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Case study · Christian & faith · 2025

365 Mornings of Practice

by Pastor David Akinyemi, Senior pastor, evangelical congregation, Atlanta

ASIN B0DVKM2WPF

A senior pastor with fifteen years of Wednesday-morning teaching notes wanted a 365-day devotional. We adapted his notes into a daily-format manuscript, ran a theology read by an evangelical specialist, and printed a 5,000-copy hardcover run for direct congregation distribution. Fourteen congregations have since adopted it for their members.

  • 14 congregations adopted for member use
  • 5,000 hardcovers printed and distributed
  • 1,800 Amazon ebook units, Q1 2026
  • 365 entries standardized to 280–340 words
Ghostwriting (devotional adaptation)Theology readBook editingBook cover designBulk print run (5,000 hardcovers)

Inside the project

The book on the desk, in five frames.

Working shots from this engagement — interview sessions, manuscript pages, cover concepts, launch day.

The conversion from teaching notes to devotional is structurally underestimated. The notes are weekly thematic; a devotional is daily standalone. Every entry needs to read as a complete thought — scripture, reflection, prayer — without requiring context from the day before.

The theology read by a same-tradition specialist caught three paragraphs that were doctrinally loose in ways that mattered to the audience. For faith-based books, the theology read is the analogue of a developmental edit for a novel — same load-bearing role, different specialist.

The 5,000-copy hardcover print run was the right format. Devotionals get used daily for a year. Paperback wears out. A cloth-bound hardcover with a stitched binding survives. The print quality is what allowed the pastor-to-pastor distribution that put the book in 14 congregations.

“I had teaching notes. The studio gave me a devotional. The structural work to turn one into the other was the whole engagement; I underestimated it before we started.”

Pastor David Akinyemi, Senior pastor, evangelical congregation, Atlanta

Cover rounds

Three cover concepts for 365 Mornings of Practice.

The shortlist we presented to the author before round-one revisions. The selected concept is the second in the strip.

  • Concept A — typographic, restrained palette
  • Concept B — selected and revised
  • Concept C — photographic, alternative
  • Round one — typography tightened
  • Round two — final, print-ready
Pastor David Akinyemi on writing 365 Mornings of Practice 02:14 A two-minute clip from the launch-day interview. The author on what changed during the project.

Project facts

The numbers behind this one.

Services used
Ghostwriting (devotional adaptation), Theology read, Book editing, Book cover design, Bulk print run (5,000 hardcovers)
Timeline
12 weeks for adaptation, 4 weeks for theology read + edit, 6 weeks for printing
Investment band
$18,400–$22,000 total (adaptation + theology read + edit + cover + print)
Published
2025
Genre
Christian & faith
ASIN
B0DVKM2WPF

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