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Cokesbury Stores to Close, Sales Will Move to Other Channels
The United Methodist Publishing House announced Monday it would begin closing its 38 full-line stores and 19 seminary bookstores, in order to sell books exclusively through its Web site, Cokesbury.com, its Cokesbury Call Center, at conferences and meetings, and through church events.
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James Tabor: Reassessing Paul
After his bestseller The Jesus Dynasty, which was a look behind the scenes at the life of the historical Jesus, James D. Tabor didn’t have to cast about very long to find the subject for his next book. “After spending so much time with the historical Jesus, a book on Paul seemed the next logical step.”
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Heaven, Afterlife Now the Promised Land for Publishers
Recent publishing history is replete with books that elevate heaven on the bestseller lists. 90 Minutes in Heaven was one of the first; Heaven Is For Real followed, and now Mary Neal’s To Heaven and Back has scored big. These days publishers are as eager to offer new books about heaven as readers are to grab them.
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Religion Editor’s Note, October 2012
It’s hard to know what to write about after the past few days. My thoughts are less with books and the business of publishing than with those who have been (and still will be) affected by Sandy. PW’s e-mail was knocked out by the storm, and we are still trying to get fully operational, so please excuse us if you have tried to get in touch and we haven’t responded. For information on publishers and related businesses in and around New York, there is a run-down of who is open and who is not in today’s PW Daily. If you have breaking news, you can reach our news department at millx005@optonline.net. It will be a while before life returns to a semblance of normal in the wake of the Super Storm. Meanwhile, for those of us who pray, now would be a good time.
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Short Takes: Religion Publishing News Briefs, October 2012
Christian retailers give Riskey the top spot and select a new board chairman; new C.S. Lewis bio and U.S./U.K. events mark the 50th anniversary of his death; Worthy recognized as start-up of the year; authors among those selected as “50 Women You Should Know.”
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November 2012 Christian Bestsellers: Adult, Children’s and Young Adult, Bibles
Your guide to the mega-sellers in Christian books.
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It Is Written: News in Bibles and Sacred Texts, October 2012
A kids’ Bible with room for their artwork; a new NRSV study Bible for teens and young adults; diving deep in the Apocrypha.
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Reviews of New and Forthcoming Religion and Spirituality Books, October 2012
A sociologist on how black churches are addressing HIV/AIDS and poverty; a high school-age author on the relevance of faith to her generation.
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Waiting is the Hard Part: Books for the Advent Season
Christians have to be patient in the dark days of approaching winter before they can celebrate at Christmas the birth of Jesus. Religion publishers offer a few new resources for the season of waiting.
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PW Talks with Pattie Mallette: Justin Bieber’s Mother Tells Her Story of Redemption
Before she inadvertently launched her son’s career on YouTube in 2008, Pattie Mallette survived suicide attempts, drug addiction, and giving birth to megastar Justin Bieber when she was just 18. Her new memoir tells that story.
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Mary Neal: Coming Back from Heaven
Mary Neal must be a contender for the title of Most Reluctant Bestselling Author. It took the orthopedic surgeon more than a decade to set down on paper the afterlife encounters she had when trapped underwater during a 1999 river kayaking trip in Chile—despite the conviction she had been sent back from heaven to share that experience. Now almost half a million copies of her account have sold since May.
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Religion Journalists Think Politics and Beyond at Annual Meeting
Sponsored in part by book publishers, the nation’s professional religion journalists gathered for their annual conference Oct. 4-6 in Bethesda, Md., where they heard authors, data meisters, and political campaign representatives offer numbers, analysis, and story ideas. The upcoming election was the topic du jour: the Romney and Obama campaigns both sent representatives to discuss faith outreach.
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What Research Reveals: SBL Mines the Data
In the spring of 2011, the Society of Biblical Literature put some questions to its 8,700 members: were they using e-books? if so, how were they using them? which devices did they use personally, in their scholarly research, and in the classroom?
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Religious Studies Offer Fertile if Challenging Ground for Digital Growth
Six hundred years after Gutenberg equipped publishers to print Bibles and other books in a format that people could carry in their pockets, a new publishing revolution enables readers to carry hundreds of books on a single lightweight electronic device.
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The Digital Revolution in Religion Publishing Brings Business, Technical Issues
The digital revolution has arrived at seminaries and religious colleges as e-books lighten backpacks and, in some cases, take pressure off burdensome book budgets.
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Biblical Studies and E-books a Good Fit
Books in biblical studies are especially well suited to digital formats, but are all readers ready for the shift?
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PW Talks With Francis Chan: Multiplying Disciples
With three mega-sellers to his name (Crazy Love, Forgotten God, Erasing Hell), Francis Chan’s Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples (with Mark Beuving) will be published by David C. Cook next month (Nov.). PW spoke to him about his newest direction, which has taken him out of church and into the streets.
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Bibles and Sacred Texts 2012
Many believers consider their sacred texts to be eternal and unchanging, but publishers see things differently.
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Mary Lou Quinlan: Putting Prayer in a Box
The death of Mary Lou Quinlan’s mother in 2006 led to a discovery that would alter her daughter’s life and inspire a movement. Now a book, and soon a one-woman play, bring her mother’s unique prayer practice to a wider audience.
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Some Fiction Consolidation at Nelson and Zondervan
As part of the recent reorganizations of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan—which have been combined to form the HarperCollins Christian Publishing Group—fiction has been placed under one publisher, Daisy Hutton, at Thomas Nelson; fiction marketing will now be handled by a single team at Nelson.