Books for churches, pastors, and congregations

Most churches have a book in them that never gets written.

It might be forty years of sermons that exist only as notes and recordings. It might be a devotional a pastor wrote for one small group that deserves a wider reading. It might be a hundred years of church history that lives in the memory of eight or nine people, and no one has written any of it down.

The material is almost always there. What’s missing is the time, and someone who knows how to shape it without changing the voice it came in.

That’s the work we do.

Three kinds of church books

Sermon and teaching collections

A pastor preaches for an hour and has twice that much in his notes. A teaching series runs six weeks and then it’s over.

We take the recordings, the manuscripts, and the notes, and build them into a book. The developmental work is ours. The voice stays his. Nothing gets published that hasn’t been read and approved by the person whose name is on the cover.

Most of these run 120 to 150 pages and take four to six months.

Devotionals and guided journals

A devotional a congregation reads is good. A devotional a congregation writes in is better.

We produce guided journals with room for people to answer the reflection questions in their own hand, respond to the prayers, and record what they’re hearing. Conference and small-group churches use these as the thing people take home and actually finish.

We handle the conversion, the interior design, the cover, and the print run.

Church histories and anniversary volumes

A centennial, a seventy-fifth, a building dedication, a pastor’s twenty-fifth year. These are the moments a church looks backward, and they arrive faster than anyone plans for.

This work is different from the other two because it has a clock on it. The people who remember the founding years are the source, and they are not always available later. We interview, gather documents and photographs, and produce a volume the congregation keeps.

Best started a year out. We have done them faster.

How it works

We talk first. A conversation about what exists, what’s missing, and whether a book is the right answer. No proposal, no pricing. Some of these conversations end with us saying a book isn’t what you need.

We scope it honestly. One project, one timeline, one number. You will know what the printing costs and what the writing costs, separately.

We write, you approve. Nothing moves to the next stage without sign-off from your side. For pastors, that means the manuscript comes back to you before anyone else sees it.

We produce and print. Cover design, interior layout, proofs, and the print run. Books shipped to your church, or distribution through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or both.

Who you’ll be working with

CaryPress Books has been publishing since 2013, out of an office on Six Forks Road in Raleigh.

Ana Starns holds a doctorate and serves as Interim Director. Every church project runs through her personally, with a project manager assigned to keep the schedule.

We are local. If your church is in the Triangle, we can sit in your building, look at what’s in your archives, and talk to your people in person. For a history book especially, that matters.

Common questions

Does the pastor have to write anything? No. We work from what already exists — recordings, sermon notes, manuscripts — and from interviews. Most pastors spend a few hours a month on the project, mostly reviewing.

Whose name goes on the cover? Your pastor’s, or the church’s. That’s your decision, and it’s settled before we start.

Who owns the book? You do. The manuscript, the rights, and the files are yours.

How much does it cost? It depends on the length, the source material, and whether you want a print run or online distribution. We quote one number per project, and we tell you what’s printing and what’s writing so you can see both.

We’re not in Raleigh. Can you still help? Yes. We work with churches across North Carolina and beyond, mostly over video. In-person visits are easier if you’re in the Triangle, and for history projects that access is genuinely useful.

How long does it take? A guided journal can be produced in weeks. A sermon-based book runs four to six months for the writing, plus about two months for production. A church history depends on how much source material exists and how many people we need to interview.