When asked to identify her religious affiliation, Gayatri Patnaik launched into a long explanation: she grew up with a mother who practiced Buddhism, lived with her Hindu grandmother in India for several years, was taught by nuns in a Catholic grade school and studied at a Mennonite college. "I'm probably closest to a Hindu, but I'm a pretty 'out there' Hindu," said the 33-year-old editor at Palgrave, a St. Martin's imprint.

Welcome to religion publishing's future.

Not every Gen-Xer's religious background is quite so eclectic, but most Americans under 40 have been exposed to a variety of religious traditions and have no qualms about picking and choosing beliefs and spiritual practices that work for them. For 20- and 30-somethings, the question is no longer whether they've "left" the faith tradition of their youth, but rather how that religion of origin meshes with the myriad other religious and spiritual influences in their lives.

Books can play a major role in such spiritual eclecticism, and savvy religion publishers are trying to do books that will speak to this generation, known for its elastic boundaries. Not surprisingly, publishing houses with young editors and marketing professionals on staff often do the best job of reaching younger readers. The influence of these "young turks" can be felt in lists that often reflect their own personal spiritual journeys.

Many Ways Up the Mountain

Take, for example, 34-year-old Jon Sweeney, v-p of marketing and sales at Jewish Lights and editor-in-chief of the sister imprint Skylight Paths, which has as its motto: "for seekers and believers of all traditions, walking together, finding the way."

Sweeney grew up in a conservative evangelical Christian family before "moving to the left" religiously. He believes his spiritual evolution is typical of many in his age group. "It's where we are spiritually in America today," he said. "My generation is the first to do what I do--I'm still Christian, but I'm committed to learning from other people and incorporating practices that are not from my own tradition."

Sweeney is disappointed that "cafeteria-style" spirituality often gets a bad rap from the older Baby Boomers. "Of course a 25-year-old's spiritual path is going to be different than a 50-year-old's," he said. "It's absolutely natural for someone who grew up in a multi-faith family and who has lived in such a religiously diverse country to do this 'cobbling together' of spiritual practices."

Sweeney's own spiritual path veered away from fundamentalism after missionary service in Southeast Asia at the age of 18. "That's when I realized I was going in another direction," explained the Wheaton College graduate. While a student at Chicago's North Park Seminary, Sweeney managed the campus bookstore and decided the book business was for him. He worked as a manager at Boston's Divinitas Bookstore and as a sales rep and trade sales manager for Augsburg Fortress before joining Jewish Lights in 1997.

Although both imprints publish books that appeal to a wide age range, Skylight Paths is especially committed to trying to reach a younger audience. In November, it released a collection of 17 essays edited by Sweeney called God Within: Our Spiritual Future--As Told by Today's New Adults.

The Road to Publishing

Patnaik of Palgrave is also going after younger readers, with books that are forward-thinking yet accessible. "I want to ask provocative questions, to really push the envelope," she said. A book title such as In Defense of Sin (Palgrave, September 2001) grabs the attention--and piques the imagination--of open-minded young adults. She would also like to see books on Islam, Hinduism and other faiths made more accessible for general readers.

As is true with many young people who end up in religion publishing, Patnaik didn't exactly plan to be an editor of religion books, although she admitted she "always had book publishing in the back of her mind." After graduate study in anthropology, she took an internship with Random House, then worked on a documentary for ABC News before returning to book publishing. After stints with Rob Weisbach Books and Routledge, she came to Palgrave 16 months ago. There she edits the religion list as well as books on Latino and Latin American studies. "I've always wanted to work on books with a strong intellectual content," she said. "I want to use what I learned in the academy and do smart, intelligent books."

Although the majority of Generation Xers might not be as enamored with the study of religion as publishing professionals who have made it their life's work (Patnaik said she often has to defend the excitement level of her career choice to friends), those who came of age during the explosion of spirituality in the past 15 years can't help but have felt its influence, even if they rarely darken the door of a church, synagogue or mosque. "Every time you open a newspaper, you're hit by the impact of religion," noted Patnaik. "It's right in front of us. But it's a vast playing field. People in their 20s and 30s, like me, have been exposed to a lot of religious traditions."

Young Yogis

That certainly has been true for 31-year-old Sara Carder, an editor at Tarcher. Although her own family was not religious, Carder grew up in Berkeley, Calif., a hotbed of spiritual experimentalism. "I've always been friends with people of different spiritual backgrounds," she said. "And I've kind of shopped around and taken from different traditions."

Carder said her experiences--and those of her friends--definitely affect the kinds of books she acquires. These days, she spends a lot of time meditating and has thus gotten excited about doing books like 365 Yoga (Tarcher, winter 2003), which offers daily reflections from yogic texts. "A whole new generation--my generation--is discovering the powerful benefits, physically and spiritually, of yoga," she said. "A lot of people come at it from the physical side, but then want to find out more about the spiritual teachings."

She challenges those in the industry who discount the viability of the under-40 market. "We have really found that the idea that people in their 20s and 30s don't buy books isn't true," she said, citing the sleeper hit Quarterlife Crisis (Tarcher, May 2001) as an example. "We definitely think there's a market out there. I don't think it has been developed enough. Things might need to be packaged differently to appeal to this generation."

Carder didn't intend to end up editing books on religion and spirituality. In fact, she started her career on the sales side, at Henry Holt. After earning a master's degree in English, she decided to pursue her real passion, editing, first at Berkley, then at Overlook Press and now at Tarcher, the Penguin Putnam imprint that publishes self-help, psychology and memoir in addition to religion and spirituality. "I'm kind of new to the category, but I've always been interested in what people believe and why they believe it," she said. "I didn't set out to do spirituality or religion. But it's something you can fall into."

Ultimate Questions

That is likely to happen when young adults start asking the "big questions" in life, as many of them are. When Andrew Corbin found himself thinking about life's ultimate mysteries, he headed to Union Theological Seminary. After earning a master's in divinity he decided against pursuing a Ph.D. and instead took a job with Doubleday in 1997.

"For me, it was a way to be able to make a living off a passionate interest, without ever having to go to school again," said Corbin, who is 29. Part of his responsibilities at Doubleday include editing the Anchor Bible Series, which allows him to stay on top of the leading biblical scholarship--one of his personal interests.

Corbin, who was raised Catholic but says that tradition "is really not that important to me," admitted his age likely impacts his editing decisions, but not self-consciously so. "I don't like to think of myself as representative of a generation," he said. "I want to publish good books that reach a wide audience." He would like to see more crossover authors, like Annie Lamott, who are perceived in general terms, rather than as religion writers. "I do think that, by and large, people are trying to expand the ways they talk and write about God," Corbin said. "Religion publishers are making an effort to publish books informed by a more contemporary sensibility."

Bursting the Bubble

Despite a few high-profile successes, the evangelical Christian book industry needs to take its contemporary sensibility up a notch, according to Cameron Strang. If this 25-year-old has his way, it will.

The founder, editor and publisher of Relevant Media Group wants to blur the lines between sacred and secular to take the Christian message to a more mainstream audience. "I've always been bothered by the 'bubble' mentality of the Christian industry," Strang said. "Christians are supposed to be outward-thinking. But the Christian industry preaches to the choir."

With his book division, Web sites and Web newsletters and a monthly magazine that will launch in June, Strang is going after the progressive, media-savvy audience of 18- to 35-year-olds. The first two releases from Relevant Books, including Walk On: The Spirituality of U2 (Nov. 2001) and Enjoying God (also Nov.) have sold out their first printings. "This audience is very passionate," he said. "They'll tell their friends about these books."

Strang is adamant about the necessity for top-notch quality, as well as the need for a hip, edgy look to appeal to younger readers. "You can't take a second-tier approach anymore," he said. "I want to stand on the shelf next to Spin and Rolling Stone and next to New York Times bestsellers." He chose his company name because he believes God is relevant to life and to culture. "There's lots of spiritual hunger among my generation, but traditional church has largely been irrelevant to them," he said. "We believe there's a large demographic that's spiritually hungry, but they don't shop in Christian bookstores."

Strang hatched his ideas as a student at Oral Roberts University and honed his skills as a managing editor of five magazines at Vox Corporation in Nashville before founding Relevant last year. He also learned about publishing around the family dinner table--his father is Charismatic Christian media mogul Stephen Strang.

All in the Family

Perhaps not coincidentally, several others interviewed for this article have family ties to publishing. Sweeney refers to himself as something of a "publishing brat." His father is Mark Sweeney of W Publishing Group. "For me, going to the Christian Booksellers Association convention was our summer vacation," he remembered. Patnaik also has a family connection: her uncle is Sonny Mehta.

Publishing also was a family affair for Jeremy Langford, who grew up packing books for then-family-owned Diamond, a sports publisher founded by his stepmother. His father, an editor for years at Notre Dame Press, now works for Rowman & Littlefield. But Langford was headed for a career in teaching until a job at Loyola Press came along. He recalled his early 20s as a time of intense seeking. "I was trying to figure out what I personally believe," he said. "A lot of the books I was working on were books I wanted to read." Much of his own spiritual transformation occurred while acquiring and editing The Gift of Peace, the bestseller written by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.

Now 31, Langford is copublisher and editor-in-chief at Sheed & Ward, a 67-year-old Catholic publishing house. He believes his own writing and being on the speaking circuit have given him unique insights into what young people, especially young Catholics, are looking for. The answer, not surprisingly, is relevance. "As a younger person in religious publishing, the question that drives me is 'Does faith matter?' " Langford said. That's also the question he addresses in his book, God Moments: Why Faith Really Matters to a New Generation, published in October by Orbis Books.

"For me, relevance means we made somebody think," he said. "I don't think the world needs another book with a ribbon in it filled with daily light meditations that don't say anything. Our job is to make people truly stop and think about the key issues of life--why we're here, what we're here to do and what it means to be fully alive."

Passionate Authenticity

Elisa Fryling, the 25-year-old editor of Shaw Books--an evangelical Christian imprint acquired in January 2000 by WaterBrook Press--also used the word "relevant" when talking about the kinds of books she'd like to publish--ones she believes will be attractive to her peers. "We're hungry to know God in a deeper way and to read someone who has deeper insights about faith and real-life issues," she said.

But cynical 20- and 30-somethings won't trust just any author. What counts more than credentials, education or position is authenticity. "My generation sees authority that comes from your experiences, from the stories you tell," Fryling said. "It's about whether authors are living out what they believe, whether they have spiritual passion."

That's why Fryling would like to see more "relational, creative, passionate" books and fewer "five-point outline books." Shaw does a lot of titles that focus on creativity and the arts, and Fryling recently worked on the anthology Madeline L'Engle Herself (Waterbrook, Oct. 2001). "I'd like to read more L'Engles and Annie Lamotts," she said. "I think we'll be seeing more and more of that [kind of writing] with new authors."

Like many young people in religion publishing, Fryling has done graduate study in theology and religion. In fact, she was working on a master's degree in spiritual formation and evangelization at Wheaton College when she got the opportunity to do an internship at Shaw. "I've always been passionate about books and ideas," she says, once again echoing her peers in the industry.

The Inward Journey

Over and over, these wise-beyond-their-years editors and marketers stress the need for religion and spirituality books to engage the wider culture, including popular culture. For Roger Freet, 32-year-old marketing and publicity manager for Harper San Francisco, it is practically a mantra. "We need more critical engagement with the culture," he said. "Books have to answer the 'So what?' question. They have to make a difference in how we live our lives."

Isolated withdrawal is out, Freet said. He cites Diana Eck's A New Religious America (HSF, June 2001) as a book that accomplishes the goal of "looking at your own tradition against the broader culture." Although young readers aren't afraid to turn to other faiths if they feel their own isn't meeting their needs, Freet doesn't see that as a jettisoning of their heritage. "People aren't casting away all dogma," he said. "I think there's a hunger to recover and reinvent traditions. Some people are really looking to their respective traditions to find that which serves their community, nourishes them and is of practical value." In the end, that might mean less navel-gazing and more praxis. "I think books will need to continue to be more outward looking and less inward looking," he said. "You look inward, so you can go outward."

That's not to say that young people don't feel compelled to take inner spiritual journeys. Two years ago Heidi Toboni took a leave of absence from her marketing position at Loyola Press to do just that. She made a silent retreat, took a pilgrimage to religious sites in Spain and read about St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, the religious order that owns Loyola Press. "I went through a refocusing period," said Toboni. "I needed to look at my personal goals, my mission. I wanted a more balanced life, to integrate my work and spiritual life."

When she returned to Loyola, it was as director of business development, a newly created position that encourages her to look at the big picture. "They say that true wisdom doesn't come until you're at least 30, but at 29 I'm starting to get some inklings," she said.

Among her insights is the urgent need for books that can help adults, especially Catholics, move from the childlike faith they learned in confirmation class to a more adult understanding. "In the religious education of children, the complexities are often lost, and people tend to stop at that," Toboni said. "I would like to help adults go further, and books are a way to do that." It's an even more critical task for younger Catholics. "My generation simply doesn't know a lot about their faith," Toboni said. "They're asking questions, and religious publishing really has a calling to serve them."

And "calling" is an appropriate way to describe how Toboni--and others--feel about their work. "At this point in my life, I really feel I'm here [at Loyola] for a reason," she said. "I think there are a lot of wonderful authors who are Catholic who are trying to get their message out. I'm inspired by the idea of bringing these people to the world."

Freet, who came to religion publishing at Harper San Francisco after stints in real estate, computer software and eventually Princeton Seminary, believes he's found his niche. "It's the perfect hybrid between the academy and business," he said. "Now I help publish the people I used to read in seminary."

He believes religion publishing is an attractive career choice for younger people looking to find meaning in their work. "If you have an opportunity to work on a book that changes people's lives, that's a privilege," he said. But others say the job can be a hard sell. Publishing often is perceived as a mysterious business that's difficult to break into, and low starting salaries don't help.

"Some of my friends think editing sounds like you just sit in a dark room," said Shaw's Fryling. "But I do think people in my generation talk a lot about telling their story and wanting to be heard because they have something to say."

But most of these young publishing professionals say they can't imagine doing anything else. "I think you either have a passion for it, or you don't," Patnaik said. Doubleday's Corbin agrees. "I thoroughly love it," he said. "And it's a hell of a lot of fun."