Although Harper San Francisco published Paulo Coelho's bestselling The Alchemist in 1995, the company has been best known for its religious and spiritual nonfiction list and the occasional fiction title.
Now the HC division hopes to change that perception over the next few years as it builds a fiction line under editor Renée Sedliar. Initially, the line will publish six titles a year in the literary, visionary and American heartland areas. "We want to do fiction that readers of our nonfiction would appreciate," said Sedliar.
HCSF plans to begin drawing attention to its increased emphasis on fiction at BookExpo America, where Tim Farrington, author of Lizzie's War, will appear. Sedliar also hopes that the fall release of Philip Gulley's The Christmas Scrapbook will broaden the market for his Harmony series, which centers around life in Harmony, Ind. While most fiction works will deal with spiritual or social issues, the line, unlike Christian fiction from HC sister company Zondervan, is aimed at a trade audience, noted HCSF publicity director Claudia Boutote.
