Simon and Schuster Archives - The Bart Ehrman Blog

Update on my Publication Plans

A couple of people have asked me about the status of my two books – the one that is finished and coming out, The Triumph of Christianity: How A Forbidden Religion Swept the World, and the one I am now doing my research on The Invention of the Afterlife: A History of Heaven and Hell. First, Triumph. There is indeed news about this one, and I can’t decide if it’s good news or bad news. It feels (emotionally) like it’s bad but I think it is probably good. My publisher, Simon & Schuster, has decided to delay publication from this coming September until the following February. The new publication date is February 13. There are no glitches or problems with publishing it earlier. It is done and ready to go. I have read through two sets of page proofs, it has been copy-edited multiple times, it is sitting there waiting to be run off and sent out. But for a variety of complicated reasons Simon & Schuster wants to wait till February. The short story [...]

BDEhrman2017-09-20T17:18:06-04:00June 7th, 2017|Book Discussions, Public Forum, Reflections and Ruminations|

Moving to My Next Book

As I mentioned some time ago, I’ve decided to slow down a bit and enjoy life a bit more. Since 1992 – that is, over the past 25 years – I have written or edited thirty books. I’m not going to stop. But I’m thinkin’ it’s time to ease off a bit. Is there a reason I publish a book a year? Not that I can think of. I’ve done it because it’s my passion. Well, one of my passions. I am a bit obsessed with the history of early Christianity and all that it entails. My books have covered a wide range of fields within that broader area. And I have tried to keep up publishing three different kinds of books: scholarly books for the academics; textbooks for the colleges students; and trade books for the general reading public. It’s been hard to balance all that, especially since I’ve tried to publish a new trade book every two years. I’ve had to do the other books in my spare time, such as it is, [...]

BDEhrman2020-04-03T02:34:08-04:00February 28th, 2017|Bart’s Biography, Book Discussions, Public Forum, Reflections and Ruminations|

Why I Have Moved to a New Publisher

In my previous post I began to talk about how I have now changed publishers. This past book Jesus Before the Gospels, was my last with HarperOne, and now I have a two-book contract, for the next two books (obviously), with Simon and Schuster. A couple of readers have inferred that I have left Harper because I did not like the way they had handled my most recent book. That’s not the case at all. I made the decision before they even *started* handling the book. And let me stress, I have had a wonderful experience with Harper. They really are one of the truly great publishing houses in the world. Absolutely. How could I possibly complain? Since 2005 I have done seven books with them. One of those seven was a a book that none of us -- not me, not my editor, not my publicist, not anyone in the Harper hierarchy, not anyone on the planet – thought was going to be a big selling book. This was Did Jesus Exist? We originally [...]

BDEhrman2020-05-08T11:55:48-04:00April 11th, 2016|Bart’s Biography, Book Discussions, Public Forum, Reflections and Ruminations|

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Update on my Publication Plans

Moving to My Next Book

Why I Have Moved to a New Publisher