Conari Signs A Swimmer

Christine LeBlond, senior acquisitions editor at Red Wheel Weiser's Conari Press imprint, brokered a world rights deal with agent Jane Dystel of Dystel and Goderich for Sarah Seidelman's Swimming with Elephants. Seidelman, a shamanic healer and life coach who has previously written What the Walrus Knows and Born to Freak, is telling her life story in Swimming with Elephants. The book features Seidelman’s experiences as a mother and a physician, her abrupt career change, and a message that “it’s never too late to learn about helping others,” according to the publisher. Swimming with Elephants is slated to publish in fall 2017.

A Bob Dylan Scholar Lands at Eerdmans

In a world rights deal, Eerdmans senior acquisitions editor for trade books Lil Copan acquired The Abbott’s Record Player by Zondervan editor and Bob Dylan scholar Robert Hudson. The Abbott’s Record Player, which is slated to publish in spring 2018, is Hudson’s first book-length study of Dylan’s influence on the life and work of Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and spiritual writer. Hudson’s agent, Tim Beals of Credo Communications, brokered the deal.

Four Deals for FaithWords

Damian Chandler, senior pastor of Sacramento’s Capitol City Seventh-day Adventist Church, recently sold his book The Crooked Christmas Tree to Adrienne Ingrum, editor at FaithWords. Written for readers of all ages, the book explores joy and the meaning of Christmas through a family whose Christmas tree is far from perfect. Chandler was represented by literary agent Steve Laube, and The Crooked Christmas Tree is expected to publish in October 2017.

Rabbi Evan Moffic, the author of What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Jewishness of Jesus published by Abingdon, is moving over to FaithWords with The Other Ten Commandments. Carol Mann of the Carol Mann Agency brokered the world rights deal with editor Adrianne Ingrum, and the book examines the ten action items found in the Talmud— the Jewish book of wisdom. The Other Ten Commandments is scheduled to publish in August 2017.

In another world rights deal brokered by Carol Mann, FaithWords’ Adrianne Ingrum acquired Behind the Line of Scrimmage by Michael Huyghue, former NFL executive and former commissioner for the short-lived United Football League. The book, which will be released in May 2018, highlights Huyghue’s experience as a black man vying for success in the professional football industry.

FaithWords will publish cultural anthropologist Adrienne Lotson’s Go Into All the World: 340 Sites to Meet Jesus on this Side of Heaven in May 2015. Adrienne Ingrum acquired the book, which serves as a travel guide to Christian sites on six continents, from the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand to the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York.

Whitaker Buys A Cult Kidnapping Victim’s Debut

In a world rights deal, Whitaker House’s Christine Whitaker acquired Kidnapped by a Cult: A Pastor’s Stand Against a Murderous Sect by Pastor Shen Xiaoming, a founder of the China Gospel Fellowship— one of China’s largest underground Christian churches. In 2002, Xiaoming was kidnapped by the Eastern Lightning cult, which believes Christ returned in 1992 as a female Chinese leader. The book details the two months of torture Xiaoming endured as cult members attempted to convert him, and offers insight into the mindset of the cult. Kidnapped by a Cult was written with Eugene Bach and is expected to publish in March 2017.

Writing for the Wounded Lands at Whitaker House

Don Milam at Whitaker House took world rights to Wounded in the Church by pastors Ray Beeson and Chris Hayward. Addressing the issue of Christians who have been hurt by the church, the authors examine the impact that rejection, shame, and fear have on many who leave their local churches, as well as those who remain, according to the publisher. The title is expected to go on sale in March 2017.