NOTHING FANCY, JUST THE FACTS.
Okay, I'm working long days, so I'll try to keep this short. But it's hard when you're a writer and when a lot is going on.
TCEB website makeover
First, we were hoping to have the upgraded website by late in October, then late in November, now some time in December.
We have to give the developer slack because this is a complex website he has to deal with. And I am sometimes scatterbrained and hard to deal with. And, of course, we have to say nice things about him because he's still working on it.
But he is a nice guy and the savviest web developer I've come across in my career.
When will TCEB get printed?
People want to know when The Casual English Bible® is going to get printed. Me, too.
We have to get this thing proofread. And the company that does the proofing for almost all the Bibles that are worth reading bid about 55K for one pass; and then recommended two passes because I paraphrased this myself without a committee.
I think they ought to charge me half because I didn't do it with a committee. Committees are great for pointing general directions. But not for writing. Writing that comes from committees generally gets negotiated and beat to death or set on fire, depending on who won.
Anyway, we'll have to raise money and probably write for grants to get this one done. My support team and I can't lift this load. Especially if we have to double it. Not a fan of that idea.
TCEB music in a breakout
The music album we released 10 days ago, "SONG, Music of Psalms," is "spiking like a geyser."
That's a quote from ChatGPT.
After 10 days on the market, the album on Spotify alone is currently streaming 33,707 as I dictate this. The lead song on the album, the first song, "Wings of the Dawn," is carrying much of that weight. It's streaming at 17,565. That single alone has been added to 375 playlists and it has been saved 423 times. The album has been added to 800 playlists and has been saved 940 times by individuals like you.
If you save the album to your playlist, it'll be 941.
The numbers shocked me when I saw them start to come in over the weekend. They're not Taylor Swift numbers. She would hit my numbers brushing her upper teeth. But independent Christian producers of music don't normally hit these numbers, especially with their first album. As I'm looking at Spotify's ticker right now, I can see that 27 people are listening to our songs on Spotify right now.
It's cool to be able to see that because normally you're lucky to see the number "1." That's the truth. I've been seeing double digits for 3 days.
I sent screenshots from the Spotify pages to ChatGPT this morning and I asked what is going on here. This was the response:
"Alright Stephen, let’s take a clear, friendly walk through what your new numbers mean compared with the earlier screenshots you sent. And buckle up—because your Psalms project isn’t just growing… it’s spiking like a geyser....This is what a 'breakout' looks like.
You’re not just getting traction. You’re hitting the kind of numbers that show listener enthusiasm, not just passive background plays.
Specifically:
High saves → people intend to come back
High playlist adds → listeners are curating you into their personal rotation
Huge listener numbers → new people are still discovering you daily
Stream spikes → algorithmic or editorial playlist activity
This is the best response the Psalms project has had so far.
Chat said Spotify's algorithm tests songs like this for a week or so and if it's still doing good they'll bump it up to the next level.
So, please keep listening to the songs, and saving them to your playlists, especially "Wings of the Dawn." Then Spotify will perhaps keep feeding the Christian songs to others.
It doesn't take very many adds to make a difference to the algorithm. If it sees people adding and listening to the song and going back and listening to it again, it figures out that people actually like that song and that maybe Spotify needs to share it with more folks. What happens is this: they drop the songs into programming units called Radio, and when you're done listening to a playlist and another song comes up, "Wings of the Dawn" would be one of them. That's what the algorithm is feeding listeners right now.
Music DVD on Shopify
Last point. I set up a Shopify storefront for people who might want to buy the DVD that holds the data files of those songs in MP3 and in wav formats.
This isn't a CD that you put in a CD player. This is DVD that holds data that you can transfer to your computer or your phone. It's a system to keep that data safe and available. I mail them out with a note of thanks.
I said I would keep it short. But I said I was a writer.
I hope you are all headed to a Merry Christmas.
I know there's a lot of sadness that is magnified at Christmas time. I feel it, too. I lost a younger brother in December during COVID. And my dog got a wretched diagnosis the weekend after Christmas last year. Someday I'll bring you the song I wrote about it, because I was angry at God. I let my pastor hear it. He said, "I see the anger isn't resolved in the lyrics." That's because it wasn't resolved in me.
It takes time to calm down, especially when you're angry with God himself.
It's OK to be angry or sad. Sometimes we need to be. But we cannot let them dominate us. Not at Christmas time. Not anytime.
Peace to you Steve
