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Joan Chittister: 'Stability of Heart'
Joan Chittister is a Benedictine nun, a leader in promoting interfaith dialogue, and a prolific writer whose books include the popular The Gift of Years. Chittister spoke to RBL about her new and forthcoming books from Erie, Pa., during a rare quiet afternoon when she was slowed by a thumb injury (“I had no idea there could be so much pain in this little area”).
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Matthew Fox: Speaking the Truth in Love
Matthew Fox was saddened when he was silenced for one year by the Vatican in 1988 and then dismissed from the Dominican order five years later. But those turbulent parts of his past, he says, have allowed the former Catholic priest to write from a unique viewpoint.
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July 2011 Christian Marketplace Bestsellers
John Osteen’s newest debuts at number 6; Inverted makes the paperback list; Love Wins falls out of the top ten; award-winning Bonhoefer bio comes in at seven; Tim Tebow has moved up strong; Lucado still takes two spots.
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Can Mommy Bloggers Help Christian Children's Book Sales?
“Mommy bloggers” come in all shapes and sizes but they do have one thing in common--a forum. Though the jury is out on whether they can jump-start a book onto the bestseller lists, blogs are an increasingly important marketing tool for Christian publishers of children’s books.
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'PW' Expands Coverage of Children's Religion and Spirituality Books
Publishers Weekly is expanding its coverage of children's religion/spirituality books. Children's religion reviews will now be a separate section in the reviews section of PW. These reviews will appear in the third issue of the month, beginning July 18; monthly in Religion BookLine, our e-newsletter devoted to religion publishing, beginning June 29; and as online exclusives. In addition to more reviews, PW's religion department will provide news and feature coverage of the category on a regular basis.
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Smaller Liturgical Booksellers Trade Show Hits 20 Years
Marking its 20th anniversary, the Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit (RBTE)--serving Catholic, Episcopal, and other liturgical booksellers--drew nearly 114 stores (down from 124 in 2010) to suburban Chicago May 31-June 3. Publishers took up three of the exhibit hall's five aisles, with gift and other vendors making for a total of 104 exhibitors—roughly the same as last year, but bringing far fewer personnel (290 vs. 340). A total of 520 people attended the show, compared to 550 in 2010.
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Editor’s Note
For most people, spring and summer mean vacations and time off; for book people those seasons bring the hustle of trade shows and may be the busiest time of the year. Last week’s BookExpo America in New York was crowded and a lot of work for those who exhibited and those who attended, but at the center of it all was the joy of learning about new books. This week the Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit—for Catholic, Episcopal, and other liturgical booksellers--meets in St. Charles, Ill. Though much smaller and more relaxed than BEA, it is also a place to see what’s coming in the all-important fall publishing season. In July more book people will gather in Atlanta for the International Christian Retailers Show. All of these conventions are places to commune with others who have an unflagging passion for books and the ideas they carry into our lives.
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Religion in Review
A theology of contemplative practice; a humorous look at the fallout from the Great Recession; Pope Benedict on the Great Christian Thinkers; the Christianity of “emerging adults”; a memoir of Breaking Up with God; how the Bible became impossible; where was the Garden of Eden?; monastic responses to 9/11; a paucity of Muslim martyrs; Zen monks battle California wildfires; plus Web Exclusive reviews.
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Short Takes
Wisdom wins two Nautilus Awards; other Nautilus winners announced at BEA; Charisma launches self-publishing unit; CBA partners with SnapRetail on social media; SBL gets NEH grant for non-academic Web site; news in children’s and e-books from Tyndale House; B&H and Tyndale launch mobile apps; Thomas Nelson announces staff additions, promotions; Christian Book Services hires COO.
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Religion Books Among Those Earning Christopher Awards
Books by popular Catholic author and Jesuit priest James Martin and biographer Eric Metaxas were among those honored at the 62nd Christopher Awards given at a banquet in New York on May 19. The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything (HarperOne) earned Martin a second Christopher Award. Metaxas’s Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Thomas Nelson) earned yet another honor; that book has also been named Book of the Year by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and the author won the 2011 Canterbury Medal, awarded by the Becket Fund for Religious Freedom.
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June 2011 Christian Marketplace Bestsellers
Voskamp’s Gifts are on the rise; three books on heaven are proof of its heat; Dekker’s newest makes the list; Lucado’s newest debuts at #8.
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Carol DeChant: Why Great American Catholic Eulogies Are Not a Downer
Carol DeChant still recalls the awe she felt while listening to the televised eulogy for Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Archbishop of Chicago, in 1996. In fact, the speech was so memorable that DeChant, 72, said it immediately came to mind more than a decade later when she began brainstorming for her collection of tributes to deceased Catholics.
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Fewer Religion Houses at BEA, But Most Say They Will Be Back
Religion publishers arguably have more trade show options than any other category, with specialized book exhibits for evangelical Christian, Catholic/Episcopal, Jewish, New Age, and academic houses. That’s one reason there were far fewer religion publishers exhibiting at BookExpo this year—21 vs. the more than 50 of a decade ago. But those who were at BEA last week were upbeat, and while bemoaning the rapidly increasing costs of exhibiting at the show, they expressed a continued commitment to being there.
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Hell’s a-Poppin’: Chan Fuels Afterlife Debate with New Book
Bestselling author and pastor Francis Chan is the most prominent author adding two cinders to the debate over hell ignited by Rob Bell’s arguably universalist Love Wins (HarperOne, Mar.). Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity and the Things We Make Up (David C. Cook, July) will launch with a first printing of 250,000, a six-figure marketing budget, and a simultaneous audio release from Oasis Audio. Chan is founding pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, Calif., and his Crazy Love has sold more than 1.6 million copies.
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Fall 2011 Religion Announcements Submission Instructions
Detailed information for publishers wishing to submit titles for PW's Fall 2011 Religion Announcements Issue.
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She prays for strangers: PW Talks with River Jordan
River Jordan didn't mean to write her latest book. She only meant to keep one simple New Year's resolution.
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Finding God In Cyberspace: PW Talks with Adam Thomas
In his first book, Adam Thomas asks, can God be found in computer games? On Facebook? Is God with us when we tweet? Is God, Thomas wants to know, online?
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Speaking for herself: PW Talks to Maria Ebrahimji
As a producer at CNN, Maria Ebrahimji is familiar with the spotlight—she's just not used to being in it. Although her childhood ambition was to be a news anchor, she realized early on that she was naturally drawn deeper into the story. "I believe that the power and value of journalism is really in producing," Maria says. "I'm very much one of those people that likes to work behind the scenes."
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AAR and SBL Together Again
For religion publishers who do academic publishing, the November 19–22 concurrent meetings this year in San Francisco of two major professional groups of religion scholars is a felicitous remarriage after an expensive three-year divorce.
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Christian Retail Show a Skip for Some, a Must for Others
The International Christian Retail Show, July 10–13 in Atlanta, mirrors the evolution of the Christian publishing/retail industry, which has struggled over the past 10 to 15 years to adapt to changing technology and consumer buying practices. Publishers have been rethinking their goals for the show, their presence there, and how they can support ICRS and its CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) retailers.
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