Hello, hi, today is the day!
+ how to lend a hand
Hi friends,
Today is officially the big day!
Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith - and her gorgeous little sister, The Guided Journal - is available pretty much everywhere books are sold (or borrowed).
“If you forced me to pick one book in the whole world to walk someone gently through their faith evolution—one writer, one thinker, one human being out of all the marvelous leaders who’ve done this hard and holy work—it would be Sarah Bessey’s Field Notes for the Wilderness. A gorgeous, expansive offering from beginning to end; a love song to God and every searching heart.”
—Jen Hatmaker, New York Times bestselling author of For the Love and Of Mess and Moxie and host of the For the Love podcast
Listen, I have never seen myself as an expert. (Which is good because I am not.) I just hope to be a good companion, resolutely alongside of you.
If I can spare you a few of the ditches I’ve fallen into and help you spot the beauty I’ve learned to love, well, that’s the dream.
Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith is so dear to my heart. I absolutely love writing books for you all and this one feels like more than ten years worth of “lessons learned the hard way” all gathered up in one spot for you.
I dream of it being the book you read, dog-ear, underline for your own self. I hope it meets you right where you are right this second. And then I hope you pass along to a friend who finds themselves at the same crossroads you have encountered. I dream of it being the one you tuck into the hands of your people at the threshold of the wilderness, the ones who are spiralling and questioning without hope or clarity or a path ahead, those friends who come to you to say, “Help, help, help, I know you’ve done this thing and survived, so what now?”
And now it’s here. It’s really, truly here and it’s yours. It was my joy to write it for you over these years and now, it’s an absolute honour to place it into your hands.
I have such hope that this book will make you feel a bit less alone. And, if nothing else, maybe it will convince you of how loved you are, how courageous you are, and how right-on-time and headed-in-the-right-direction and how not-alone you are. (That’s all rather atrocious grammar but you know what I mean.)
“I have had a lot of fathers in faith, but never a mother—at least until I met Sarah Bessey. Now she is the writer I recommend to anyone who needs to be seen, loved, and held before they ever say why. Reading her new book is like opening a boxed lunch in the wilderness packed by someone who knew just what would get you through—along with a note that says, ‘Your soul is just fine.’ The only difference is that this book keeps feeding you after you have finished the last page (the one you hoped would never come). Take heart! You can start all over again whenever you want, safe in the embrace of a very wise mum.”
—Barbara Brown Taylor, author of An Altar in the World and Learning to Walk in the Dark
I take your trust very seriously and it's my genuine hope that this book brings freedom, clarity, companionship, goodness, and even a bit of hope to you at this moment in time.
Field Notes for the Wilderness guides you through multiple principles to live by for an evolving faith, including:
practicing wonder and curiosity as spiritual disciplines
mothering ourselves with compassion and empathy
making space for lament and righteous rage
finding good spiritual teachers
discovering what we are for in this life, and moving in that direction
and so much more.
I hope it becomes a shepherd for our curiosity, sets a rich table for our questions, offers tools to cultivate what we crave, and provides a blessing for what was--even as we leave it behind.
“In a space where nothing can make sense, Bessey offers guidance and direction that feels like a true hug and high-five from God. And by offering it, the wilderness does not feel so wild and lonely after all. For the moments when I wanted to give life the side-eye, I needed this book. I am so grateful we all have it now.”
—Candice Marie Benbow, author of Red Lip Theology
“Sarah Bessey shines. A book full of gentle wisdom and stunning empathy for all those of us who are bruised by the faithful but want to keep our faith. Faithful without being pious. Useful without being bossy. This is the perfect guide for all those of who need to be reintroduced to a faith full of grace, mercy, and love.”
—Kate Bowler, New York Times bestselling author of Good Enough
How to Help
Listen, you all have been the absolute best during this weird and intense season of book launch. And I’m so grateful for all of your kind comments, your “likes” and shares on social media as signal boosting, and your genuine encouragement. (I’ve felt like simultaneously the luckiest and the most squirmy about this.)
So if you want to support me and the release of the new book, here are a couple quick and easy ways to do that:
Buy the book - I know, I’m a marketing genius! Take notes, publishers and fellow authors. I’m ready for my mastermind class.
Post a review at a couple of online retailers - Yes, you can even post at multiple retailers using the same review everywhere. (The Amazon reviews are a big deal in particular so it would be nice to have a few right off the bat.) Your reviews help other people find the book, but it also bumps it up the algorithm, apparently.
TBR Adding - If you’re on Good Reads or The Story Graph or some other website for readers, add it to your To-Read shelf. Or mark it as “Read” and then review it. Fellow readers will find it, promise.
Spread the word on social media! Take a picture of the book or even better, a selfie with the book, I do love to see your faces and places. Post about the book release or share quotes from the book on Facebook or Twitter. Heck, I’ll take MySpace, I’m not proud (obviously). Tag me, too - I’d love to say hello and thank you!
Don’t forget the library! - We know how much I adore libraries (how else could I read like I do?!) and those spaces have become sacred for so many of us over the years. If your library doesn’t have it on the catalogue, you can usually request it be ordered. And then it’s available for free for your community!
Like and share and comment on Facebook or Instagram. I'll keep posting about interviews, reviews, podcasts, that sort of thing as they come along. The more you can interact with those posts, the higher the likelihood that other folks will get to see it, too. I have had to develop a stronger stomach for social media that I’ve previously enjoyed (don’t be surprised it a ton of those reels disappear within the next couple of months LOL) so your support makes me feel a little less exposed, too.
Make it communal - The guided journal would also work as a discussion guide with your book club or small group or with your friends.
“In a time when so many of us feel like we are spiritual wanderers, Sarah Bessey reaches out a hand and offers wise and careful company on the journey. Through the tenderness and intimacy of letters, this book shows us the many ways we might survive together in the liminal.”
—Cole Arthur Riley, New York Times bestselling author of This Here Flesh and creator of Black Liturgies
Where to Buy It
I know I’ve been absolutely insufferable about preorders and so you are likely already paging through the book since it was delivered already or is on it’s way to your doorstep or mailbox. But JUST IN CASE, if you haven’t ordered it yet, here’s a list of retailers for you:
Target (even my terrible influencer video did not deter them from supporting the book. Thanks, Target!)
Barnes & Noble (B&N has been super supportive of the book’s release and I cannot even believe it. Twenty-year-old Sarah who still lives within me - she who used to practically live at the Barnes and Noble at 41st in Tulsa - is pinching herself over this.)
McNally Robinson (my favourite independent bookstore in Canada, no contest. Saskatoon and Winnipeg, you are so lucky. They have been so supportive of this book - and of so many incredible Canadian authors!)
And that UK edition will release on 5 March 2024 and it is available through SPCK Publishing!
“Bessey encourages readers to cultivate hope, grapple with grief, and repent for mistakes made in the name of faith. . . . Readers will draw strength from these openhearted musings.”
—Publishers Weekly
Thank You
Saying “thank you” feels utterly inadequate but seriously and with all my sincere little heart: thank you. Thank you for your support and help and for believing in this book. And in me. Thank you for trusting me, I never ever take this for granted.
Faithfully stumbling forward with you,
S.
Website | Books | Field Notes | On Instagram | On Facebook | On Threads
In case you missed these recent Field Notes:
Answering your questions about writing, books, & publishing: An AMA for the writers and the writer-curious among us
Finally: Navigating Marriage + An Evolving Faith: Our Story & Our Practices (plus an audio version for paid subscribers)
Perhaps this is one secret of re-enchantment: Or, The Sacramental Masterpiece of Vacuuming
In case no one has told you this yet today: Eshet Chayil! Woman of Valor!
Thank you for continuing to show up with your beautiful words and wisdom.
<3
Happy Release Day! I’m listening on audible while I knit. I love that it’s your “mum” voice reading to me. And BTW, Sarah, I highly recommend that you knit for yourself what I’m knitting today: the Emotional Support Chicken. (Ravelry is your friend, I know!) And the symbolism of this hen, who longs to gather us under her wing, well….it just seems right. 💕