MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
April 6 – 13, 2006 Edition
Penguin Launches
Innovative Christian
Publishing Program
NEW YORK, NY/4/5/06Penguin Praise, a new innovative Christian publishing program, is being launched by Penguin Group (USA), it was announced today by Susan Petersen Kennedy, President, Penguin Group (USA). Penguin Praise will publish books by top-tier Christian authors through multiple Penguin Group (USA) imprints into both the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) and American Booksellers Association (ABA) markets maximizing the success of these titles in each market.
Mrs. Kennedy comments, Landmark religious and inspirational publishing has long been an integral part of Penguin Group (USA). With the exciting launch of Penguin Praise, we now have the unrivaled ability to successfully publish titles into both the CBA and ABA consumer trade markets. This will substantially add to what we have already accomplished with many of our award-winning, bestselling Christian authors. We are very lucky to have Joel Fotinos, with his outstanding years of experience as Penguin Groups Director of Religious Publishing, at the helm of this program. I look forward to working with him and Denise Silvestro as we publish titles by the current and future generation of Christian writers that will endure for years to come.
Joel Fotinos will be the Publisher of Penguin Praise. Denise Silvestro, a Berkley Executive Editor, will be the publishing programs Executive Editor. The inaugural list will include titles by such New York Times bestselling authors as T. D. Jakes, the team of Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins, and new books by many other bestselling Christian authors.
Mr. Fotinos says, The Penguin Praise publishing program represents the culmination of Penguins ten years of successfully publishing into the Christian book market and becomes the gateway through which we can continue to increase our CBA presence in many exciting and unique ways. We are also sending a signal to our CBA accounts that their titles are being published through a full-service publishing program that has 100 percent reach into the CBA markets as well as the ABA markets. The program allows us to determine, on a book-by-book basis, where to best position our authors and their books while having the option to publish titles under the Praise logo or under an imprints primary logo. We have a fabulous list of authors and I am thrilled to be working with Susan, Denise and such a talented team of publishing professionals.
Penguin Praises exciting inaugural list includes books by such award-winning, bestselling authors as the #1 New York Times bestselling team of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, whose Left Behind books have sold more than 62 million copies. Their new series, The Jesus Chronicles, will be a series of four books that paint a vivid portrait of Jesus Christ as told by the four Gospel writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Their first book, Johns Story: The Last Eyewitness, will be published by Putnam/Praise in November 2006. Putnam/Praise will also be releasing New York Times bestselling author T.D. Jakes Mama Made the Difference in April 2006 and Promises from God for Parents (Berkley/Praise) will be coming in August 2006. Bishop Jakes has a congregation of more than 25,000 people and his Penguin Group (USA) titles have more than 3 million copies in print. Other notable bestselling Christian authors with Praise titles coming include Reverend Don Piper (Berkley/Praise), whose 90 Minutes In Heaven was a major bestseller, with more than 800,000 copies in print; Ed Young, Jr. (Berkley/Praise hardcover), pastor of one of the largest churches in America; Gloria Copland (Putnam/Praise), author of many bestselling CBA books, with one of Americas largest television ministries; Pastor Casey Treat (Berkley/Praise hardcover), pastor of one of the largest churches in the Pacific Northwest; Dr. Jamal Bryant (Putnam/Praise), whose Power for Life broadcast is heard weekly across the United States, Caribbean, the U.K. and Africa; and Lisa T. Bergren, the award-winning, bestselling author of twenty titles, with more than one million copies of her books in print, whose novel, The Begotten, launches the gifted series coming from Berkley/Praise hardcover.
Additionally, Putnam/Praise is the sole trade licensee and exclusive trade publisher of the Contemporary English Version (CEV) edition of the Holy Bible. Putnam/Praise will publish several editions over the coming years, starting with Seek Find: The Bible for All People, which will be published this fall. The CEV editions are translations created by the American Bible Society, the largest Bible society in the world, and place an emphasis on readable text and relevant comprehension.
The distribution and sale of Penguin Praise titles in the CBA market will be handled through Strang Communications and the Noble sales group. In 2005, Strang and Penguin Group (USA) entered into an exclusive agreement for the distribution and sale of selected Penguin Group (USA) books into the CBA market.
About Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children’s trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Berkley Books, Dutton, Frederick Warne, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Grosset & Dunlap, New American Library, Penguin Books, The Penguin Press, Philomel, Plume, Puffin, Riverhead Books and Viking, among others. The Penguin Group ( http://www.penguin.com) is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.
