In a move intended to fill a long-standing gap in the number of books reflecting the religion and spirituality of African-Americans, several national publishers are adding substantially to their lists in this area.
Finding a growing interest, publishers are bringing out books on Christian living, spirituality, specialty Bibles and other inspirational themes. Publishers Weekly (Dec. 13) states that this is a welcome change from the ‘gloom and doom’ criticism of the dearth of such titles in large numbers. Bishop T.D. Jakes has published “Maximizing the Moment”
(Putnam); African-American authors Linnie Frank and Andria Hall are finding wide interest in “This Far by Faith: How to Put God First in Everyday Life” (Doubleday). On-going problems for this genre include a continuing need for more capital investment and for increasing the ways in which marketing procedures are implemented.
Despite these matters, African-American religious titles continue to sell well, including William Key’s and Robert Smith-Johnson’s “From One Brother to Another: Voices of African American Men” (Judson), and E. Hammond Oglesby’s “Ten Principles of Black Self Esteem: Lessons of Heritage, Lessons of Hope” (Pilgrim).
— By Erling Jorstad