Advice on Struggle and Resilience
Broadleaf Books acquisitions editor Valerie Weaver-Zercher purchased world rights to Bend without Breaking: Seven Steps for Thriving through the Struggle by Rev. Dr. Michael W. Waters, a professor, activist, social commentator, and founder of Abundant Life A.M.E. Church in Dallas. The book grows out of advice that Birmingham civil rights leader Bishop Calvin Woods, Sr., gave when asked how he continued going on despite beatings, arrests, and an assassination attempt. The author, who represented himself, provides a blueprint for thriving amid struggle and avoiding burnout in the work of justice. Publication is planned for fall 2025.
Puerto Rican Muslims' Experiences Explored
University of Texas Press senior acquisitions editor Kerry Webb has taken world rights for religion scholar and journalist Ken Chitwood’s AmeRícan Muslims: Everyday Cosmopolitanism among Puerto Rican Converts to Islam. He explores the experiences of what it means to be Puerto Ricans among Muslims, Muslim among Puerto Ricans, and both Puerto Rican and Muslim in America. The author, a senior research fellow at the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, represented himself for the book, to be released in 2024.
A 'Bible Binge' Podcaster Signs with Baker Books
Stephanie Duncan Smith, senior editor with Baker Books, has signed a two-book, world-rights deal, via Jonathan Merritt of the Christopher Ferebee Agency, with Erin Moon, creator of the Substack newsletters The Swipe Up and Bible Scholar Ion The Bible Binge podcast. The first book, tentatively titled I Have Questions, will release in early 2025 and focus on the divergence between God as he says he is in the Bible and cultural Christianity. The second book’s release date and title are undecided.
A Black Girl View on Theology to Brazos
Katelyn Beaty, editorial director of Brazos Press, has acquired world rights to speaker, youth advocate and Baptist minister Khristi Lauren Adams’s (Parable of the Brown Girl) autoethnography Womanish: Theology from Black Girlhood, which introduces a branch of theological thought centered on the perspectives and experiences of young Black girls. Jevon Bolden of Embolden Media Group negotiated the deal, with the book set to be released in summer 2024.
Beaming Focuses on God in Nature Picture Book
Senior acquisitions editor Naomi Krueger at Beaming Books has acquired world rights to If God Were A Great Big Bear by Paul Harbridge (Out Into the Big Wide Lake), to be illustrated by Marta Dorado. The picture book for ages 4-8 is a meditation on the nature of God in the world—from bears to wiggly worms to whales. Publication is slated for spring 2025. Amy Tompkins at the Transatlantic Agency represented the author and Tina Doffing at Astound represented the illustrator.
Holistic Healing to IVP
Nilwona Nowlin, an associate editor at IVP, worked with Jevon Bolden of Embolden Media Group to negotiate a world rights deal for holistic nurse educator Tracie Braylock’s tentatively titled Radical Relaxation, projected to release in spring 2025. Braylock, founder of This Holistic Life blog and website, brings a spiritual perspective to her guide for dealing with stress and finding healing.
Zondervan Title Finds a Gift in Rejection
Tom Dean of A Drop of Ink Literary has negotiated a world rights deal with Carolyn McCready, executive editor at Zondervan Books, for two books by speaker, business executive and entrepreneur Nona Jones (Killing Comparison). The first, tentatively titled The Gift of Rejection and to be published in September 2024, looks at the transformative power of being overlooked and unwanted, teaching readers to harness resilience and unlock untapped potential. No details are available of the second title.
