-
In Digital Christian Fiction, Pluses and Perils
As publishers find their way through the digital wilderness, one sector is leading the rest toward a land where revenue from e-books might someday flow like milk and honey: Christian fiction.
-
Editor’s Note
Despite recent rumblings that e-book sales might be leveling off, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of that with Christian fiction, where sales in digital formats continue to soar. As our correspondent Jeff MacDonald has discovered, “from the Q4 2010 through Q3 2011, e-books made up 30 percent of all Christian fiction titles sold, according to Bowker Market Research. That marks a six-fold increase from the prior year and dwarfs results from all other segments,” including general fiction. You can read Jeff’s findings in the February 13 Religion Update print supplement to Publishers Weekly, along with articles on genre trends, how fiction publishers are using social media for promotion, and a wealth of reviews and author profiles. Christian fiction continues to be a very bright spot for those who publish it, and PW covers it.
-
Short Takes
Baker wins two Christianity Today awards; Rachel Gardner goes to Books & Such; Religion News Service launches a book blog; Thomas Nelson titles selected by Leadership Journal, and Nelson holds 11 NYT bestseller spots; Grupo Nelson spearheads a book drive to combat illiteracy; First Freedom Center honors the Vicar of Baghdad; Nautilus Awards extend submission deadline; B&H hires Dawn Woods; Moody launches the Love Language Challenge; Charisma House title debuts on the Times list.
-
Rabbi’s Book About Jesus Stirs Controversy
To many Jews, there’s nothing kosher about Jesus, so a book linking the two was bound to provoke. And it has--stoking passionate cries of heresy within the Chabad-Lubavitch sect and online. Kosher Jesus, by celebrity rabbi Shmuley Boteach (Q&A in this issue), builds on existing scholarship to suggest Jesus lived the life of a devoted Jew. His rebellion was not against Jewish law, but mostly against Roman brutality, Boteach writes. Advance copies of the book have occasioned vitriolic responses from at least two Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis who attacked it earlier this month.
-
February 2012 Christian Bestsellers: Adult, Children’s, Bibles
Osteen’s newest is back in the top ten; Lucado returns to the adult hardcover list; Graham and Tebow hold steady at #3 and #5; an uptick for The Resolution; lots of Bailey Flanigan; two of Barbour’s activity books make the kid’s list, along with Bibles for princesses and surfers; an ESV and an NTL leaven the NIV’s dominance in adult Bibles.
-
Religion in Review
An author argues the Christian church is in a Fourth Great Awakening; a neurosurgeon writes about how politics and his own life intersect; a Tibetan Buddhist teacher encourages spiritual growth; a timely introduction to Mormonism; a priest-philosopher explores human origins; thoughts on temptation in stories from the Bible; following the Amish way; John Ramsey on suffering and grief; are children Born Believers?; a Christian economist on balancing the budget; an atheist finds religion useful; and for children: books on world religions, Judaism and Islam, and prayers; plus a Web Exclusive review.
-
It Is Written: News in Bibles and Sacred Texts
Thomas Nelson publishes two new children’s Bibles, one for boys and another for girls, using the International Children’s Bible translation; Counterpoint’s Dogen’s Genjo Koan: Three Commentaries, contains three separate translations and commentaries on the first chapter of The Shobogenzo by Eihei Dogen Zenji, considered the founder of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism; DK Publishing throws the book at biblical illiteracy with The Illustrated Bible Story by Story , retelling key stories, adding maps, notes, and full-color photographs; Zondervan partners with Glo Bible and producer Mark Burnett and his wife Roma Downey (Touched by An Angel) to create interactive Bible app; the Common English Bible translation is adopted on multiple Web sites.
-
Robin Roberts: Celebrating a Remarkable Mother
Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts always knew she had a remarkable mother--what she didn’t know was how much more there was to learn from her. My Story, My Song: Mother-Daughter Reflections on Life and Faith by Lucimarian Roberts as told to Missy Buchanan, with reflections from Robin Roberts (Upper Room, April) is a memoir that is a tribute to hope, grace under fire, and the power of faith. The book follows the challenges and triumphs of Lucimarian Tolliver Roberts, whose grandfather was a sharecropper, and her late husband Lawrence, a Tuskegee Airman. Born in 1924, she experienced the seismic shifts of the past century including the Great Depression, World War II, segregation, and the civil rights movement.
-
Jen Hatmaker: Better Living with Less
When Jen Hatmaker started writing her latest book, she had 327 pieces of clothing in her closet, and more in drawers. By the time she completed 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess (B&H, Jan.), Hatmaker, an author (Interrupted), speaker, and mother of five, had eliminated more than two-thirds of her wardrobe. And she didn’t miss a single item. The purge was part of a one-month project of eliminating excess from each of seven areas in her life: food, clothes, spending, media, possessions, waste, and stress.
-
Shmuley Boteach: Was Jesus Kosher?
RBL catches up with bestselling author Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (Kosher Sex) as he releases the newest installment in his Kosher series: Kosher Jesus. The noted lecturer and TV and radio host tells why this controversial new book that reevaluates the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth will promote religious goodwill even as it has stimulated intense debate across religious lines.
-
Books for Lent Encourage Reflection
For many Christians, Lent is a time for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For religion publishers, it’s a time to release new titles aimed at helping the spiritually minded gain a new perspective on the liturgical season. Five new books—from Catholic, Episcopal, mainline Protestant, and general trade publishers—help readers to reflect on the meaning of this solemn season and prepare for the joy of Easter.
-
Editor’s Note
On the cusp of 2012, a primary preoccupation in the book business continues to be the impact of e-books. After the AAP earlier this month reported more skyrocketing sales, predictions abound and questions remain about what this will mean for publishers and booksellers alike. Now Christian retailers are offering e-books on their Web sites, but the fact that these stores carry such a wide range of products—not only books, but also gifts, décor, apparel, and other “lifestyle” items—may make the effect of e-book sales less significant than for other booksellers. There’s plenty of room for speculation and less for solid projections. For now and the foreseeable future, the digital frontier remains the wild, wild West.
-
Tebow Book Sales Drive Toward the End Zone
Sales of Through My Eyes (HarperOne, June), the Christian life story of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, have been climbing rapidly since evangelicalism’s poster boy won the starting job in October. As of Sunday (Dec. 18), Through My Eyes had tallied 220,000 print book sales, making it HarperOne’s biggest book of 2011. That’s saying something. HarperOne made a splash in February with Rob Bell’s Love Wins, which to date has sold an impressive 210,000 hardcovers. But Tebow is known for fourth-quarter heroics, and apparently Q4 2011 is no exception.
-
January 2012 Christian Bestsellers: Adult, Children's, Bibles
Tim Tebow moves up the hardcover list, and Idleman overtakes Osteen; The 5 Love Languages returns to the paperback top ten; Bishop Tutu’s storybook Bible for kids debuts at #3; the Bible list is all about the NIV.
-
James Dobson Ventures into Fiction
FaithWords has signed a deal with Dr. James Dobson for a fiction trilogy (to be coauthored with Kurt Bruner). Dobson (Dare to Discipline, Love Must Be Tough) is the founder and chairman emeritus of Focus on the Family. This will be Dobson’s first foray into fiction, and the novels will treat some of the same themes as his nonfiction titles, but in a dystopian future world.
-
It is Written: News in Bibles & Sacred Texts
Bible translations were so often in the news in 2011 that they landed a berth on the Religion Newswriters Association annual Top Ten religion news stories of the year. Members of the group, journalists who cover religion in secular media, ranked as number ten coverage throughout the year of the 400th anniversary of the King James translation; the update of the widely used New International Version translation; and the completion of the new Common English Bible translation from a consortium of mainline Protestant denominational publishing houses.
-
Short Takes
Episcopal Booksellers move their annual meeting; Worthy author will ride in the Rose Bowl Parade; Kingstone, B&H, and Thomas Nelson release new apps; books from White Cloud and Orbis called among the year’s best by HuffPo; Abingdon novel gets the nod from Booklist; Zondervan title recognized by Library Journal; Howard author named Beliefnet’s “Most Inspiring Person”; Signature launches digital products for 300 retailers; Patheos Press debuts; CBA holds training event at Atlanta gift show; Christian book covers win design awards; media attention for PBS series and companion book on Catholicism.
-
Religion in Review
The tale of a reluctant pope; practicing Buddhism at work; a new translation of the scholarship of Ghazali; the power of the Bible’s great metaphors; counseling patience for peace; a Kosher Jesus?; mapping the “1,000 days” of Jesus’ ministry; a fresh scholarly look at the Book of Revelation; the truth about Gandhi’s assassination; Jesus as a subversive.
-
Mark and Grace Driscoll: Telling the Truth about Marriage
Mark Driscoll, high-profile pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, is known for his honest, often-acerbic speaking style. Even so, for Driscoll and his wife, Grace, to lay out their sexual history in a book for the world to see is risky at best, and potentially lethal to a ministry career at worst. Still, the Driscolls felt they had little choice but to address the topic head on in their new book, Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship, and Life Together (Thomas Nelson, Jan.).
-
Lauren Winner: Exploring the Spiritual Middle
Lauren Winner (Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath), assistant professor of Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity School and former book editor for Beliefnet.com, has just published Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis (HarperOne, Jan.). The book explores a passage in her faith journey that caught her by surprise, a stage during which God seemed to be hiding. She spoke to RBL from her home in Durham, N.C.
Browse archive by date:
