Acts of Faith: Practices for the Spirit

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MAY 2013 VOL.58

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Practices for the Spirit

Religion Update

Books on prayer, devotions are evergreens for publishers

How to Talk to God

By Kimberly Winston
Prayingspeaking to God in formal or informal waysis a
universal form of human communication. Members of every
world religion, from Anabaptists to Zoroastrians, practice
some form of prayer. And prayer is popular; a 2007 Pew
Forum for Religion and Public Life poll showed that more
than half of Americans say they pray on a daily basis, even
those who are religiously unaffiliated.

o it should come
as no surprise that
books about
prayer and other
spiritual practices, as well as
devotionalsbooks of
regular, usually daily,
prayers and/or inspirational readingsare as
strong as ever and show no sign of
decline. And unlike some categories that
are driven by social trends and current
events, this category remains largely
immune to outside influence, though do
expect to see a sprinkling of new titles of
this kind from Catholic publishers tied
to the election of Pope Francis I.
As in the past, most of these books are
written by women, since they remain the
primary readers of such books. Many of
these authors build up a following, and
some rise to superstar status. That, too,
is unlikely to change as new and established authors increasingly maintain
contact with readers through social
media; their short formats are well suited
to sharing brief prayers and meditations
(Christian meditation is a form of prayerful contemplation, while Buddhist med-

itation is a practice of mindfulness, concentration, and stillness).

Still, change may be afoot. As older
Americans give way to younger generations, books about prayer, meditation,
devotions, and other forms of spiritual
practice may have to change to survive
young people report much lower levels of
daily spiritual practice than their elders,
only 48%, according to a 2012 Pew
Forum report on millennials, compared
to 58% among older Americans. But
across the board, publishers remain
enthusiastic about the categorys staying
power. Increasingly, we believe people
both inside the church and those people
of Christian faith who may not regularly
attend religious services are desiring a
deeper connection with the God they
claim to believe exists, says Jeff Crosby,

associate publisher and director of sales

and marketing at InterVarsity Press.
And books on prayer, meditation, and
spiritual practices are giving them a portal to experience God in deeper, fresh,
meaningful ways.
FINDING PARTNERS
Crosby says InterVarsity Press has seen a
significant increase in its output of spiritual formation books, which include
devotionals and spiritual practice titles,
since the 2005 founding of its dedicated
Formatio line. Critical to sales has been
Formatios partnering with leaders of
spiritual centers and ministries to both
write and promote its titles. The organizational partnerships are often the
key, Crosby says. Our work with the
Transforming Center, Renovar, and
Aprentis has elevated the stature of our
Formatio books and given us entre to
key leaders in this area. That, layered on
top of traditional
venues such as the
Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit,
has helped us gain
visibility in what can
be a crowded landscape. IVP has also
begun co-sponsoring
spiritual formation
events with some of the centers, another
way of getting its titles to stand out, such
as An Unhurried Life: Following Jesus
Rhythms of Work and Rest by Alan Fadling
(June), executive director of the Journey,
a Christian leadership ministry; Hidden
in Christ: Living as Gods Beloved by James
Bryan Smith (July), director of the Aprentis Institute on Christian Formation at
Friends University; and A Guide to the
Blessing Life by Gerrit Dawson (Sept.),
pastor of a Louisiana megachurch.
Other publishers swear by the partnerships they form with brand-name authors
who take readers through the steps of
daily prayer, meditation, or spiritual
growth. Just as consumers put their trust
in a certain ketchup, soft drink, or automobile, so do they trust certain authors.
But Tracy Danz, Zondervans v-p and
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M 1

Religion Update

publisher, says even the best brand name

must be combined with an undiluted,
timely message. When you have a solid
message, no matter how many other
books are published, the book will find a
home in the hearts of readers, he says.
Engaging celebrity authors allows
Zondervan greater marketing possibilities, like tapping into the authors Web
site, social media feeds, and special
events.
Nowhere is this more evident than
with Encouragement for Today: Devotions for
Everyday Living by Lysa TerKeurst (with
coauthors Renee Swope and Samantha
Evilsizer; Sept.), a bestselling author
(Made to Crave) and leader of Proverbs 31,
a womens ministry. Zondervan is teaming with Proverbs 31 to create a national
advertising campaign that includes a
social media contest, a street team, blogger outreach, and a weeks worth of free
devotions. We will be equipping these
women to share with all their friends,
says Alicia Mey, Zondervans senior marketing director.
For All In: You Are One Decision Away
from a Totally Different Life by Mark Batterson (Sept.), Zondervan will focus
heavily on online promotions, key to
reaching the young, city-dwelling Christians who form the core of Battersons
audience as he is the pastor of a large
urban congregation. Also new from
Zondervan are Wounded by Gods People:
Discovering How Gods Love Heals Our
Hearts by Anne Graham Lotz (Sept.) and
Couples of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional
Study to Draw You Closer to God and Each
Other by Robert and Bobbie Wolgemuth
(Apr.). Other new titles by celebrity
authors include The Gift of Joy: Daily
Meditations by Mother Teresa, edited by

| Practices for the Spirit

Angelo D. Scolozzi
(Servant Books, July);
Billy Graham: A Legacy of Faith and Coach
John Wooden: Winning
with Principle, both
from B&H Publishing
in September as part
of its Life Wisdom
series; and God Will
Carry You Through by Max Lucado
(Thomas Nelson, Sept.).
WaterBrook Multnomah has grown its
output in the devotional/spiritual practices category by a few titles a year, yet
Ken Petersen, v-p and editor-in-chief, is
cautious in his approach. In the Christian market daily devotional practice is
considered an essential part of a persons
relationship to God, so devotionals play
an important role, he says. Yet its a
crowded category, lots of competition, so
we need to be cautious in what we publish, making sure that the devotionals we
do have a strong concept and rich content. WaterBrook Multnomah looks
among its bestselling authors in other
categories to develop related devotionals.
Upcoming is Sun Stand Still (Nov.) based
on megachurch pastor Steven Furticks
2010 book of the same title, and Limitless: Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life
(Apr.) by Nick Vujicic, whose inspirational memoir, Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life (2010),
was a strong seller. The success of a
devotional in the readers hands each day
rests in the thoughtfulness, insight, and
voice of the content, in how it speaks to
the reader in a quiet moment, Petersen
says. That takes time to write well.
CHICKS RULE
Devotionals are Barbour Publishings
foundationits first title was a 1998
reprint of Oswald Chamberss 1924 classic, My Utmost for His Highest, still a
strong backlist seller. Todays new titles
largely target women, with His Praise Is
on My Lips: A Celebration of Worship for
Women by Valorie Quesenberry (Apr.),
Lord, You Have My Heart: Devotional
Prayers for Women by Linda Holloway

2 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY M AY 6 , 2 0 1 3

(June), and New Every Morning: A Celebration of Gods Faithfulness for Women by
Leah Slawson (Aug.).
Dan Balow, until last week Barbours
v-p of business development, likens
devotionals to Bibles, in that the packaging possibilities are endless, providing
publishers with opportunities to reach
newer and smaller niche markets. [They
are] something the market never seems
to tire of, he says. But that doesnt mean
publishers can relax when it comes to
marketingwith so many devotionals,
the books have to stand out. At Barbour,
this means promoting them as friendly,
easy, and welcoming, not work, he
says. I recall a friend of mine in the
industry joking that some Christian
books seem to be Castor Oil for the
Christian Soul, he says, riffing off
Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, a 1997
runaway bestselling devotional for HCI.
Consumers need to be convinced this is
something they want to spend a month
or two or 12 reading.
Harvest House is strong in womens
devotionals and has What Happens When
Women Say Yes to God by Lysa TerKeurst
(Aug.) and A Book of Prayers for Young
Women by Stormie Omartian and her
daughter Paige Omartian (Apr.). Other
niche devotionals include Prayers and
Promises for Worried Parents by Robert
Morgan (Howard Books, Sept.), as well

Religion Update

Practices for the Spirit |

as Bible Promises for Dad by Mary Grace

Birkhead and Bible Promises for Teachers by
Karen Moore (both B&H, May). Harvest
House even has one for hunters, with a
new, updated version of Steve Chapmans
A Look at Life from a Deer Stand: Hunting
for the Meaning of Life (April).
REACHING THE
TIME-STARVED
In some devotionals and spiritual practice titles, condensed and quick seems
to be the goal, with many authors promising greater spiritual depth or awareness
in a matter of minutes, days, or weeks.
Time-driven titles are a staple for all
publishers of devotionals, from the Catholic and evangelical houses to the nondenominational and general spirituality
ones. That can make it hard for these
titles to stand out, says Amber Moore,
Chalice Presss marketing and client services manager. You have to show how
your book has a benefit the others do

SPIRITUAL
LIVING
AND
LOVING

not, Moore says.

How will the readers
experience be different and better with
y o u r b o o k ? To
accomplish that,
Chalice is creating
hybrid devotionals,
titles that mix devotionals and spiritual
practice with memoir and self-help.
Among such books are Whos Got Time?
Spirituality for a Busy Generation by Teri
Peterson and Amy Fetterman, Ten-Minute Transformation: Small Spiritual Steps to
Revolutionize Your Life by Chris Altrock,
and Wilderness Blessings: How Down Syndrome Reconstructed Our Life and Faith by
Jeffery M. Gallagher (all Sept.). In the
same vein, Thomas Nelson has 31 Days
to Happiness by David Jeremiah (Sept.);
Kregel Publications offers God Is for Us:
52 Readings from Romans by Simon Ponsonby, Straight to the Heart of Psalms: 60

Bite-Sized Insights by Phil Moore, and

Straight to the Heart of Solomon: 60 BiteSized Insights by Phil Moore (all July).
From B&H comes The Love Dare Day by
Day by Stephen and Alex Kendrick
(Sept.); Image, the Random House Catholic imprint, has 99 Blessings: An Invitation to Life by Br. David Steindl-Rast
(Feb.)two more examples of developing devotionals around well-known
authors and books.
Across the board, publishers report
that devotionals tied to a season or to the
liturgical calendar are among their best-

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Religion Update
sellers. Moore says Chalices Advent and
Lenten devotional titles sometimes sell
out. While these books are hard to promote because they come from many publishers and have a short shelf life, they can
be bread and butter for many publishers
in the category (see Publishing for Holidays a Business Challenge, p. 10).
This is especially true in the Catholic
market. Franciscan Media has a long list
of such devotionals, including Let Us
Adore Him: Daily Meditations for Advent
and Christmas by Richard Fragomeni
(July), Yes/And... Daily Meditations by
Richard Rohr (July), and The Advent of
Christ: Scripture Reflections to Prepare for
Christmas by Edward Sri (July). Pauline
Books and Media, a Catholic publisher,
expects the election of Pope Francis I will
lead to new titles in multiple categories
about his namesake, Saint Francis of
Assisi, including devotional and spiritual practice titles. Brittany Schlorff,
editorial assistant to acquisitions at Pauline, says thats just fine with the Catholic publishing house, where devotionals
and spiritual practice books are considered growing categories. Theres a
renewal of interest in classical spirituality, even among young people, Schlorff
says. These books are timeless. To reach
the youngand anyone else with a
smartphonePauline has developed
book-based apps, including some on
prayer and spiritual practice. New apps
include Beginning Contemplative Prayer,
based on the 2009 book of the same title
by Kathryn J. Hermes, and the 2012
Walk with Me the Way of the Cross by J.
Francis Sofie Jr. (see Category Apps
Expand Audiences for Religion Books,
p. 12)

| Practices for the Spirit

category is a yearning among readers for

a do-it-yourself spirituality. We find
strong response in our readership to our
approach to these subjectspractical,
relevant to daily life, yet dealing with the
mystery of our lives and our relationship
with the Divine, Matlins says. An
example from Jewish Lights is Jewish
Men Pray: Words of Yearning, Praise, Petition, Gratitude and Wonder from Traditional and Contemporary Sources, edited by
Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky and Stuart M.
Matlins (May); from SkyLight Paths
comes Men Pray: Voices of Strength, Faith,
Healing, Hope and Courage by the editors
of SkyLight Paths Publishing with introductions for each type of prayer by Brian
D. McLaren (Apr.).
Other guides include Prayer: Our Deepest Longing by Ronald Rolheiser (Franciscan Media, Aug.), 10 Prayers You Cant
Live Without: How to Talk to God About
Anything by Rick Hamlin (Guideposts,
Apr.; profiled in this issue), Connecting
with God: Prayers for Those Who Have Yet
to Find the Words by William J. OMalley
(Orbis, Feb.), and The Mercy Prayer: The
One Prayer Jesus Always Answers by Robert Gelinas (Thomas Nelson, July).
Tarcher has Heaven on Earth: Timeless
Prayers of Wisdom and Love by Stephanie
Dowrick and The Power of Meditation by
Edward Viljoen (Sept.); from Moody
Press comes It Happens After Prayer: Biblical Motivation for Believing Prayer by H.B.
Charles Jr. (May).
That desire for a practical spirituality
is also evident in new titles about
employing painting, writing, and traveling as spiritual practices. Paraclete has
Color: Drawing a New Path to God by
Sybil MacBeth (Apr.); from Jewish
Lights is PilgrimageThe Sacred Art:

PRAYER 101
Also continuing strong in this category
across the faith spectrumChristian,
Catholic, Jewish, and general spiritualityare books that promise to teach the
reader the basics of prayer or another
spiritual practice like meditation. Stuart
Matlins, publisher of both Jewish Lights
and the more general spirituality-oriented SkyLight Paths, says driving this
4 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY M AY 6 , 2 0 1 3

Journey to the Center of the Heart by Sheryl

A. Kujawa-Holbrook (June). Servant
Books offers The Holy Land: An Armchair
Pilgrimage by Fr. Mitch Pacwa (Sept.).
Eerdmans takes a look at a series of Zen
drawings and poems as a Christian spiritual practice in The Ox-Herder and the Good
Shepherd: Finding Christ on the Buddhas
Path by Addison Hodges Hart (Aug.).
As innovative as some of these titles
are, there is surely more change to come as
people under 30, who polls show are less
likely to be involved with organized religion than their elder counterparts, look
for spiritual materials. Balow says Barbour is already paying attention to such
polls, reaching out to authors grappling
with the challenge of how to practice
faith outside of church walls. Still, he
thinks spiritual practice titles have a
future with those readers, and that one
coming trend may be a blend of contemplation and activism. As for devotionals,
he is less sure. Daily devotional books as
we have known them may well not be as
much a part of the publishing future as
people look for more substance, more
honest wrestling with issues and uncertainties related to faith and more narrative elements within the resources they
read.
Jewish Lights/SkyLight Pathss Matlins also thinks younger, unaffiliated
people will shape the future of the category. There is going to be a sharp divide
between books that are denominationally
driven and only contain inspiration and
wisdom from a particular perspective,
and books that are more broadly driven
across all the worlds wisdom traditions,
he says. I think the latter category is
going to be what appeals to this growing
group of the religiously unaffiliated.

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Religion Update

Practices for the Spirit

Buddhist and mind-body-spirit books

attract many do-it-yourself spiritual
seekers

Mindfulness for All

By Diane Reynolds
Classic how-to books on meditationpractices that still the
mind and bring insight and tranquilityhave long been mainstays of Buddhist and mind-body-spirit (MBS) publishing.
Today its books on mindfulnessa practice that brings the
insights and attentiveness of meditation into everyday life
that are proliferating: if you are a teacher, writer, parent, or in
the military, theres a mindfulness book for you.

hile both Buddhist and MBS

classics continue
to sell strongly, an
exploding population of those who
identify as spiritual but not
religious has also pushed the
markets for these books in new
directions. A recent Pew study showed
that the population of those who are
unaffiliated with any religion has doubled in the past two decades, and many
of them turn to books for guidance and
inspiration in place of religious congregations or ministers.
Wisdom Publications core audience is
Buddhists, but if I only depended on
hardcore Buddhists it would be hard to
survive, says Tim McNeill, Wisdoms
CEO. Many titles have a broad appeal
because Wisdom understands Buddhism
primarily as a human resource and a philosophy rather than a religion, McNeill
says. Practical books like Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness (2009) are
Buddhist in spirit, but theres no idea
that people are going to make a prostration in front of a statue, McNeill says,
when they are finished reading them.

CLASSICS RETAIN THEIR

HOLD
Emily Han, acquisitions editor at Beyond
Words, which publishes both Buddhist
and MBS titles, finds older staples have
a continuing appeal. Thich Nhat Hanhs
1991 Peace Is Every Step is just as fresh,
profound, and relevant [to readers] over
20 years later. People have the same
need for finding peace and wellbeing
amid the stresses of modern life as they
did decades ago, she thinks. McNeill
points to Mindfulness in Plain English by
Bhunte Gunaratana, which came out in
a 20th anniversary edition in 2011, as a
perennially strong-selling introduction
to mindfulness practice.
Dave ONeal, senior editor at Shambhala Publications, which also publishes
both Buddhist and MBS books, agrees
that tried-and-true titles in the realm of

6 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY M AY 6 , 2 0 1 3

Buddhist meditation and mindfulness

continue to sell very well, but notes that
its particular authors that draw readers
with new books as well. There always
seems to be a thirst for Pema Chdrns
new teachingshes a major backlist
seller for usbut her new book, Living
Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change
(Oct., 2012), has started out very strong.
Other popular authors include Chogyam
Trungpa, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat
Hanh, and Jack Kornfield. Shunryu
Suzukis Zen Mind, Beginners Mind has sold
strongly for more than 40 years. ONeal
attributes the continuing popularity of
these books to the high quality of their
writing as well as to their content.
PROLIFERATING NICHES
As spirituality morphs into secular applications, both Buddhist and MBS publishers have moved into titles that appeal
to the nonreligious through specialized applications for mindfulness practice. These include education, sports, food, medicine, psychoanalytic therapy, and healing
environments, even the military
and business, says McNeill. Wisdom titles in applied Buddhism
include The Mindful Writer by
Dinty W. Moore (2012); How to Be
Sick by Toni Bernhard (2010), a book
both for caretakers and those with
chronic illnesses; and Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist
Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work (2012),
which McNeill describes as a volume
that brings together the voices of pioneers in the field of contemplative care,
from hospice and hospitals to colleges,
prisons, and the military.
Sara Carder, executive editor at Penguins MBS imprint, Tarcher, says,
Lately, weve been looking for fresh new
niches within the category to focus on,
[with titles] such as Buddhas Book of Sleep
by Joseph Emet [Jan.], which includes
seven exercises to combat sleep problems. Even a book in the death and
dying category, such as Barry Eatons
upcoming Afterlife (Sept.), offers a practical, step-by-step guide to life after death,

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Religion Update
including what activities and
environments to expect in the
afterlife.
Shambhala has also entered
the field of applied mindfulness. ONeal mentions Jan
Chozen Bayss How to Train a
Wild Elephant (2011), which
includes mindfulness practices
one can do even as a telephone
is ringing, and lawyer Diane
Musho Hamiltons forthcoming Everything Is Workable
(Nov.), which applies Zen meditation practice to conflict resolution.
In 2011, Shambhala spun off
Roost Books, founded by executive v-p Sara Bercholz. Roost
is another illustration of the evolution of
MBS books into the practical direction of
how-to books on cooking, crafts, and creativity. Lifestyle books, Bercholz says,
were doing well for us and were particularly inspiring in the energy they were
bringing to the company, so creating a
brand around them felt like a natural
progression. To reach a broader audience, it also made sense from a branding
perspective to create a unique identity
apart from Shambhala, which is known
for spiritual/psychological/philosophical
titles, Bercholz says.
One type of book is not currently
appearing on Shambhalas list: We hope
all of our books are those readers turn to
regularly for inspiration and guidance,
but in 2013 the daily inspirational reading format isnt appearing in our seasonal lists, says Steve Pomije, Shambhalas marketing communications manager. Wisdom, on the other hand, will
release Daily Doses of Wisdom, a book of
inspiration. People like that, says
McNeill. Its a comforting thing.
BEING HEARD ABOVE THE
NOISE
Han says Buddhism has flowed naturally
into the broader MBS category, but she
notes that both the MBS and Buddhist
markets are saturated. Beyond Words is
seeking books that can rise above the

| Feature

white noise, she says, and offer

something fresh to the reader.
She sees two major directions:
books for the spiritual-but-notreligious, and young emerging voices that are sharing their
own unique experiences and
exploration of spirituality free
from dogma and doctrine.
Beyond Words is adding
titles that offer a new twist to
traditional subjects, such as the
upcoming Buddhas Wife by
Janet Surrey and Stephen Bergman (Sept. 2014). Aimed at
women, the book will tell the
story of Princess Yasodhara,
locating Buddhist enlightenment in a practical environment of family, relationships, and community, Han says.
Other titles, such as Lama Maruts A
Spiritual Renegades Guide to the Good Life
(2012), seek to share the wisdom of
Buddhist teachings and practices for
modern-day spiritual seekers or renegades who are looking for [both] a
grounded and slightly rebellious
approach, says Han. Maruts second
book, Be Nobody (June 2014), also aimed
at the nonreligious, will continue the
edgy dialogue with traditional Buddhism. The Internet has driven at least
one acquisition: Beyond Words has
signed the Indie Spiritualist Web site
owner, Chris Grosso, whose book will
combine teachings from Buddhism,
Hinduism, and Christianity with the
creative arts.
The titles say it all: Wisdoms recent
entries into an edgier market include the
still popular Saltwater Buddha: A Surfers
Quest to Find Zen on the Sea (2009), while
Shambhala offers Lodro Rinzlers The
Buddha Walks into a Bar (2012) and his
forthcoming Walk like a Buddha: Even if
Your Boss Sucks, Your Ex Is Torturing You,
and Youre Hung Over Again (fall, 2013).
Hes a young and hip Buddhist teacher
who speaks to those among the nones
who might say if Im anything, Im a
Buddhist, says ONeal.
MBS publishers are also releasing

8 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY M AY 6 , 2 0 1 3

books to help push people into higher

cognitive awareness. Leap of Perception by
Penny Peirce from Beyond Words (May)
is a how-to book for the attention skills
that will become normal in the upcoming intuition age, such as undivided
attention, unified field attention, and
collective self attention. Readers will
learn new human abilities such as telepathy and instant healing, according to
Beyond Words publicist Jessica Sturges.
At Tarcher, one recent trend weve seen
in the MBS market is a fascination with
how mindfulness practices can impact
brain development, says Carder, noting
the upcoming, tentatively titled, Brainstorm by Daniel J. Siegel (fall, 2013),
which approaches a specific topicthe
adolescent brainwith mindfulness
theory.
For Beyond Words Han, Its been
important for us to publish titles that
open up the conversationthat extend
and expand the dialogueand be as
inclusive as possible to a wide range of
readers. For Wisdoms McNeill, the
future looks bright: Im convinced there
will be continuing efforts to apply these
techniques in more and more environments. In the West science tends to be
the great arbiter of truth. As these
research efforts validate the efficacy of
meditation and mindfulness, it will only
serve to stimulate reader interest.

Feature

Religion Update

Lifes Milestones

Aging, Caregiving, and

Grief
By Juli Cragg Hilliard
Some human experiences are inevitable, and they inevitably
bring books. The focus might shift, but the topics of death,
grief, and aging never go away. Today, as baby boomers age,
these books are finding even more readers seeking comfort,
guidance, and encouragement.

enedictine nun Joan Chittister

writes an overarching book on
life milestones with For Everything a Season (Mar.). Using
timeless verses from Ecclesiastes, Chittister writes that
meaning and fullness exist in all
moments, according to publisher Robert Ellsberg: We tend to focus on the
highlights of our life, whether the
happy moments or the moments of joy,
but those are inextricably intertwined
with the dry moments of grief and sadness.
While books on aging, caring for
aging parents, death and dying, and grief
have always found an audience, interest
in life passage books has increased as
boomers age and their parents are living
longer, affirms Dawn Woods, publisher
of Christian living and gift books at
B&H Publishing. She cites National
Alliance for Caregiving data that estimates 65 million people in the U.S. are
unpaid family caregivers.
As a Christian publisher, were looking for more ways to inspire and get
[people] through, Woods says, adding
that highly personal books sell well.
B&Hs titles on coping include Melissa
(June) by Frank Page, a former president
of the Southern Baptist Convention
(with Lawrence Kimbrough), about the
suicide of Pages adult daughter.
Says Tamara Crabtree, executive direc-

tor of marketing for Abingdon Press, The experiences

of our authors are compelling
them to write around these
milestones in their lives.
Abingdon is publishing
Moving Miss Peggy by Robert
Benson (May), about his
family coping with his
mothers dementia. This
summer Thomas Nelson publishes Walk
Through the Dark by Eva Piper with Cecil
Murphey (July). The book tells Pipers
side of the story of her husband, Don,
who was hospitalized, died, and returned,
as told with Murphey in the megaselling
90 Minutes in Heaven (Revell, 1994).
In Love Growing Older, but Ill Never
Grow Old (Abingdon, Apr.), J. Ellsworth
Kalas addresses learning to make peace
with where you are right now. Donald
Hilliard Jr., presiding bishop of Covenant Ecumenical Fellowship and Cathedral Assemblies Inc., writes with Rhoda
McKinney-Jones about his journey past
40 in Midlife, Manhood, and Ministry
(Judson Press, Apr).
REFLECTIONS ON
BEREAVEMENT
Stories about great suffering attract readers by offering comfort and insight into
how others survive terrible situations,
notes Dave Lewis, executive v-p of sales
and marketing for Baker Publishing

Group. In A Force of Will (Baker Books,

Mar.), pastor Mike Stavlund explores his
struggles after his four-month-old sons
sudden death. Stavlund hated what books
on loss had to say. He felt like nobody
was being real with him, says Lewis,
describing Stavlunds as a very honest
book.
Taylors Gift (Revell, Apr.) by Todd
and Tara Storch, with Jennifer Schuchmann, tells of the death of the Storches
13-year-old daughter, Taylor, in a skiing
accident and the donation of her organs
to five people. The publisher sends out
media kits with a bottle of nail polish in
Taylors favorite shade of blue. Because
of the organ donation, were
getting quite a strong media
backing on this book, Lewis
says.
New books from other
publishers include Life After
Death by Elizabeth Bookser
Barkley (Franciscan Media,
Apr.), on widowhood; North
of Hope by Shannon Huffman
Polson (Zondervan, Apr.),
about the authors travels to
the site in Alaska where a grizzly bear
killed her parents; and Grieving the Loss of
a Loved One by H. Norman Wright
(Regal, June).
Joseph Durepos, executive editor for
trade acquisitions at Catholic publisher
Loyola Press, says, What were seeing
right now is a lot more interest in what
we and others in the business call secondhalf-of-life spirituality.
Loyolas titles include Rock-Bottom
Blessings by Karen Beattie (Feb.), Love
and Salt by Amy Andrews and Jessica
Mesman Griffith (Jan.), and A Season of
Mystery by Paula Huston (2012). Long
after Joseph Cardinal Bernardins death,
the memoir of his final days, The Gift of
Peace (1998), continues to sell.
One of the things about the second half
of life is that everything that was black
and white when you were younger
becomes less so, Durepos says, and lifes
troubles teach many to see the world
with a little more mercy, a little more
charity.

W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M 9

Religion Update

Feature

Publishing for Holidays

a Business Challenge
By Andy Butcher
Holiday seasons like Christmas/Hanukkah and Lent/Passover/
Easter are short and crowded sales windows, but they offer
generous payouts to religion publishers who know how and
when to position their titles.

JULIE DOWD, 2013

easonal products are a

multimillion-dollar
market, a significant
part of our business
for Abingdon Press,
says Susan Salley, associate publisher of Ministry
Resources for the imprints parent, United Methodist Publishing House. Tapping into
church groups looking for
devotional studies during Lent, Susan Salley
for example, can significantly multiply
salesin some seasons we resource
15,000 or more church communities,
along with individual readers, Salley says.
Time-sensitive titles are also very
important to Kar-Ben, the leading Jewish
childrens publisher, whose first quarter
2013 releases included Its a Mitzvah, Grover!, part of a series of Sesame Streetrelated
holiday books. The Jewish world very
much operates around its holidays, notes
publisher Joni Sussman.
Readers and retailers are not interested
in Lent and Easter books until Christmas is
over, notes Salley. Lent began February 13
this year, just six weeks into the new year.
Its not a big window to share your message, she adds. However, the traffic increase
at Christmas provides a wonderful opportunity for sales, according to Todd Niemeyer, v-p of sales for HarperCollins Christian Publishing, where seasonal books are
always an important part of our publishing
plan.
Though holiday titles dominate the
shelves for only a quarter, it can be a glorious three months, says Barbara Baker,

director of marketing, sales,

and Internet for Franciscan
Media. The Catholic publisher
approaches holiday titles as
perennials with repeat potential, having stopped dating
devotionals to a specific year in
2009. Baker cites Richard
Rohrs Wondrous Encounters:
Scripture for Lent (2010) as a
wonderful perennial seller for
us.
First Communion season, the six to
eight weeks after Easter, is very important for Catholic publishers, notes Don
Cooper, executive director of the Word
Among Us. We are pretty careful in what
we select [for holiday releases]; its a short
window, he says. But if you hit it right,
it can be well worth it. The publisher
scored a hit with its 2009 childrens title,
Jesus Speaks to Me on My First Communion,
which continues to sell well.
With short-season books, marketing
has to be coordinated well ahead of time,
says Jeff Crosby, associate publisher and
director of sales and marketing for InterVarsity Press, which does only a few holiday-focused titles, though this year republished Michael Cards 2000 A Violent Grace:
Meeting Christ at the Cross, offering a companion live CD in collaboration with the
singers label, Covenant Artists. Retailers
and consumers need to be made aware of
the books, and print runs have to be managed well, says Crosby.
Though Christmas might be a small
window, its one that opens every year,
observes Shauna Summers, executive editor

10 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y M A Y 6 , 2 0 1 3

at Random House, which acquired bestseller Debbie Macombers general-market

writingincluding a popular annual
Christmas storylast year. Macomber sells
well in the Christian market, where she is
published by Howard Books.
At Tyndale House, which takes a cautious approach to holiday titles, Karen
Watson, associate publisher for fiction,
observes there is a subtle risk with seasonal
books that dont take off: a poorly performing holiday title can provide an unfair
comparison to retailers basing orders of
future titles on an authors history.
SLOW TO GO DIGITAL
Though e-books have been making inroads
into every category, holiday titles have
been among the least affected for two reasons. They are often bought to be given to
others, and those who purchase a title for
themselves as a devotional or reflective
exercise like to handle a physical copy as
part of the experience.
Digital extras can help with the perennial push Franciscan Medias Baker
referred to. Abingdon Press attributed part
of its ongoing success with Adam Hamiltons 24 Hours That Changed the World, first
released in 2010, with associated downloadable church resources made available
this year.
Though holiday e-book sales may be
small, the same is not true for devotionals,
which sell particularly well around holidays like Easter, Christmas, and New
Years. This genre is experiencing solid
digital growth, says Laura Minchew,
senior v-p and publisher for gifts, children,
and new media at Thomas Nelson, especially with regard to apps. She points to
the app for Sarah Youngs bestselling
Thomas Nelson devotional, Jesus Calling,
which has consistently ranked in the Top
10 book apps on iTunes.
Another technological development,
the rise of print on demand, has eased some
of the pressure on holiday titles. No longer
do publishers have to risk a big initial firstprint run because a traditional reprint
might not be completed in time. Managing inventory is easier, says Abingdons
Salley.

F E AT U R E D I N

TIME

M A GA Z I NE

ALSO:

TIME Magazine cover and article

TIME Magazine Top 100 Most Influential People of 2013
Charisma magazine CharismaNews.com
Relevant magazine Enrichment Journal
Publishers Weekly CNN Espaol Associated Press
FOX News

AMAZING FAITH
Fiercely dedicated to rebuilding lives
through grace and compassion, Reverend
Wilfredo Choco De Jess is known
throughout Chicago and across the country
as a champion of change and a pioneer in
urban compassion ministries.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

VP of Social Justice for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the largest
Hispanic Christian organization, serving over 15 million believers
Former Commissioner for Chicagos Zoning Board of Appeals
Founder and Executive Director of New Life Family Services
Sought-after motivational speaker at church and community events, schools and conferences
Globally-respected advocate for social justice

Religion Update

Feature

Category Apps Expand

Audiences for

Religion Books

By J. Victoria Sanders
In 2013, apps are expected to generate $25 billion in revenue, according to a March forecast from ABI Research,
which tracks mobile application trends. The popularity of tablets over smartphones is also expected to increase demand
for apps, and developers who make apps with devotional or
religious themes see potential to expand their audiences.

STEPHANIE HORSTKOETTER

hristian publishers who have

been exploring ways to extend
authors reach have augmented
print materials with apps offering interactive features that
allow readers to learn more
about hyperlinked words or take digital
notes on their mobile devices. Developers working independently of book publishers have started creating faith-related
apps to commemorate holidays and anniversaries, or to create communities of
people interested in spiritual practices
like meditation or Bible study.
Clear winners for publishing-related
apps are those that complement childrens titles. Gary Chapman, author of
the perennially bestselling
The 5 Love Languages (Moody
Publishers) recently released
a childrens title, A Perfect Pet
for Peyton. Janis Backing,
publicity manager at Moody,
says that creating an app for
it drove a rise in sales. Since
this is our first app, we dont
have anything else to compare it to, but the feedback
weve received from readers Janis Backing
is theyre very pleased with the book, the
story, and the way the app enhances the
story, she says.
Molly Kempf Hodgin, director of new

media for childrens and gift books at

Thomas Nelson, says that apps for bestsellers like Jesus Calling and Max Lucados Live Loved have been successful
among consumers, with Bible study and
devotional applications that allow users
to highlight passages on a tablet while on
the go in a way that isnt as common with
print copies anymore, she notes. The ease
with which apps are shared as gifts has
also helped.
Outside of Christian publishing,
developers with faith-specific interests
have experimented with creating applications for niche audiences. Brad Fullmer,
owner of Spotlight Six Software, got his
first iPhone in 2008. As a meditator, he
noticed that while he liked
the new phone, its timer
sounds werent particularly
pleasant. He created Insight
Timer, an application that
allows meditators worldwide
to set any amount of meditation time theyd like, while
also viewing a map of other
meditators around the globe.
The whole idea behind the
app at first was to make a
basic kind of timerinstead of having a
nasty buzzing sound, [its] a beautiful
bell. More than four years later, the app
is available across operating systems for

12 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y M A Y 6 , 2 0 1 3

$1.99 and has logged over three million

meditation sessions. Fullmer has added
group features that offer forums so that
people can meditate in virtual groups.
Sam Tannen, an independent developer
based in Los Angeles, creates childrens
content through his company, Corky Portwine. Hes made a Hanukkah app in the
pastsuch avenues for Jewish storytelling didnt exist in his youthbut when
his father mentioned that Passover was
approaching, he developed Passover: The
Ten Plagues, which he says has been his
most popular app to date. He credits that
to practice (hes developed several other
apps for children) and timing. Explaining it to people is a challenge, Tannen
says. I call it an interactive storybook, or
a digital animated storybook. Its easier
just to show people.
Other developers have been making
holiday-related applications for adults as
well. Downhill publishing released the
Ultimate Digital Haggadah 2.0, offering
readers an illuminated copy of the
ancient text for Passover Seder dinners.
Recognizing that they have a new opportunity to reach readers with illuminated
text, some religious magazine publishers
are getting into the app market, too. In
March, the Roman Catholic magazine
Liguorian announced an app for iPads,
iPhones, and the iPod Touch to debut for
users with the 100th anniversary issue of
the magazine. Users of the Liguorian app
could download the issue for free.
Catholic publishers like Our Sunday
Visitor have also started creating apps;
several give easier access to content about
saints from the book Our Sunday Visitors
Encyclopedia of Saints, says Greg Pike,
director of publishing operations. The
most popular among them is Saint
Names for Your Baby, though there is
also a rosary app and an app for patron
saints. Pike says that Our Sunday Visitor
has intentionally avoided dumping a
book into an app. Instead, he is aware
that as publishers, were all competing
for time and attention. Some people fire
up Facebook [on their phones], but others spend time connecting deeply with
what they believe in..

Profiles

IN

Religion Update

Profile

Caryn Rivadeneira

One Mother to
Another
Caryn Rivadeneira
has had her struggles as a mother of
three. Shes been short-tempered, locked
herself in a room to avoid the kids, and
stood by and watched while her child had
a major meltdown. Havent we all?
This mom has a heart for other moms
and shares it in her newest book, Known
and Loved: 52 Devotions from the Psalms
(Revell, May; reviewed in this issue). The
collection of weekly readings will get
ready-made promotion under the Mothers
of Preschoolers brand; MOPS is a resource
organization with a Web site, magazine,
annual convention, and associated books,
now being published by Revell, including Known and Loved. The books theme is
identity and takes readers through 10
principles that define Christian motherhood, such as You are held by God and
You are given fresh starts.
For the first time in my career a project came to me via my agent. MOPS was
looking for a devotional project with the
theme of identity. My first book was on
motherhood and identity, so I thought it
would be cool to revisit that, says
Rivadeneira, who works part-time at
Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church in
Illinois. Her first book was Mamas Got a
Fake I.D.: How to Reveal the Real You
Behind All That Mom (WaterBrook,
2009).
In Known and Loved, Rivadeneira uses
the biblical book of Psalms to frame her
collection of short devotionalsperfect

for moms chasing young childrenand

offers a study guide, Scripture index, and
writing exercise for readers to create their
own psalms.
The takeaway for the book is knowing
that we are not only loved by God, but are
known by God, which makes us worth
knowing, says Rivadeneira. We are
worth knowing to those around us and
our families, but its humbling and amazing to know that God peeks into our souls
and loves us, especially when were doing
those tasks that seem so mundane.
One of Rivadeneiras goals is to be
honest and transparent about her experiences as a mother, some of them beautiful
and others not so pretty.
Of her devotional, Rivadeneira says,
Sometimes you come to a book and it
can be off-putting if the author is an
expert. But this is one struggling mom
writing to another struggling mom. I try
to be honest about my experiences, and
in being known by God.
Rivadeneira has a novel, Shades of Mercy,
co-written with Anita Lustrea, releasing
from Moodys River North Fiction
imprint in September, and a nonfiction
book tentatively titled Live on the Lookout
coming out with InterVarsity Press in
2014. 
Ann Byle

David Swanson

Helping the
Living Help
the Dying
For David Swanson, Everlasting Life
(Baker Books, June) is the book hes
always wanted to write. As senior pastor

of First Presbyterian Church of Orlando,

Fla., hes been in many situations involving dying and grieving people.
Swanson, also author of Learning to Be
You: How Our True Identity in Christ Sets
Us Free (Baker Books, 2012), says,
When we know how the story turns out,
it makes our experiences in the present
more hopeful and meaningful.
Everlasting Life is unapologetically an
exploration of a Christian view of death.
Knowledge of heaven informs our present as Christians. Our attitude in the
day-to-day will be very different because
we know what will happen in the end,
says Swanson, who is also part of a nationwide ministry called the Well that
reaches more than 100,000 via Christian
television each week.
A blend of advice and help for people
in ministry like pastors and counselors,
Everlasting Life also could be used in class
by seminarians, by those who are facing
death themselves or who are close to
someone near death, or even by those
who simply want to explore this enduring subject.
The genesis for Swansons book was a
four-week sermon series he preached in
2006. It struck a chord, prompting many
questions and eventually generating several classes at the church. Swanson has
also accompanied many who are dying or
grieving through that process, and seen
others say dramatically wrong things
(Its Gods will; Call me if theres anything I can do).I want this book to help
prepare people to have some idea of the
dynamics and emotions of this process,
to learn what helps and what doesnt, he
says. Because theyre afraid of saying the
wrong thing, people dont show up. I
hope the book helps people overcome
fear and equips them to say the right
things. His advice? Be present, be hopeful, be prayerful.
Swanson admits that the book was difficult to write at times because someone
close to him had died. Reliving that was
emotional and draining, but cathartic in
a way, he says. It helped me process a
lot of my own feelings.

Ann Byle
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y . C O M 13

Religion Update
Mary Hayes Grieco

Everyday
Spirituality
Two decades ago, when she published The
Kitchen Mystic, (Hazeldon, 1992), Mary
Hayes Grieco got the feeling it was a book
that would be with her for a long time.
This June, with the publication of The
New Kitchen Mystic (Beyond Words, June
4), her intuition turns out to be true.
Writing is a byproduct of my own
spiritual questions, says Grieco in an
interview from her home in Minneapolis.
Those questions drove the original edition, which began as a series of columns
in a local health and recovery journal.
The columns were my impulse to share
my discovery process with other spiritual
seekers, she says.
The New Kitchen Mystic, which contains
11 new essays plus a new introduction, is
about finding meaning, awareness, and
mindfulness in even the most mundane
activities. Grieco uses the metaphor of
the kitchen as a place where people perform everyday tasks in a way that is both
functional and transformative.
Being a spiritual seeker, according to
Grieco, means striving for a life of meaning in a complex world, and asking questions of both the inner and outer spaces
we inhabit. She describes it as an ongoing dialogue between that part of God
thats inside of us and that part of God
thats all around us.
Griecos work is also focused on an oftencited reason people embark on spiritual
journeysthe process of asking for and
bestowing forgiveness. Her 2011 book,
Unconditional Forgiveness: A Simple and Proven
Method to Forgive Everyone and Everything
(Beyond Words), explored that theme in
depth, reflecting her work as founder of the
Midwest Institute for Forgiveness Training.

| Profiles

She conducts forgiveness workshops

for the general public; professional training sessions for clergy, psychologists, and
social workers; and church-based programs for congregations. Her insights
have clearly found an audienceGriecos
e-mail newsletter, which she sends
through her Web site, MaryHayesGrieco.com, has some 3,500 subscribers,
and 2,500 follow her on Facebook.
While Grieco describes Unconditional
Forgiveness as a purely how-to book, The
New Kitchen Mystic is a combination of
how-to essays, storytelling, and philosophical reflection. The topics are meant to
appeal to the growing spiritual-but-notreligious segment of the U.S. population
that is part of the nones because they
dont adhere to one particular tradition.
Though the nones are much discussed
todaymainly due to a Pew research
study that showed one-fifth of Americans
to be unaffiliated with any faith (and some
to be atheists)Grieco believes the spiritual-but-not-religious cohort was also her
readers in 1992 when The Kitchen Mystic
was first published. The yearnings havent
changed, she says: Theres a lot more permission [now] in our culture to be a none
without being a weirdo, says Grieco. I
think my audience before was [some of]
the nones, and I think my audience today
is alsobut it is a larger audience.

Holly Lebowitz Rossi

Jamal Rahman

The Wisdom
of Islam

Imam Jamal Rahman describes the

spiritual life as a quest to become a more
complete human being. He hopes his new
book, Spiritual Gems of Islam: Insights and
Practices from the Quran, Hadith, Rumi, and
Muslim Teaching Stories to Enlighten the Heart

14 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y M A Y 6 , 2 0 1 3

and Mind (SkyLight Paths, May; reviewed

in this issue), will be a resource for anyone
Muslim or not, religious or notwho
yearns for deeper meaning in their lives.
Rahman is a Sunni Muslim learned in
the mystical tradition called Sufism. His
grandfather was a rainmaker, a scholar
and mystic, he says, who lived in northern
Bengal, India. Rahmans father, although
trained in the Sufi traditions, was a diplomat.
Though he initially imagined following in his fathers footsteps as a diplomat,
Rahman found himself drawn to his lineage of Sufi teachers and healers, especially as he observed a growing number
of people hungering for spiritual
resources for how to evolve fully, he says.
Looking back on the life-changing
moment he committed to that path,
Rahman reflects, I decided to take a
chance and fulfill my dream of creating
community by taking what I had learned
from my parents and other teachers.
Rahman, now a U.S. citizen, first
began teaching spiritual development
workshops in his Seattle home in the
early 1990s and soon expanded to become
c o - m i n i s t e r ( w i t h R e v. D o n a l d
Mackenzie) of the Interfaith Community
Sanctuary, a congregation that now has
more than 200 members.
In his book and in his interfaith work,
Rahman says he finds that politics and
even religion often distract from the
deepest yearnings of the human heart.
In Islam, we say we are looking in the
leaves and branches for what really
appears in the roots.
Spiritual Gems of Islam offers insights
and practices on such topics as prayer,
community, death, and happiness, guiding readers to complete the inconvenient work of opening the heart, transforming the ego, and as Islamic tradition
puts it, sending out light from the heart
to anyone you meet, Rahman says.
This wisdom is intended for a wide
audience. Rahman describes nonreligious spiritual seekers as bees collecting
nectar from many different flowers. He
urges readers who are rooted in one religious tradition and are unsure whether

Profiles |

another faiths teachings will confuse or

water down their spiritual commitments, to think of interfaith learning as
having a major and a minor.
Dont be scared that itll dilute your
tradition or your attachment to your tradition, he says. It will enhance that
attachment. Interfaith is not about conversion, its about completion.

Holly Lebowitz Rossi

Patty Kirk

Enjoying the
Work of God
Patty Kirks Christian equation used to
look like this: Duty + Guilt = Spiritual
Value. But experience and maturity has
taught her to look past that burdensome
spiritual math to a new theorem: Desires
+ Joy = Pleasing God.
She posits this theory in her new book,
The Easy Burden of Pleasing God (IVP,
Mar.), one of the inaugural titles in the
new IVP Crescendo line of books for
women. Kirk offers readers a unique blend
of personal stories, scriptural explication,
and careful thought in a book that could
free women (and men, too) from the long
list of duties they feel God wants them to
accomplish.
Kirk uses the story of her aging motherin-law to describe the evolution of her
thoughts on pleasing God. Mamaw lived in
a house on her and her husband Kriss
Oklahoma farm, at first a great help in raising
their two daughters. But age and dementia
had turned visits to Mamaws house into
dreaded duty. Id go down there to do my
duty, but come away bitter, says Kirk.
She realized, however, that by reading
her work-in-progress to Mamaw she
could delight both her beloved motherin-law and herself. Mamaw listened and
felt loved; Kirk read and felt joy in mak-

Religion Update

ing Mamaw happy.

Those visits transformed the business
of spending time with Mamaw into
something wonderful, teaching me it was
possible to turn what we perceive as duty
into something we look forward to, that
is rewarding and enjoyable, says Kirk.
The more she thought about faith and
how the faithful tend to make their Godwork a duty, the more she deepened her
understanding of Jesus words. Despite
what we may think, following Jesus isnt
meant to be a chore: He says in the book
of Matthew, chapter 11, verse 30: For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Says Kirk, who teaches half-time at
Brown University in Arkansas and writes
half-time, [Now] when I undertake to
do anything of a spiritual nature, I set out
to find it enjoyable. I select what Im
going to do on that basis. Even when its
something I have to do, I am determined
to find enjoyment in it.  Ann Byle

Ian Punnett

Too Angry to
Pray?

Ian Punnett writes what he knows. The

author of How to Pray When Youre Pissed
at God (Harmony, May; reviewed in PW,
Mar. 11) has prayed a few angry prayers,
especially after tinnitus, with ringing
and noises in the ears that make it difficult to sleep, forced him to leave his position as cohost of the popular radio program Coast to Coast AM.
As awful as this isand it is awful
its not cancer, my children are well, Ive
had a very successful career. There are
many things to be grateful for, he says.
But knowing that things could be worse
doesnt stop people from feeling angry.
Punnett knows this firsthand as a deacon
in the Episcopal Church, where he has

ministered to many with problems that

have sparked anger with God.
The idea that someone could express
anger at God first struck him when he saw
a priest played by Gene Hackman yell at
God in the 1972 movie The Poseidon
Adventure. I was shocked and amazed
that a person of faith could do that, he
says. His 11-year-olds logic told him:
You yell at God, you die.
Years later, the concept of being angry
with God resurfaced while at Columbia
Theological Seminary in Atlanta he was
studying the anger psalms (e.g., Psalm
44: Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?...
Why do you hide your face and forget our
misery and oppression?...). After venting, the writers seemed to feel better, he
noticed. He saw a process: recognize how
you feel; work and pray through it; be
released and healed.
When Punnett served as a chaplain
intern in hospitals, anger with God was
a central feature in his discussions with
patients and family members. People
were too mad to pray, yet prayer was
what they craved the most, he says.
Punnett says How to Pray When Youre
Pissed at God is a tool that can be placed
in the hands of those feeling anger with
God, though not everyone will embrace
it, he knows. One conservative religion
publisher acknowledged a need for the
topic, but passed on such a risky title,
Punnett says. The word pissed isnt a
gimmick, he insists, because that word
came up most in his conversations with
angry people. It expresses a more acute
type of anger. They werent upset, or
angry. They were pissed.
The potentially offensive word has
been dropped from the books URL to the
official Web site www.howtopraybook.
com, so churches and pastors can provide
a link to the material without embarrassment, as a tool to help people say what
they mean and speak from the heart.
The Bible isnt a sanitized version of
life, Punnett says. It captures the emotions of real life and that is why it still
speaks. God is willing to listen to
humans speak, too, even when they are
angry. 
Lauren Yarger
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y . C O M 15

Religion Update

Books in

Brief
Daily Wisdom: Islamic
Prayers and Supplications

Abdur Raheem Kidwai. Kube (Consortium,

dist.), $18 (416p) ISBN 978-1-84774-043-4

his beautiful prayer book is part of a

Daily Wisdom series by Kidwai, professor of English at Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, India. It contains 365
short prayers in English with Arabic versions on facing pages. A helpful and
detailed index lists topics and related
prayers so that the reader can find prayers
about, say, worry, children, or illness. The
prayers are drawn from the Quran and hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. The volume includes decorative endpapers and a ribbon marker, making it a
nice gift, especially for students of Arabic
or those interested in interfaith relations.
It also provides a glimpse of Islamic piety,
with its emphasis on petitionary prayer and
dependence on Allah for meeting needs
both daily (a prayer on seeing someone
smiling) and extraordinary (a prayer when
facing a calamity). (July)

Reviews

up than some currently popular views of

eternity. The books strength lies in the
understanding of grief and suggestions for
responding to it. So many need help on this
sensitive subject, and sections on what to
say and what not to say are both apt. This
book will speak most clearly to those
already strongly grounded in traditional
Christian faith, which the author views as
the best bulwark against death and its companions, grief and loss. (June)

Known and Loved:

52 Devotions from the
Psalms
Caryn Rivadeneira. Revell, $12.99 trade
paper (192p) ISBN 978-0-8007-2207-4

Everlasting Life:
How God Answers Our
Questions about Grief, Loss,
and the Promise of Heaven

ivadeneira (Grumble Hallelujah) offers

52 short reflections on passages from
the biblical Book of Psalms. The book is
targeted at mothers of young childrenit
bears a Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS)
sealwho will particularly appreciate
the brevity of each section, which can be
consumed like a scriptural vitamin. Rivadeneira writes in a chatty, girlfriendly tone
for her intended audience, although some
may find it flat and/or culturally clichd (a
reference to Downton Abbey, for example).
From a faith perspective, the author offers
encouragement and reassurance, qualities
that mothers are long on. She also unpacks
what might seem like remote and timebound biblical passages about sheep or
military trumpet blasts to show their contemporary application. The book will work
best as gentle Bible study for suburban
mothers. Agent: Andrea Heinecke, Alive Communications. (May)

David D. Swanson. Baker, $13.99 trade

paper (192p) ISBN 978-0-8010-1446-8

Chasing Francis:

wanson, pastor of the 4,000-member

First Presbyterian Church of Orlando,
Fla., wrestles honestly with end-of-life
questions and considerations about death
and the Christian understanding of eternal
life. He draws on 23 years of pastoral experience as well as the Bible and other writers
on the subject (C.S. Lewis, Viktor Frankl),
so his observations are informed and judicious. They are also traditional (heaven is
first-class and forever and people will live
there in glorified bodies), but more grown-

A Pilgrims Tale

Ian Morgan Cron. Zondervan, $14.99

trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-31033669-3

ron (Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me)

is an underrated author who has the
good luck of having written a parable about
the saint whose name was recently taken by
Francis I, the new pope. Even better, the
tale is engaging, as good parables ought to
be. Hero Chase Falson is the pastor of an
evangelical megachurch in New England

16 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y M A Y 6 , 2 0 1 3

whose crisis of faith

inopportunely manifests itself in a sermon
to his congregation.
Hes urged to take
some time off and
flees to visit a relative
in Italy who happens
to be a Franciscan
priest. As Chase travels to restore himself
spiritually, he learns about Francis of Assisi
and what people of faith should be doing in
their churches. Other authors would tackle
this subject and crank out predictable,
unoriginal nonfiction; Crons clever spin
and gentle critique makes it fresh and lets
it speak outside an evangelical Christian
audience. Think the Italy part of Eat Pray,
Love, minus the self-indulgence. Agent: Lee
Hough, Alive Communications. (May)

Spiritual Gems of Islam:

Insights & Practices from
the Quran, Hadith, Rumi &
Muslim Teaching Stories to
Enlighten the Heart and
Mind
Imam Jamal Rahman. SkyLight Paths,
$16.99 trade paper (176p) ISBN 978-159473-430-4

ahman, one of the three Interfaith

Amigos who have collaborated on
two books, is a Muslim Sufi minister in
Seattle, and he compiles gems of Islamic
spirituality. He cites short verses from the
Quran, hadith (sayings of Muhammad),
and Sufi poets, especially the popular 13thcentury mystic Rumi; he then offers exposition that teases out the meaning and
application of the verse and concludes with
short suggestions for spiritual practices.
Rahmans frame of reference is Sufism, the
mystical school of Islam, so his focus is
devotional. Yet he is skilled at weaving
anecdotes from his everyday experiences
into his discussion of Islamic teachings.
Those who appreciate the poet Rumi will
be able to locate their literary understanding in a religious context. And non-Muslims can learn Islams 99 namesattributesof God, listed in an appendix, a
short but powerful devotional and theological lesson. (May)

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