My best Christmas Gift? Well, the iGuy case to protect my oh-fish-ul U2 Special Edition iPod was pretty cool.

But it was still a distant second compared to the package I received from Bethany House Publishers. On Christmas morn, my lovely wife opened our front door to retrieve the newspaper. "Hey," she said, "there's a package from Bethany House out here." A package from my publisher? On Christmas Day? (Okay, so it had obviously had been delivered the day before, but I didn't see the thing until Christmas Day.)

I sat down with the padded envelope and tore it open. Inside, I found a handsome black binder with a hauntingly-familiar book cover in the front display pocket. Inside, a letter from my editor introduced my to my very own author binder for "Waking Lazarus," complete with sections for Editorial, Marketing, Publicity, Sales, and Ads & Reviews. Added bonus: some "Local Author" shelf-talkers for me to cart around to a few local bookstores.

Hey, this is cool, I thought. I sat down and read the outline of the marketing plan, then flipped to the publicity section and found a helpful "Author Timeline" and "Publicity FAQ." Hey, this is cool, I again said to myself. I'm glad publishers do this kind of thing.

I e-mailed a friend who has been published my a major New York publishing house, and mentioned I'd received the author binder. She emailed back, asking about the binder. Then it struck me: the binder isn't SOP in the world of publishing; it's something Bethany House does for its own authors.

Once again, I'm reminded why I signed a contract with these fine folks.