Here’s the Christian self publishing company I recommend after trying 5.

I held his book in my hand, feeling a strange teariness in my eyes.

By all accounts, The Trash of Society wasn’t a great book.

But it was a moving story, written from the heart. It struck you in the gut.

One of the most moving stories that struck me was the time when Jason Wong, as Chief of Staff of Singapore’s Prisons, one of the highest ranked officer in charge, knelt down to wash the feet of the prisoners.

Ridiculous?

He didn’t stop there. He continued to advocate for the rights of prisoners, hoping to give them a second life. He strived to improve their prospects after their prison stay, pushing employers to hire them.

He kickstarted the Yellow Ribbon Movement.

After he retired, you would have thought that he would stop. After all, after so much hard work, why not enjoy your retirement?

But he didn’t. He continued to push harder, this time for families.

He aimed to help Dads to take a bigger part in the lives of their children. With that, he started the Dads for Life movement, another national movement to involve Dads in the care of their children.

The book that changed my life was self-published

Written by one of the most visionary social leaders in Singapore – Jason Wong, behind national movements like Families for Life, and the Yellow Ribbon Project.

His book became an inspiration in my own efforts to become a better social service leader, whether it be simply writing better case notes, or growing my career. After reading his book in my first year of my social work degree in the U.K., I strived to follow his example. I served actively in church, doing the most basic things.

Like saying hi on Sundays as an usher, even though I really hated people.

I even tried to reach out to more British students so that they would find God.

Strangely, it was also his book that made me realise the power of books to change the lives of others.

The best thing? He had self-published it. Despite his gravitas as a leader, he chose to go the self-publishing route.

Why?

Wasn’t the traditional publishing route available for someone of his reputation?

Today, you might be weighing different options in the publishing of your own book. There’s always the traditional option, where you go with a reputable publisher in Singapore.

Why bother with self-publishing?

That said, it’s worth considering self-publishing because it’s the fastest way to get your work out.

I often recommend this to first-time authors who are sourcing for a traditional publisher.

Why would a Penguin Random House take a bet on you when they have popular personalities to choose from? People who can immediately show thousands of followers on their social media accounts?

So you need to be willing to take a bet on yourself.

No one else can, but you.

You need to show that you can push a book from start to finish, sell it, and then take that evidence to the publisher.

Else, no publisher is going to believe you, even if you show them a manuscript.

Because when you have the likes of professors, experts, and people who are at the top of their field, choosing you isn’t that much of a miss. After all, they can always find more people.

So who can you find in Singapore?

The companies in Singapore that do this

If you look for a self-publishing company in Singapore that explicitly does Christian books, you would be hard pressed to find publishers. After all, Singapore prides itself on being a multi-religious society. Any publisher that professes its Christian values might find work from others turned away.

We start first with the explicitly Christian publishers.

The first is Graceworks, no doubt a pioneer in this field of Christian publishing in Singapore. He’s done countless titles over the years.

Graceworks

Soo Inn, the publisher at Graceworks, is a great man. At SKS Bookstore, a local christian bookstore, I once saw his book Men For Christ. It even featured ex-UOB CEO Hsieh Fu Hua, and his thoughts on Christianity.

Soo Inn is clearly a man for God, and a deeply inspired man.

That said, it might not be the easiest way to get your book past him, as he has high editorial standards.

That said, be confident. Pitch it to him, because he will definitely take a look, rather than being one of those publishers that quickly reject it out of hand.

Mind you, working with Graceworks might involve you defraying some of the costs of publishing.

Gutenhag

Of course, there’s us. At Gutenhag, we’ve done different titles over the years, and the core of our team is made of Christians, who love to read Christian books.

Some of us are Christian nerds who can tell you just why John Eldredge is the best Christian author. That said, we would love to be in a place where we can make Singaporean and Asian authors more well known within the region.

For example, one book that I’ve admired is that of Pastor Edmund, who led the Covenant Evangelical Free Church for years, before stepping down. His wisdom is just clear to see.

We are of the perspective that there’s much wisdom in this region that has yet to be shared. We would love to do that with your book, if you have one.

Again, you would have to pay for such a service. Expect to be set back by about 8k for 500 copies.

Ethos Books

If you’re worried about money, Ethos is one of the few that will cover the costs of publishing, if they determine your manuscript is of sufficient quality. That said, they haven’t published an explicitly Christian book for years.

If you do want to do it though, there is Pagesetters, their sister brand. It takes commissioned work, which you have to pay for.

After admiring Ethos from afar for a long time, especially after seeing their great release of ’This is How Inequality Looks Like’, I nearly fell off my chair on the bus home from my church camp in Kuala Lumpur in June 2024.

I realised that the publishers were on the same bus.

And the same church.

I quickly scooted into the seat beside them, peppering Hoe Fang, one of the founders of Ethos, with questions on how he made a living.

Then in August 2024, I arranged to see Wai Han, another editor at Ethos at her office to ask her what kind of books made them money.

Now, sitting at the October book launch of another author, I stared at the husband and wife team at Ethos. I couldn’t understand why they were being so nice to me. I was going to be a competitor, and this was their response?

Why were they being so helpful with sharing their experience? What was the catch here?

I didn’t know.

But they shared and shared, and were even kind enough to give me their books.

Find publishers that you would want to be friends with, because it’s going to be a painful process.

You don’t want to hate your publishers.

Write Editions

Ah, I can’t finish this article without mentioning my friend and publisher, ChinKar, the man behind Write Editions. He was the first one who took a bet on my book Take Heart, when it was a raw manuscript in Microsoft Word.

He’s someone who’s nurturing and encouraging of authors, and he takes time to listen, especially if he thinks your manuscript is one of quality.

Over the 3 years I’ve worked with him, he has been patient with my many flaws, especially my inability to reply quickly.

He is someone you can trust with your book.

Especially with him being a Christian too. At our many coffee meetings, he always astounds me with the godly wisdom that he shares. Most recently, when I was griping about how hard it was to make a living, he shared his own experience of how God provided when he started.

He’s someone who will encourage you along your own writing journey, however hard it is.

Whatever your book is, write it first.

If you can’t find a publisher who will publish it with you, you can always do it yourself.

But write first, and then promise yourself you will take it to the streets. You will be surprised by just how much easier it will be, once you make that commitment to yourself.