LTRP Note: HarperSan Francisco (HarperCollins)is the parent company for Zondervan which has been a major catalyst for the emerging church movement as well as for Purpose Driven Life. Both companies are owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. HarperSan Francisco is also the publisher for Richard Foster’s Renovare Spiritual Formation Study Bible.
S.F. Publisher Bets on Christian Fiction
Heidi Benson,
Chronicle Staff Writer
As blockbuster ‘Left Behind’ series ends, industry looks for next big inspirational hit
For HarperSanFrancisco, a publisher of religious and spiritual books, the time has come to capitalize on the market for Christian fiction revealed by the success of the “Left Behind” series of evangelical novels.
Since 1995, those apocalyptic thrillers, based on the Book of Revelation and written by Jerry B. Jenkins and influential Christian-right leader Tim LaHaye, have sold more than 50 million copies. When sales figures come in for the just-published last book in the 16-part series, “Kingdom Come” — in which satanic forces are vanquished and heaven is established on Earth — that number is only due to grow.
“It has been a wake-up call for a lot of retail channels. They realized that money could be made,” said Mickey Maudlin, HarperSanFrancisco’s editorial director. “Some of the major chains said, ‘Hey, these sell really well for us, and the only people doing them are the smaller Christian publishers.'” Click here to read the rest of this article.
Related Information:
*Why Has Fox News Interviewed Rick Warren So Much Lately?
*Richard Foster’s Renovare Study Bible
