From Bible Major to Children's Book Publisher: How Clay Anderson Let God Guide the Ship

The Book He Never Meant to Sell

Clay Anderson didn't set out to build a publishing company. He set out to write a book for his daughter.

It was a simple idea — a children's book, something personal, a gift from a dad who loved reading to his kids. No business plan. No revenue projections. Just a father, a story, and a love for the craft. "It was just going to be a hobby," Clay says. "I had no dream of making it a vocation at all."

That first book led to a second. The second one sold 150,000 copies.

And then, just over a year ago, the company he had given 27 years of his career to — Christianity Today, where he had risen to Vice President of Technology — eliminated his position in a round of cuts. In an instant, the hobby he had been quietly nurturing on the side became the only path forward.

What looked like a crisis turned out to be the answer to a prayer Clay had been too cautious to fully commit to. "I kind of wish I had done it sooner," he says now, "although I feel like God's timing was what it needed to be."

A Career Built on Purpose, Not Just a Paycheck

Clay's professional journey doesn't follow a straight line — but in hindsight, every turn was preparation. He started college as a Bible major with plans for youth ministry. Financial pressure pushed him toward a full-time job. A knack for technology landed him at Christianity Today in 1998, just as the internet was becoming something more than a curiosity.

Over the next 27 years, he built his way from a fledgling web team to the VP of Technology seat. But what kept him there wasn't ambition alone. It was meaning.

"It was very important to me that I did IT work in service of a larger purpose. I wanted to do it for a higher purpose — not simply because there are easier ways to make money."

That conviction didn't leave when his badge was deactivated. It followed him directly into Swing High, the boutique children's picture book publishing company he now runs full time. Today, Swing High publishes both faith-based and general market titles, with a tagline that carries a double meaning: Stories for Life. Books that are full of life — and books meant to last a lifetime.

Integrity Isn't a Strategy — It's a Standard

Running a publishing business means working with a web of collaborators: authors, illustrators, distributors, printers. Clay's printer is in China. His distributor is in Nashville. His illustrators have been based in Dubai, Brazil, and most recently Indianapolis — a former pastor who had just returned from Scotland and showed up in Clay's Facebook community at exactly the right moment.

In each of these relationships, Clay operates from a simple conviction: treat people the way you want to be treated. Pay them well. Pay on time. Get to know them as human beings, not just vendors.

"I don't want to take advantage of anyone. The people I'm working with are helping me grow my business. I want to make sure I'm doing my part — not cutting them short, not trying to get a fast deal, but paying them well and involving them in the process as much as I can."

He applies the same standard to the books themselves. In an industry where some authors game Amazon keywords, cut corners, or feed prompts into AI to generate manuscripts and illustrations, Clay draws a clear line. He uses AI for data analysis and business management — but not for creating the actual product. "This is a creative pursuit," he says. "I want to make the very best products I can for our readers. There has to be integrity in that."

The goal isn't throwaway media. It's the kind of book a parent reads to a child tonight and hands down to a grandchild someday.

When God Rips the Band-Aid Off

The layoff from Christianity Today was unexpected. But Clay says the timing, in retrospect, was unmistakably providential. His book sales had doubled in the year prior, reaching a level that could support his family. Four kids at home — the youngest heading into sixth grade, the oldest starting college — made the leap feel terrifying. But the runway was there.

More than that, he believes God kept him at CT through two difficult transitional years for a reason: the company was moving buildings, migrating its website, restructuring. His expertise was needed. When that season ended, so did his role.

"Sometimes you need God to rip the band-aid off because the change is so risky that we resist it. But sometimes it is absolutely for the best."

What has followed is a string of connections that Clay describes with genuine wonder. An illustrator in Dubai turned out to be a strong believer. A young illustrator in Brazil: same story. The former pastor from Scotland who appeared in his Facebook group just as Clay needed someone new. "It wasn't me going out and finding these connections," he says. "So many of them just came to me. I almost feel like I'm just riding the waves and letting God guide the ship."

Giving Back What Was Given to You

Clay hasn't forgotten what it felt like to be on the other side of the learning curve. When he was starting out in 2018, a community of independent authors on Facebook gave him the knowledge and encouragement he needed to take his first steps. Now, he and a fellow author run a group called Swing Higher — roughly 7,000 aspiring children's book authors who are trying to figure out what Clay once had to figure out himself.

"It's a way to share all of the hard-earned wisdom we've come across and feed it back into people who are just getting started," he says. "Rising tide floats all ships."

He also remains deeply invested in the youth ministry at his church — the same kind of work he originally trained for — now serving as a volunteer alongside his own kids.

And he recently experienced what he describes as one of the most powerful creative moments of his career: collaborating with an author and illustrator on a gospel allegory called The Way Home that moved all three of them to tears during the process.

"It became so much more than the sum of the parts," Clay says. "It was almost wondrous to experience, like God brought the three of us together to craft something none of us could have made alone."

Practical Wisdom for the Faithful Business Owner

For other entrepreneurs trying to integrate faith and work, Clay offers three concrete anchors drawn from his own story:

Trust God's timing, even when it's forced on you. The leap you've been delaying may be exactly what God has already prepared you for. The question isn't whether you're ready; it's whether you're willing.

Find your sweet spot and work it with excellence. For Clay, that meant combining his IT background, writing ability, design skills, and love of story into something that uses every gift he has. "When you can use all of the gifts God has given you to make something you really believe in — that's the sweet spot," he says.

Surround yourself with people who are stronger where you are weak. Clay hired a social media assistant, a woman connected to his church community, who took on what he couldn't do well, freeing him to focus on what he does best. "Good people around you isn't optional," he says. "It's critical."

"Be anxious about nothing, and instead pray about everything. Now that I look back, I can see his hand was in this all along. I just needed to let go a little and let him guide."

That's not a passive posture. It's the hard-won confidence of a man who spent decades doing faithful work in relative obscurity, then watched God use every single year of it. The ship didn't drift. It was being steered the whole time.