[Watch the vlog of this post on YouTube]

I’m really excited to be coming down the home-stretch of my new book! It will release in February 2011 from Youth Specialties/Zondervan and is titled after this blog, Life In Student Ministry.

The book basically covers everything about life in student ministry, starting with, “How do I know if I’m called to youth ministry?” and, “What should my first night at youth group look like?” to working with budgets, volunteer youth leaders, conflict and all those kinds of things. It ends with, “How can I achieve longevity in youth ministry and be in this for the long-haul?” and other issues that look forward to the future of serving in youth ministry.

What I love most about this book is that it’s not just my ideas and thoughts. It’s a collective work of over 100 other youth workers who have given a voice to much of my content, asking different questions, giving other perspectives, and adding better ideas. I wanted this book to have a conversational tone and, thanks to the hard work of my editor, Heather Campbell, I think we achieved that.

Now we’re up to the part where the book’s cover design is finalized and, since this book has been a communal project since the very beginning, I want to continue with that value and give you guys some voice into what it looks like.

Above is the first draft of the book’s cover and, to be honest with you, I’m not sure what I think. Zondervan wants my face on the cover, which doesn’t really bother me, but I would love for the cover to reflect more of the online youth ministry community that contributed so heavily to this book and the conversational tone it carries.

Zondervan has graciously allowed me to seek your thoughts and input.

• What do you like about the book cover above?
• What do you not like about it?
• What do you think it portrays about the book at first glance?
• What would you change and why?
• What examples do you have of a book design that could work better?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Zondervan is also open to using a different picture of me, and that’s where your votes come in. Check out some of the other picture options of me and vote for which one you think would work best for the book cover.

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Posted on September 23, 2010