If the 1967 self-help classic I’m OK, You’re OK were being published today, the title might have a third phrase added to it: I’m OK, You’re OK, but the Economy Is Not. The recession is having a strong impact on the self-help category these days, say publishers, but not necessarily in the ways one might assume.

The economy has forced changes everywhere,” says Nancy Fish, marketing and publicity manager of Cleis Press and Viva Editions. “Whereas people used to look inward for self-improvement, they’re now forced by circumstances to focus more on how to stay positive and make do with much less.” This shift is providing support for titles such as Billee Sharp’s Lemons and Lavender: The Eco Guide to Better Homekeeping (Viva, Mar.) The author was laid off from a corporate job and began to work toward self-sufficiency for economic reasons. “Self-help readers now prefer specific tools and take-aways from books,” Fish adds.

Yet the economic downturn is not stopping consumers from buying self-help books, reports Tarcher editor-in-chief Mitch Horowitz. The press has printed more than 50,000 copies of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich deluxe edition, a boxed set of book, workbook, and journal, out this month.

Books on dealing with the recession can be real money-makers. William Shinker, president and publisher of Gotham and Avery, reports that Avery had its first New York Times #1 bestseller with Clark Howard’s Living Large in Lean Times: 250+ Ways to Buy Smarter, Spend Smarter, and Save Money (Aug.). Reader’s Digest editor-in-chief Peggy Northrop and the magazine’s staff give practical self-help advice for the downturn in Easy Ways to Live Well and Still Save (Reader’s Digest, Mar.), and Skyhorse will have Vicky Oliver’s The Millionaire’s Handbook: How to Look and Act Like a Millionaire, Even If You’re Not (Nov.).

Defying Definition

The self-help category is tough to pin down, encompassing everything from decluttering and organizing (The Hoarder in You [Rodale, Nov.] by Robin Zasio, a doctor who frequently appears on the A&E show Hoarders, and The 8-Minute Organizer [Da Capo, May]by Regina Leeds) to dealing with anxiety (Freeing Yourself from Anxiety [Da Capo, Jan.] by cognitive behavior therapy expert Tamar Chansky and Saved By Hope: Thirty True Things About Fear and Courage [Da Capo, May] by psychiatrist Gordon Livingston) and choosing a course for therapy, Your Emotional Type: Key to the Therapies That Will Work for You (Inner Traditions, Nov.) by Michael A. Jawer and Marc S. Micozzi.

According to Wiley’s executive editor of general interest books, Thomas W. Miller, “There is no such thing as pure self-help anymore. Self-help is merging with other categories, including humor, health, psychology, spirituality, recovery, and business.” He points to such titles as the advice book Whateverland: Learning to Live Here (Nov.) by Alexis Stewart (daughter of Martha Stewart) and Jennifer Hutt, blending humor with self-help, and 10 Conversations You Need to Have with Yourself: A Powerful Plan for Spiritual Growth and Self-Improvement (Oct.) by well-known rabbi Shmuley Boteach as examples.

The broad range of forthcoming titles includes Jessica Cassity’s Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You (Chronicle, Aug.); Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected (William Morrow, Apr. 2012) by Kelle Hampton, author of the popular Enjoying the Small Things blog (www.kellehampton.com); and Situations Matter: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World by Sam Sommers (Riverhead, Jan.). Free Press will publish in December Finding Your Way in a Wild New World: Reclaiming Your True Nature to Create the Life You Want by Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live (Crown, 2001). In March, St. Martin’s will publish The Rules of Influence: Winning When You’re in the Minority by William Crano on the science of persuasion.

With the range so wide, Bill Wolfsthal, associate publisher of Skyhorse, finds that keeping the books themselves narrowly focused is important. Two forthcoming Skyhorse titles fit that bill: Unhooked: How to Quit Anything by psychologist Frederick Woolverton and sassy memoirist Susan Shapiro (Jan.) and in October Above All Else: A World Champion Skydiver’s Story of Survival and What It Taught Him About Fear, Adversity, and Success by Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, who survived a plane crash.

Georgia Hughes, editorial director of New World Library, agrees that simplicity and focus are in vogue. “Readers want things to be less complicated, simpler,” she says. Thomas M. Sterner’s The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline, due from New World in April, was initially self-published in 2006 and sold 15,000 copies through Amazon and the author’s workshops. It leads readers through the 10,000 hours of practice that are said to be required in order to become proficient at any skill. More tips for achieving focus are provided in Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Mark Williams and Danny Penman (Rodale, Oct.)

Growing Old Gracefully

The range of subjects may be wide and sometimes ephemeral, but there are self-help subjects that are perennially popular. One such perennial comprises books on fighting the effects of aging. Workman editor-in-chief Susan Bolotin says, “To stand out in the self-help pack, a book has to be about something readers are desperate to know more about. What baby boomer doesn’t worry that today’s memory lapse is tomorrow’s dementia?” That interest in Alzheimer’s has drawn bookseller and media attention to Workman’s The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program by Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan (Jan.).

“The aging paradigm has shifted: ‘Cresting the hill’ no longer means being ‘over the hill,’ ” says Bethany House publicity director Brett Benson. In March, Bethany House will publish What’s Next?: Navigating Transitions to Make the Rest of Your Life Count by Christian counselor H. Norman Wright.

In February, Crown Archetype will publish Use Your Brain to Change Your Age: Secrets to Look, Feel, and Think Younger Every Day by Daniel G. Amen. Author of 26 books, Amen is currently partnering with Rick Warren to improve brain health at Warren’s Saddleback Church. In a similar vein, January will see from New World Library Brain Power: Improve Your Mind as You Age by Michael J. Gelb and Kelly Howell, a paperback with a 25,000-copy first printing and $25,000 marketing campaign. Senior editor Jason Gardner says the title “distills the latest scientific research on the brain and its neuroplasticity into an easy-to-understand guide to making simple lifestyle changes.”

As proof that with age comes wisdom, this week Atria publishes Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self by Joseph Galliano. The $20 hardcover collects letters from such celebrities as J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, and Hugh Jackman.

First Comes Love

Dating and relationships are another of the perennially popular subjects for self-help books, and this season offers a large crop. Upcoming titles include the paperback reprint Love for No Reason: 7 Steps to Creating a Life of Unconditional Love by Marci Shimoff (Free Press, Dec.) and Wabi Sabi Love by Arielle Ford (HarperOne, Jan.), about learning to appreciate a partner’s imperfections. HarperOne publisher Mark Tauber notes that self-help titles that double as books on relationships or spirituality are making strong showings these days.

“The relationship category is still an evergreen one, as long as you have a new and fresh angle. Science-based advice, in particular, seems to be working quite well,” says Tarcher executive editor Sara Carder. She points to a forthcoming Tarcher title: Attached (reprinting in paperback in January), in which psychiatrist and neuroscientist Amir Levine and psychologist Rachel S.F. Heller use studies in the field of adult attachment to explain how to create sustainable love.

In December, Three Rivers Press will publish The Breakup Bible: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Healing from a Breakup or Divorce by Rachel A. Sussman, and in January Gotham will offer Marriage Rules: A Manual for the Married and the Coupled Up by Harriet Lerner. In April, St. Martin’s Press/Griffin will publish Naked Dating: Five Steps to Finding the Love of Your Life by Harlan Cohen, author of The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run into in College (Sourcebooks, 2005). And in Worth Fighting For (Atria, Jan.), Lisa Niemi Swayze, the widow of the late actor Patrick Swayze, reminisces about the couple’s final months together and describes her journey through grief.

“Jake,” who has proffered dating advice in Glamour magazine since 1956 (different anonymous men have penned the column over the years), is the author of Always Hit on the Wingman (Hyperion, Jan.). The hardcover has an announced first printing of 50,000 copies. Updated Classics

While such subcategories as relationships and aging are holding steady, the world outside of the self-help category is changing rapidly, rendering some classic titles partially obsolete. In response to the brave new world of social networking and other modern inventions, several self-help publishers are updating the classics. Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold more than 30 million copies in the 75 years since its initial publication. Though Carnegie himself died in 1955, Dale Carnegie and Associates, which organizes leadership and public speaking seminars, lives on. Earlier this month, Simon & Schuster published its How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age, which offers advice on using Carnegie’s methods over e-mail and other digital pathways rather than in person. Next month, S&S will publish Social Q’s: How to Survive the Quirks, Quandaries, and Quagmires of Today by Philip Galanes, who answers questions in an etiquette column of the same name in the Sunday Styles section of the New York Times.

In March 2012, HCI will publish an updated 10th anniversary edition of The Power of Focus by Les Hewitt with Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. And in April, Hyperion will publish 150,000 copies of the paperback original Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms by Kristine Carlson. It will be the first new addition to the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series in nine years and will have a more modern look. “The series, launched with the megabestseller Don’t Sweat

the Small Stuff... and It’s All Small Stuff by Richard Carlson in 1997, has proven to be an enduring success in the self-help category throughout the years,” says Hyperion associate publisher Kristin Kiser, “with almost 10 million copies in print in the U.S. alone—and 25 million in print internationally. Kris Carlson, who is Richard Carlson’s widow and the author of a number of titles in the series, offers valuable advice and inspiration for how moms can create a nurturing environment in which their families can thrive, without burning out in the process.”

Self-Help = Health-Help

“Consumers want to take control of their health and well-being,” says Little, Brown executive editor Tracy Behar. “This isn’t a new trend, but there is more science underlying books in the self-help category.” Behar points to Mark Hyman’s The Blood Sugar Solution: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Feeling Great Now! (Feb.) as one such self-help/health category straddler.

Shannon Welch, executive editor and editorial director of Runner’s World and Bicycling branded books from Rodale, says, “Living your best life requires integrating knowledge from different, traditionally disparate fields of psychology, fitness, nutrition, etc. In a traditional paradigm, we might have taken an author like fitness superstar Chalene Johnson (who has sold millions of workout DVDs) and said her first book must be strictly fitness. But Johnson’s point-of-view (and ours) is that fitness is just one part of overall health and wellness, so her book PUSH: 30 Days to Turbocharged Habits, a Bangin’ Body, and the Life You Deserve [Dec.] integrates more traditional self-help principles with fitness and diet advice.”

Square One president Rudy Shur says, “Self-help can, and should, extend into other subject-area categories like health, weight loss, and even childbirth and parenting.” Upcoming crossover titles from Square One include Your Blood Never Lies: How to Read a Blood Test for a Longer, Healthier Life by James B. LaValle (Feb. 2012) and Beyond the Magic Bullet—the Anti-Cancer Cocktail: A New Approach to Beating Cancer by Raymond Chang (Mar. 2012).

In January, St. Martin’s/Griffin will publish You Can Heal Yourself by Julie Silver as part of the Harvard Health Publications series. Associate editor Meredith Mennitt reports, “Many people, after receiving immediate treatment for life-threatening illness, are discharged and left to their own devices to ‘finish’ healing. This is a significant hole in our medical system...; a book like this one that bridges the categories of health and self-help.”

New Harbinger acquisitions editor Melissa Kirk says, “Brain science titles appeal to readers because they let us know that we can positively affect our own lives by learning to use our own brain chemistry.” New Harbinger acquisitions editor Jess O’Brien agrees, adding, “Reader response has been very encouraging for books drawing on discoveries in neurology and brain science, as well as those based on the wisdom and traditions of Buddhism and mindfulness.” New Harbinger combined those two topics in Rick Hanson’s 2009 title, Buddha’s Brain (“one of our bestsellers ever,” according to Kirk) and will do so again with the author’s Just One Thing, out this month.

More brain science is featured in Getting Past Your Past: Why We Are Who We Are and What to Do About It with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy by Francine Shapiro (Rodale, Feb.) and The Secret Vigor: How to Overcome Burnout, Restore Metabolic Balance, and Reclaim Your Natural Energy by Shawn M. Talbot (Hunter House, Nov.).

Finally, health issues can serve as a form of inspiration. In October, HCI will publish Dying to Do Letterman: Turning Someday into Today by comedian Steve Mazan. When Mazan was diagnosed with incurable liver cancer and learned he might live only another five years, he raced against time to fulfill his childhood dream of appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman. He builds on that experience, in his book and documentary film, to urge readers to reach for their dreams as if they, too, had a limited number of days left.

If You're Happy and You Know It, Read A Book

Achieving greater happiness is a longtime subject for self-help books like alternative health guru Andrew Weil’s November Little, Brown hardcover, Spontaneous Happiness. And books on happiness are common for good reason—who wouldn’t want to be happier?

Harlequin is launching an entire four-book series on happiness in December. Author and life coach Sophie Keller offers 50 suggestions for achieving happiness in four different areas in How Happy Is Your Marriage?: 50 Great Tips to Make Your Relationship Last Forever; How Happy Is Your Love Life?: 50 Great Tips to Help You Attract and Keep Your Perfect Partner; How Happy Is Your Home?: 50 Great Tips to Bring More Health, Wealth, and Joy into Your Home; and How Happy Is Your Health?: 50 Great Tips to Help You Live a Long, Happy, and Healthy Life.

I Can Make You Happier promises the title of Paul McKenna’s September hardcover from Sterling. Sterling v-p and editorial director Michael Fragnito says, “This book and CD is a godsend for anyone who is ready to shed their anxieties and put some effort into a new idea that will get positive results today.” And Leo Bormans asked 100 academic researchers from 50 countries to distill their research on happiness into 1,000-word essays, which are collected in the $29.95 Firefly paperback The World Book of Happiness (Dec.)