When is an author admitted to the pantheon in brand heaven? Here are a few criteria for membership in that exclusive book club:
A. When readers know you by your first name
B. When your first printing is a six-figure number
C. When your books also have study guides and journals
D. When your backlist is sizable and/or thriving
E. When your book is the first title a customer sees on entering the bookstore
Such is the case for only a select number of religion/spirituality authors, and three of these brand titans—Joyce Meyer, Max Lucado and Joel Osteen—have new titles this fall. Meyer's I Dare You: Embrace Life with Passion (FaithWords, Sept. 4), Lucado's 3:16: The Numbers of Hope (Thomas Nelson, Sept. 11) and Osteen's Be a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day (Free Press, Oct. 15) will be hard to miss at bookstores this fall, thanks to a full-court marketing press by their publishers. All of these books are case studies in how to aim high for a bestseller landing.
Joyce Meyer: 'More and More Shelf Space'
Meyer, whose nondenominational Joyce Meyer Ministries in the St. Louis area has been around for more than 20 years, has written 70 books. Her daily TV and radio broadcasts can be seen and heard on air, online at her Web site and via podcast. She conducts more than a dozen conferences annually. Her platform, in short, has many planks.
FaithWords publisher Rolf Zettersten brought Meyer to what was then Warner Faith five years ago, also purchasing backlist titles from Harrison House. "Once she had sales and distribution and she had a publishing partner who could coordinate marketing and promotion with her ministry, it took her to a whole new level and she's been climbing ever since," Zettersten says. Since joining FaithWords, her first printings have more than quadrupled; last year more than three million Meyer titles were sold.
Coordination between Meyer's organization and the publisher gets specific and detailed. "She keeps her fans aware of upcoming books," says Lori Quinn, associate publisher. When a new book comes out, Meyer teaches on a topic or theme within the book, and her magazine and Web site also reflect that content, so that a unified message comes across. The September release of I Dare You coincides with her annual women's conference; this year its theme is "purpose and passion." Promotional copy for the book invites the reader to "discover the purpose and passion God intended." Coordinated presentation even extends to details like color and type font.
Working with booksellers—account partnering—is also significant. Previous customers for Meyer books are notified that a new one is available. (Meyer's ministry has its own worldwide mailing list.) Bookstore placement literally increases Meyer's visibility. This year, Meyer books have been on Barnes & Noble's "stepladder," paid placement on a rack near the entrance so that the title is the first thing an entering customer sees. And popular backlist means she can claim more and more real estate inside on shelves or tables.
FaithWords is working on increasing Meyer's visibility even more. Zettersten promises some new strategies for 2008, though he declines to be specific.
Max Lucado: 'Unprecedented Sales Campaign'
Lucado is just about a permanent fixture on the CBA hardcover bestseller list. That's not hard when you have 80 books. But he's also been on general market lists and children's lists. When 3:16 —which refers to a key passage about salvation in the Gospel of John—launches on September 11, it will appear in many places, many languages and many related products. The book will be simultaneously released in at least eight languages, with more in negotiation. It will also form the theme for a variety of licensed products, including apparel, jewelry, gifts, music, a DVD and Christian curriculum for churches and Bible study groups.
David Moberg, senior v-p and group publisher at Nelson, tells PW that the sales campaign for this book is "unprecedented." The book and related material will be marketed to 250,000 churches through not only Nelson but also Lifeway Christian Resources—the arm of the Southern Baptist Convention that includes the Lifeway Christian Stores chain, the SermonCentral.com site and Outreach, a San Diego company that promotes church growth. The partnering Web sites will highlight the book through advertising and special features. A ThreeSixteen.Net Web site will also be up early next month. Mainstream media advertising includes Fox News, the Hallmark Channel, Good Housekeeping and the airline magazine Southwest Spirit, among other outlets.
Lucado himself will help drive sales on a planned fall tour. He speaks at regularly scheduled conferences for women and teenagers. Those appearances "usually result in a sellout of his products when he speaks," Moberg says. Promotion will continue well into 2008. A 3:16 television special is planned for airing at Easter.
Joel Osteen: After Potter Comes Osteen
Osteen, pastor of the nondenominational Lakewood Church in Houston, the country's largest congregation, already brings a sizable following to his new publisher, Free Press. Osteen came to Free Press from FaithWords through a lucrative and talked about copublishing deal that could be worth as much as $13 million.
Free Press is leveraging its author's assets. Osteen's first book, Your Best Life Now (FaithWords, 2004), has sold more than four million copies. His church attracts as many as 38,000 attendees to its services. Two separate e-mail lists of people who receive daily inspiration and weekly information from Osteen total 750,000 names. Weekly TV broadcasts from Lakewood Church run on seven different channels in the U.S.; international broadcasts reach 100 countries.
"Lakewood Church is a powerful organization and has a large membership, and so many people watch Joel's telecast," says Suzanne Donahue, associate publisher at Free Press. "We're going to work with the church." The church already has a Web page for ordering the book, and bookstores are following suit. Reservation boards for advance orders will be available at Borders, Barnes & Noble and Family Christian Bookstores. "Our plan was to go up and be the next promotional push after Harry Potter comes down," Donahue says.
Once it's released in October, the book will be easy to find in the front of stores. "Co-op placement is going to be incredibly strong," Donahue says. The publisher also plans to provide retailers with Web site content being developed by Osteen himself. Like Meyer and Lucado, Osteen travels to speaking engagements that will coordinate with book promotion. The weekend after the book is released, Osteen will speak at Madison Square Garden in New York. He has subsequent appearances scheduled in Baltimore and Florida.
"I think [Osteen] has the capacity to build his audience even bigger," says Donahue. "It would be lovely to have the same success Rick Warren had."
