New York Times best-selling author and celebraty pastor Pastor Mark Driscoll has written a letter of apology to the people of Mars Hill Church about several things, including a marketing scheme devised to land his book on the New York Times bestseller list. Written with his wife, Real Marriage, the book did reach the “#1 New York Times bestseller” status, but Driscoll is doing all he can to try and rectify the situation.
From his letter of apology:
“First, a marketing company called ResultSource was used in conjunction with the book Real Marriage, which was released in January 2012. My understanding of the ResultSource marketing strategy was to maximize book sales, so that we could reach more people with the message and help grow our church. In retrospect, I no longer see it that way. Instead, I now see it as manipulating a book sales reporting system, which is wrong. I am sorry that I used this strategy, and will never use it again. I have also asked my publisher to not use the “#1 New York Times bestseller” status in future publications, and am working to remove this from past publications as well.”
There are two things that really stand out for me:
- While I am disappointed he used ResultSource in the first place, I can understand how he was persuaded to do this. Moreover, I am happy to see him working really hard to “fix” the situation.
- This certainly sheds a new light on the “#1 New York Times bestseller” sticker, doesn’t it? I’ve often wondered why some books hit the list, now I know…
Social Media Break
Pastor Mark will also be taking a break from social media for the remainder of the year:
“Second, in recent years, some have used the language of “celebrity pastor” to describe me and some other Christian leaders. In my experience, celebrity pastors eventually get enough speaking and writing opportunities outside the church that their focus on the church is compromised, until eventually they decide to leave and go do other things. Without judging any of those who have done this, let me be clear that my desires are exactly the opposite. I want to be under pastoral authority, in community, and a Bible-teaching pastor who grows as a loving spiritual father at home and in our church home for years to come. I don’t see how I can be both a celebrity and a pastor, and so I am happy to give up the former so that I can focus on the latter.”
This should also make dealing with social media hate messages easier to deal with, too. Most everyone will have moved on by the time 2015 rolls around. Perhaps Driscoll’s social media break will inspire others to recheck the dominance that social media has in their lives.
You can read the letter in its entirety on Relevant Magazine, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Does this change your perspective of the New York Times bestseller list?
What do you think about ‘celebrity pastors’ and Driscoll’s break from social media?
[via Huffington Post & Relevant Magazine | Image via Wikipedia]
Rachel Blom says
I’ve known about these book marketing scams for a while, there are so many of them. Same with reviews, which you can buy or authors bashing competitor’s books. It’s sad. I think Mark Driscoll is wise to publicly apologize for this. I can respect his decision to go offline from social media even more. It’s gotten him into trouble more than a few times, so it’s wise to take a break and review if it’s worth it. Wish more people would do that…
Eric Dye says
Agreed.
Eric J says
I used to follow http://twitter.com/pastormark but I would say he is an example of doing it wrong, his tweets are the social media equivalent of standing at the street corner preaching, there is no conversation going on just one person talking and not acknowledging any of the comments people are making. In addition his tweets are nearly 100% religious with almost zero personal stuff, in my opinion not what social media is for.
Perhaps this break can be useful for him to revise his social media strategy.
Eric Dye says
Hmmm…interesting.
Michael Hyatt says
It’s easy for this kind of thing to make you cynical, but happens less frequently than you might think. It generally only happens in the business book category and occasionally in the self-help category. (That’s where Mark’s book fell.)
Generally, suspect books are marked with a dagger, indicating that some bulk sales were reported. The vast majority of authors I have worked with who have hit the list have done it the old-fashioned way—they wrote a book people wanted to read.
The bigger scam is when an author claims to be a bestselling author in his bio but never had a book hit any recognized bestseller list. Sometimes this is claimed for individual books, too. Christian authors do this all the time. I always wince when I read that, because it dilutes the meaning of the adjective.
Eric Dye says
Thank you for commenting. Sharing your insight, wisdom and knowledge on this subject is greatly appreciated! It’s good to know that false “bestsellers” are the exception and not the rule.
Erik van der Eijk says
I honestly think we (Christians) should publicize less articles online of other Christians doing it al wrong , or critize them in comments for that matter. We are all human, make mistakes, but more importantly: we are all part of the same body.
I would love to see a change in online behaviour amongst Christians. Let’s try to encourage our body parts, even if we don’t agree with how some acted. Doing the opposite just sends the wrong message to anyone who has not yet accepted what Jesus did for them.
Eric Dye says
Certainly! I do think it is important for everyone to talk openly about their mistakes, so we can all learn and be encouraged. The a testimony is a powerful thing. This is another reason why I think Mark handle the situation really well. 🙂