Penguin Random House has announced the launch of the Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group, a new standalone entity that will expand and build upon on the publisher’s existing evangelical Christian publishing programs. According to a release, the expansion will involve several personnel moves and “additional resources” devoted to the company's Waterbrook & Multnomah, Image, and Forum imprints. The group will be led by Campbell Wharton, who has been promoted to SVP, reporting to PRH CFO Manuel Sansigre.

“As a new standalone division, we are going to be able to invest more deeply in our imprints, expand our content offerings, and ultimately be a place that services a wide range of Christian readers in innovative ways,” Wharton said in a statement, adding that the expansion represents an “opportunity to take our Christian program to a whole new level.”

Reporting to Wharton will be Laura Barker, VP and publisher, who will continue to lead the WaterBrook & Multnomah editorial team; Ginia Croker, VP and director of marketing, and Beverly Rykerd, VP and director of publicity, and their respective teams will now report to Wharton as well. Lori Addicott, VP and director of Christian market sales, will now also serve as irector of sales for the PRH Christian Publishing Group.

In addition, Tina Constable has been named EVP of business development for the Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group, reporting to Sansigre. In her new role, Constable will “collaborate with Sansigre and Wharton on acquisitions, exploration of new consumer channels, and partnership opportunities including streaming curriculum and direct-to-church initiatives,” according to PRH reps.

The move comes as sales of religious books have been surging. In the latest monthly StatShot report, released this week for August 2024, the Association of American Publishers reported that religious press sales continue to be the fastest growing segment of the trade publishing business, with August 2024 revenues up a hefty 47.4% over last year, and with religious press revenues overall up 21.2% over last year for the first eight months of the 2024, hitting $563.7 million. In 2023, religious press revenues were also the fastest growing segment of the adult trade business, up 7.8% last year over 2022, and hitting nearly $820 million.

While HarperCollins, with a mix of Bibles and books, has the largest religion publishing program by far among the Big Five publishers, PRH has plenty of assets to grow its program. The Colorado Springs–based Waterbrook & Multnomah has a strong backlist across a range of categories, PRH reps note, including Christian living/inspiration, health/wellness/relationships, social and cultural commentary, spiritual formation, and devotionals; Image is a leading imprint dedicated to Catholic content; and Forum focuses on books by “conservative thought leaders.”

Meanwhile, PRH’s Convergent publishing program, which Wharton previously worked with (and which includes both mainstream and Christian and spiritual books), will remain part of the Random House Publishing Group. The imprint will now be part of the Harmony and Rodale Books team, with Derek Reed tapped as editorial director of Convergent, reporting to Theresa Zoro, president of Harmony, Rodale Books, and now Convergent.