Home       Site Map      Archives      Search      Bio & Photos       FAQs       Links       Contact       Get Brent       Help

 

Want more?  Check the archives!

 

 

 

 

 

The Good Books:

Religious Publishing Goes Mainstream

Week of August 9, 2004

 

            Nothing grabs a business’ interest like money, and according to a report from Knight Ridder Newspapers this month, religion-themed books have the publishing world’s full attention.

            For publishers it’s more about profits than prophets, but that doesn’t explain why people buy the books.  And buy them they do:  Pastor Rick Warren’s “The Purpose-Driven Life” was the top selling non-fiction book of 2003 and continues to fly off store shelves.  The ninth installment of the 12-volume “Left Behind” series, a novelized account of Jesus’ second coming, was the number one selling novel worldwide in 2001; in total, the series has sold over 40 million copies. 

            According to the Association of American Publishers, “religious books” racked up sales of $337.9 million in 2003, an increase of almost 37 percent over 2002.  That includes everything from Bibles to hymnals, but fiction titles are leading the growth.

            The Knight Ridder story includes books like “The Da Vinci Code” and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” in this group, which dilutes the impact somewhat.  The former is a pretentious, yet nearly incoherent, attack on Christianity.  The latter is as theologically grounded as a fairy tale, but both have spiritual themes of sorts.  Writers of Christian fiction like Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye of the “Left Behind” series and the gifted Frank Peretti and Robert Whitlow have also benefited from the trend.   

            Just as interesting as the fact that we’re buying more of these books is where we are buying them.  Zondervan, a leading Christian publisher, reports that sales to Christian bookstores accounted for three-fourths of its revenues 12 years ago but now amounts to only 45 percent.  Wal-Martization has hit Christian publishing, with Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and other mass retailers devoting more space to religious titles.  But why, besides the obvious fact that the big stores sell what people buy? 

            The Knight Ridder piece notes that unnamed “industry experts” cite the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, the stock answer for every social shift in the last three years.  There’s no question that the dust was blown off more than a few family Bibles after September 11, and anecdotal evidence suggests that church attendance spiked in the months that followed.  This dropped off quickly though, and churches are again scrambling to fill seats.

            The same industry experts point to baby boomers, who are allegedly seeking peace before they die.  A boomer myself, it is my observation that most of us don’t think we will die, or won’t admit it anyway.  I’ll concede it is at least a factor, though; there’s nothing like the march of time to puncture one’s notions of immortality.  Still, “Publishers Weekly” reports that the buyers of these books are about 38 years old on average, well under boomer territory and long before most folks start dwelling on the inevitable. 

            One thing industry experts apparently didn’t consider was the publishing industry itself and the broader entertainment business of which it is a part.  Whether it’s television, movies, video games, or good old-fashioned books, much of what is put forth in the name of popular culture is, in a word, trash.  I don’t doubt for a minute that money drives a lot of that, but the industry’s claims that it only mirrors society is bunk. 

            In fact a lot of people long for entertainment that doesn’t make them feel dirty, and perhaps makes them think a little.  It is why PG and PG 13 rated movies draw bigger audiences than R rated films, and a large part of the appeal of Christian fiction.

            If someone makes a buck in the process, so be it.  There are worse ways to make a living – which can be easily proven by spending 15 minutes in front of a television.

 

 

 
 

 

Email Brent:

 

Brent@brentmorrison.com

 

 

 

Latest columns:

   
 

Getting the most hits:

 
 

Need an antidote to "Harmful to Minors"?

(See column

Try Rae Turnbull's excellent "Be the Parent Your Child Deserves"

 
 

Get Brent

in your local paper.

Click here!

 
 

Hear Brent

speak to your community group, church, fundraiser, or business group.  Click here.

   

 

 

 

© 2004 Brent Morrison