Open Access

A Peek Inside Our Meetings

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:51:25 -0600

One of the things we want to do with Open Access is not only give a chance to help create the Going Beyond product, but also give a glimpse into the processes that make up our product development. At out last Open Access meeting, I brought along my camcorder to film a bit of what goes on around the meeting table. I cut the hour-long meeting down to the highlights, but I'm sure you'll be able to pick up on some of the conversations we're having. Sure, it's not the most exciting thing in the world (it is, after all, just a meeting), but you'll get to see a bit about how we get things done and resolve outstanding issues. There's also a few hints sprinkled in about our future plans for the product and process. Enjoy!

What is Going Beyond about, anyway?

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:26:51 -0600

Of the two million Israelites who received God's invitation to experience Him in the promised land, only two actually enjoyed fulfillment of the promise. Likewise, millions of modern-day Christians have the promise, but only a few walk into their promised land. In this six-session study, Priscilla Shirer will encourage readers to be among those who see the goodness of God in their lives, live beyond their circumstances, and expect to see God move in supernatural and miraculous ways every day. Participants will travel with the children of Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and finally into the promised land. Along the way, they will find God's purpose for the journey. Following the two who crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan, women will receive direction on how to "go beyond" into their promised land.

One of those days...

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:38:02 -0600

Ever have one of those days? Thursday started out fine. I came into the office, settled in, and got to work putting in Priscilla's edits on session 2 of Open Access (we're still calling it Going Beyond around the office, unsure of final title yet). The editor-in-chief of the project, Dale, and I had met with her on Monday to discuss sessions 1 through 5; and I was anxious to get all those changes in so we can be sure to have that PDF ready by end of June! So I worked all Thursday morning, with a brief visitor to the chiropractor thrown in ... my 20-week pregnant back has not been agreeing with me! About lunchtime, though, I noticed that the file would not let me save. It wouldn't let me check it back into our system. Something I probably should have noticed a few hours beforehand! And after I called our technical specialist, I got the oh-so-pleasant news that I would have to redo everything I had done that morning. I had meetings in the afternoon, which required sitting in a hard chair for over an hour. By the time the meeting was over, my back was screaming and I still wanted to cry over the hours of work I had lost. The fact that I can barely sleep at night did not help my phenomenal attitude! To make matters worse, I had company coming in Thursday night and had left my husband home to do the cleaning ... no telling what would be done/not done when I got home. By Friday morning, life was OK again. But it was SO one of those days. I should have just stayed in bed. ☺ --Jessie, copy editor

Talking About the Title: A Video Conversation with Dale McCleskey

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:10:47 -0600

In this video conversation Aaron Linne talks with Dale McCleskey about the importance of a good title and how they settled upon the title of Priscilla Shrier's study that we're examining here, Going Beyond. In acknowledgment to the organic nature of the Open Access project, I scheduled this video conversation upon receiving an email that the title was finalized. As you'll hear in the video, however, it's not quite that simple and the title is still a bit in flux; Dale even mentions that he hopes the participants of the project can help the team settle on a title name. Check it out:

A Video Conversation with Jennifer McCaman

Thu, 29 May 2008 16:58:14 -0600

As a part of the Open Access project, I was able to get Jennifer, our project manager, to sit down for a few minutes and talk about why we're doing this and some of the things we hope to accomplish. One of my goals (Hi, I'm Aaron, btw) is to give an inside look at the personalities that help to create the products here at LifeWay. Throughout the next few months you'll see me pop in here and there with video conversations of the various people working behind the scenes to make Priscilla's new study go from basic concepts to an incredible resource for you to use in your community of faith. Without further ado, I present our first video conversation with Jennifer, introducing the Open Access project:

What is Open Access?

Thu, 29 May 2008 15:17:31 -0600

When LifeWay publishes a book, several people get involved: editors, designers, marketers, and of course, the author. Recently we’ve recognized the value of another participant: YOU. Open Access invites you to go behind the scenes and see the entire process of publishing a LifeWay study. We want to hear your comments, stories, questions, and ideas so our resources can better minister to you. We want you to access our publishing process so you can help make it better! Of course, this requires an author willing to ask for input from her readers and then actually use those ideas. We are excited to announce that Priscilla Shirer will be leading the way, taking her next women’s Bible study through the Open Access process. Here’s how it works: When you join the Open Access community (on or after July 1), you will receive Priscilla’s current work-in-progress as a PDF document. Inside the PDF, you’ll find a feedback form and a link to our message board community where you can discuss the book with fellow Open Access members. Our Open Access team will read your feedback and monitor the message boards for suggestions and fresh ideas for Priscilla. As you go through the study, you’ll find questions from Priscilla directed to our Open Access readers. We are especially interested in seeing your answers to these questions. When the book is ready to be published, you’ll receive a copy of the final print version you helped to create. Meanwhile, you will also get to see comments from Priscilla and the LifeWay staff as we work on the study via blog and Twitter feed. If this sounds like something you’d like to join, browse the blog, watch for upcoming videos and subscribe to our Twitter feed to learn more—and don’t forget to come back and download the PDF on July 1. We’re excited to see how God will use the combined efforts of authors, designers, editors, and now readers to create effective resources for believers. We can’t wait to hear from you!