conversation, you also get feedback from facial expressions, nods, or other cues. About 90% of communication is nonverbal.
Writing removes those tools. You have to replace them with new elements, such as structure, clarity, rhythm, and word choice. Speaking doesn’t automatically translate into good writing. It can, but it’s rare.
Why don’t transcripts work?
Thomas: We don’t speak in complete sentences. Listeners often ask us to post transcripts of this podcast because many of those readers prefer text. But when we’ve tried posting transcripts, they don’t make much sense on their own.
Even accurate transcripts are hard to read because people don’t talk in well-formed paragraphs. Modern speaking styles are conversational, with lots of commas, few periods, and plenty of tangents. That works great for sermons or podcasts, but not for books.
When people say they want a conversational writing style, they mean simple, accessible language, not literal transcripts full of run-ons. Turning a podcast or sermon into a readable post takes hours of work. Joanna Penn does it well; she edits her transcripts into blog posts with headings and bullets, which takes skill and time.
What is the benefit of writing a book?
Thomas: Let’s talk about the benefit. Why should pastors write books instead of just relying on sermon recordings?
Caleb: To proclaim the gospel. Writing a book provides pastors with another avenue to share the truth of Scripture and explore important topics, such as health, relationships, wealth, stewardship, or any other issues someone might seek counseling on.
People often struggle to understand the Bible. Books help explain it and apply it. As Ecclesiastes says, “Of making many books there is no end.” That’s a good thing. Some pastors think, “This topic’s already been covered,” and hand out a book from twenty years ago. But each pastor has a unique voice and perspective that can serve not just their congregation but people beyond it.
A book allows you to reach far more people than you ever could from the pulpit. I keep what I call my “Changed My Life Bookshelf.” Books rotate in and out depending on the season of life, but each one has shaped who I am. Your book could end up on someone else’s “changed my life” shelf.
Think about the books that shaped you. How would your life be different without them? Your writing could do the same for someone else. It may help them understand Scripture, grow in faith, and live out the freedom we have in Christ. That’s why pastors should write books.
Why should pastors write for their own congregations?
Thomas: Pastors have a special credibility with their own congregations or, if they’re speakers, with the people who come to hear them. When someone has listened to you for years from the pews, what you say about a topic carries more weight than what a famous “super guru” might say. That credibility is a valuable asset that must be stewarded carefully.
Being a pastor is a serious responsibility because people place deep trust in your words. At the same time, it allows you to speak into people’s lives in powerful ways.
Our church recently published a book that wasn’t written by our pastor but by various members of the congregation. Each chapter shares a personal testimony about how God changed a life and brought someone to faith in Jesus Christ.
We’ve used the book as an evangelistic tool. We mailed it to people in our church’s neighborhood and have also given it as a gift. The goal wasn’t to get a high Amazon sales rank. The goal was to help our church reach the community with the gospel.
The stories resonate because they’re about people from the same neighborhood whose lives were transformed by Christ. That makes it more powerful than an abstract story from someone far away. And because it’s written down, this book will still be here five or ten years from now.
Unlike a sermon that fades after it’s preached, a book endures.
How can pastors plan a sermon series that becomes a book?
Thomas: What advice would you give pastors who are planning a sermon series that could later become a book? How can they lay the groundwork during preparation?
Caleb: I usually don’t try to change how pastors prepare sermons. They already have their process of research, prayer, and the rhythm they follow with the Holy Spirit as they seek what their congregation needs. Mixing sermon prep with book writing too early can be distracting. I once knew a pastor who said, “I can’t stop thinking about my sermon as a book, and it’s messing me up.” You don’t want that. They’re two very different tasks.
If I could give a few general tips, they’d come from my book Sermon Crunch (affiliate link), which helps pastors organize their sermons after they’ve done the prep work. The same organizational principles can help when developing a book. Here’s a quick overview of the seven points I recommend:
Step 1: Snatch our attention.
Don’t start slow. Open with a story or something human and engaging. Scripture is the most amazing thing in the world; let’s present it that way.
Step 2: Simplify the point.
Be clear about what you’re saying. If you can’t express your main point in one sentence, it’s not ready yet. Simplicity gives you a foundation to build on.
Step 3: Show why it matters.
Listeners and readers need to know why the message is relevant to their lives. If they don’t see the “why,” they’ll tune out.
Step 4: Give proof of concept.
Show where we’ve seen this truth play out in Scripture, in people’s lives, or through research and data.
Step 5: Anticipate questions.
People always have questions and objections. If you don’t address them, they become mental weeds that block understanding. But if you engage those questions early—like a waiter refilling a glass before it’s empty—people feel seen and cared for.
How do engaging questions make writing and preaching stronger?
Thomas: Some of Jesus’s best one-liners came from questions people asked or from hecklers. You’d think, if anyone could just monologue, it would be Jesus, the Son of God. Yet even he used dialogue because it helped his audience understand.
Often, people asked the wrong question, like “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus used that moment to answer the question they should have asked instead. That back-and-forth was powerful and personal.
The same principle applies to pastors and writers. Meeting with people in your congregation, counseling them, and answering their real questions not only makes you a better pastor but also a better writer. You’re writing to where people actually are.
Writers who aren’t pastors need to make a similar effort. If they don’t, they risk becoming disconnected from their audience, like someone in an ivory tower wondering why no one buys their book. If you don’t know your readers—what they eat, what music they love, what worries they carry—you can’t truly connect with them. Saying “my audience is women between 20 and 80” isn’t enough. That’s not a community; it’s a vague demographic.
Something my pastor does that I really appreciate is answering follow-up questions about his sermons on his blog. If someone disagrees, misunderstands, or wants clarification, he responds publicly. The blog becomes a powerful companion to the sermons.
If he were to turn a sermon series into a book, those blog posts could become discussion questions or end-of-chapter reflections drawn from real conversations. That makes the message deeply relevant and immediately applicable.
Step 6: Show us how.
Caleb: How now shall we live? You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you do not apply it, what good is it? Show how this sermon or chapter applies to our lives. Keep it simple and practical. This is the application.
Step 7: Inspire us to go.
Turn the next page. Get excited about the week ahead. We just celebrated Easter. If we pause to grasp the resurrection, it is the most incredible event in human history. God gave us the most incredible book. This is exciting. End with a story or call. God is not small. He is big and personal, and he knows the hairs on your head. Send us out with gusto.
Not everything will shake us from our seats, but we must remember the God we serve.
Do good sermons make better chapters?
Thomas: These are principles for good sermons, and good sermons make better chapters. If it is a bad sermon, it takes much more work to turn it into a good chapter than if it started strong.
Caleb: These components create persuasive communication that reaches the heart and meets the human need for understanding.
How can I adapt the sermon text into chapters?
Thomas: After recording solid sermons, the next step is transcription. Busy pastors often work with a ghostwriter or collaborator to adapt the text into chapters suited to a different communication style. What advice do you have? What mistakes do authors make, and how do we navigate the collaboration well?
Caleb: My expertise is less in traditional ghostwriting (handing over transcripts and saying, “Write it all down”) and more in a done-with-you approach. A good ghostwriter should work with the author and draft a chapter, get feedback, and iterate.
At Sermon to Book and Speak It to Book, you are not just hiring a person; you are hiring a process. We bring in experts for each stage: first drafts, editing, proofreading, pre-development, post-development, fact-checking, source-citing, and more. Sometimes as many as 15 hands go through the manuscript.
The best advice:
- Spend time up front gaining clarity about your voice, audience, tone (academic or laid back), and how closely you want the book to mirror your sermons (think on a 1–10 scale). The clearer the target, the better the outcome.
- Understand it is a done-with-you process. Your book will only be as good as the time and energy you invest. If you do not respond to comments, add insights, or give feedback on style and voice, the team cannot make the adjustments needed to reflect the blueprint you approved.
Thomas: This is how major celebrities and big-budget books are produced. It is rarely one person alone with an editor. Often, there is a team brainstorming and drafting together. Whether a collaborator is a true ghostwriter or receives credit varies by level of involvement. There is a continuum: pure ghostwriter, acknowledgment-only, “manuscript developer,” or “by Person X with Person Y.” Some ghostwriters become well known over time.
The key is your involvement. Handing over audio and asking for a finished book usually results in a weaker product. Ongoing back-and-forth produces a stronger manuscript, even if you collaborate remotely.
How can pastors work with an editor without losing their writing voice?
Thomas: After ghostwriting and a complete manuscript, revisions begin. I see two common mistakes: accepting all edits and losing your voice, or rejecting everything because you do not trust the editor. How do you find the middle ground?
Caleb: Take the time. Engage deeply. Do not treat feedback like a quick drive-by. Instead of circling a note on a whiteboard and leaving, say, “I like this, but what about A, B, and C? I have a story that fits here. I read an article that supports this point.” That level of engagement strengthens the book.
I have seen too many authors avoid the time and energy required because the earlier stages felt fast. But the quality of the final product directly correlates to the effort you put into the editing process.
Thomas: One of the best strategies is to ask your editor why. When they propose a change, ask, “Why this change?” You will learn writing craft. You’ll learn about active versus passive voice, clarity, and rhythm. Over time, your sermons may improve as well. If an editor cannot give a good reason, you may reject the change. Editors are collaborators, not oracles. The conversation makes the manuscript stronger.
Connect with Caleb Breaky
- Sermon2Book.com offers a done-with-you process that writes your book and builds your platform in six to eight months. Our goal is to position you as a ministry thought leader, often within a specific niche like relationships, exposition, or another focus. We’ll help you grow into that niche and reach the right audience. Beyond writing, we emphasize positioning and platform. We aim to fill the “stadium” around your platform with the people who will benefit most from your book.
- Email: info@sermontobook.com or info@speakettobook.com