Book Review

New Book! 100 Prayers for Writers by Bob Hostetler

By Steve Laubeon August 18, 2025

You have enjoyed reading the prayers for writers that Bob writes on this blog, including one just a week and a half ago. Now you can have them all in one collection. (Yes, this is a shameful plug, not endorsed by Bob.)

In cooperation with The Christian Writers Institute, the new book 100 Prayers for Writers will officially release tomorrow, August 19th (2025).

This little 128-page book is designed for portability and priced for gift-giving. The retail price is only $11.99. Unfortunately, Amazon is not discounting the paperback yet. But you can still get it here (Amazon Link). If you prefer an ebook, that is priced at $6.99 (Kindle Link)

Fortunately, ShopTheWord.com has it for 30% off, starting tomorrow ($8.15) (ShopTheWord Link). Plus, all orders over $35 are free freight. That means you can buy five copies, get the free freight, and give four of them away to your writer friends!

This book is a sheer delight. Enjoy a few of the endorsements if you aren’t sure about buying a copy for yourself:

“These prayers are just what every faith-based writer needs.” – Jerry B. Jenkins

“Bob Hostetler’s 100 Prayers for Writers is not merely a book—it is a threshold. A sacred, prayer-soaked passage where ink meets Spirit, and the act of writing is transfigured into a holy encounter. With a poet’s tenderness and a prophet’s fire, Hostetler beckons us to lace our words into the fabric of God’s grand narrative. Each prayer thrums with raw honesty, contending with the terror of the blank page and the thrill of divine spark. For writers longing to craft not just with skill but with soul, this book is manna in the wilderness—a Godstorm of inspiration to enflame your art and hallow your calling.” – Leonard Sweet

“You should be warned that if you buy the print version of this book, you’ll wear it out from use. And yes, it might be cliché to say Hostettler’s 100 Prayers are beautiful and poignant, uplifting and inspiring, but I’m saying it anyway because it’s absolutely true. I’ll meditate on these prayers daily, and there’s an extremely high chance you will as well.” – James L. Rubart

My Best Reading Advice

By Bob Hostetleron October 16, 2024

My wife and I, newly married and preparing to enter training for ministry, hosted a seasoned pastor in our home for one of our entrance interviews. He asked what sorts of books we’d been reading, and we answered. I expected him to be impressed with my answer. After all … well, never mind. But he smiled kindly. “May I offer a piece of advice?” What were we going to say? “No”? So we gave the …

Category: Book Review, Career, Encouragement, Inspiration, Reading

What Did You Read This Summer?

By Steve Laubeon September 9, 2024

In 1957 H. L. Mencken coined a new word to describe a group of people that he called the bibliobibuli, which means “people who read too much.” (From the Greek “biblio,” meaning books, and the Latin “bibulous,” from “bibere,” to drink.) But how much is too much? And who decides that? I happen to believe that there is always room for more. I was once …

Category: Book Review, ReadingTag: Book Review, Reading

Read Old, Read New

By Bob Hostetleron July 3, 2024

I’ve posted before on this blog about my annual reading plan (here), which I’ve done for most of my life to keep my reading varied and voluminous, year after year. So it will come as no surprise to those who know me or know of my reading plan that I strongly advise reading both new books and old books, especially for writers. Thus, two of the categories in my annual reading plan are “classics” and …

Category: Book Review

Books That Change Lives

By Bob Hostetleron May 9, 2024

Many of us aspire to write books that change lives. There’s no better reason to write. And if you ask a writer to name a book that changed his or her life, you’re likely to get a quick—and informative—answer. So, I asked some writer friends to name the book (in addition to the Bible) that changed their lives. Here are some of their responses: My mindset changed once I read Joyce Meyer’s …

Category: Book Review, Inspiration

April Tool’s Day

By Steve Laubeon April 1, 2024

I decided not to try and trick you on April Fool’s Day with something like “Steve Laube buys yet another shiny industry business. This time he bought the entire out-of-print catalogs from Nomas Telson, Zyndale, and Tondervan. Included in the purchase was the New International Christian Standard Living Message Bible (NICSLMB).” Instead, I thought about which reference book I use …

Category: Book Review, Craft, Creativity, Personal, Reading, Steve, Writing CraftTag: Book Review, Craft, Creativity

Books You Missed in School?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 1, 2023

To be great writers, we must be avid readers. To be informed citizens of the world, we must read widely. As part of my independent, ongoing education, I’m reading a few titles my teachers didn’t assign. One is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Teachers mentioned the novel, but few readers in modern times seem to have read it. Initially published in 1905, Sinclair’s work exposed the …

Category: Book Review

Everyone is a Critic

By Steve Laubeon July 10, 2023

One of the burdens an artist must bear is the scrutiny of public opinion. It can either be exhilarating or devastating. At the risk of oversimplifying the issue, let’s look at some categories that define this topic. Opinion Everyone has an opinion. The problem for the author is to determine how much weight to give to those opinions. One mistake a writer will make is to ask someone or a group of …

Category: Book Business, Book Review, Career, Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Career, Critiques, reviews

Adopting an Author (Not in a Legal Sense)

By Dan Balowon July 5, 2023

Most authors find the promotion part of publishing a book at best challenging and, at worse, a necessary evil. Some authors enjoy it, seeing it as an important part of getting a book noticed and into the hands of readers. The antidote to this entire platform thing is to first think about readers and those you will influence through your work. It’s a borderline magic potion to enjoying the …

Category: Book Review, Personal

My 50 Favorite Books (That I Didn’t Write or Represent)

By Bob Hostetleron April 19, 2023

People occasionally ask me how I became a writer; and my standard answer is, “I was raised in a family of readers.” And over the years I’ve read thousands of books (that I can remember by title and author, that is). Not counting comic books. Not counting textbooks. Oh, and not counting my own books. So, when I sat down recently to try to list my favorite fifty books, I faced a daunting task. I …

Category: Book Review