Baker Books Signs Spirituality Title
Jenni Burke of Illuminate Literary Agency worked with Baker Books editorial director Brian Vos to finalize a world rights deal for the tentatively titled When God Seems Distant by Kyle Strobel and John Coe. Both authors, who previously collaborated on the 2021 title Where Prayer Becomes Real, are professors at the Institute of Spiritual Formation at Talbot School of Theology, which is housed at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. The book, the publisher said, draws on the authors’ expertise and research into the integration of spirituality with psychological growth. A summer 2026 release is planned.
Church Abuse Story to Lake Drive Books
David Morris, publisher of Lake Drive Books, has negotiated world rights with the unagented Melissa Duge Spiers for Holy Disobedience: A Survivor’s Journey from the Church that Betrayed Her, to release in May 2026. Spiers—an essayist, screenwriter, and TikTok content influencer—writes of being raised in a strict family of Seventh-Day Adventists and controlled by her church-leader father and domineering mother. She examines how her childhood led to unhealthy adult choices and how she overcame her past.
WaterBrook Looks to Adventures, Animals
Bunmi Ishola, senior editor at PRH Christian Publishing Group WaterBrook, has taken world rights to three middle grade adventure novels by authors, screenwriters, and directors Candace Lee and Eric Newman. The Order of the Dragon Slayer trilogy begins with George Grant Dragon Slayer, which is set for release in spring 2026. The books reimagines the legend of Saint George in a fading West Virginia coal town, where a young scout and his friends are forced to put their survival skills and courage to the ultimate test. Shannon Marven and Sydney Delahoussaye at Dupree Miller & Associates negotiated the deal.
Ishola and WaterBrook have also taken world rights to Wild Faith Devotional for Kids: 52 Amazing Animals that Point to One Great God by Valerie Ellis, speaker and founder of the website Our Everyday Parables. Ellis was represented by Annette Bourland of Bourland Strategic Advisors, and illustrator Jennifer Bricking was repped by Tamara Shannon at Shannon Associates. The nonfiction anthology, per the publisher, is aimed at helping children ages 7 and up to celebrate God’s creativity, citing as examples such critters as capybara, flamingos, dogs, snakes, and the goby, a rock-climbing fish. Publication is planned for fall 2025.
Paraclete Picks a Christmas Picture Book
Paraclete Press director Lillian Miao has acquired world rights to One Star, Three Kings: The Journey of Epiphany, written by author Rebecca Grabill and illustrated by Isabella Grott. The book, the publisher said, invites readers to travel with the three Biblical wise men known as the Magi through the Christmas season to Epiphany in a narrative combining both history and legend. The author represented herself in the deal, and Gillian Tan of Yeon Agency represented the illustrator. Publication is slated for October 2025.
