(14 votes, average: 4.79 out of 5)
Loading...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 had planned it to be a very simple affair that we would not even publish in paper (i.e., not in hardback, not in paperback), but simply electronically as an e-book. We knew that the market was small. For fairly obvious reasons. There frankly are not very many people in the world who genuinely question whether Jesus existed. Those who do might buy the book. Those who have to argue with such people (it is a small group, but very loud for their size) might buy it. But who else?
So we had planned to publish it simply as an e-book, and at the last minute, as the book turned out to be (somewhat to my surprise) fairly substantial and heavy hitting, we decided to go ahead and make a regular book of it. So we did. I’m glad we did. But we never ever thought it would be a big hit. A big hit with WHOM, exactly???
Of the other six books,
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Awesome! I’m happy for you and for the rest of us that will get to read what comes out of your ionized mind!
Ionized?? Sounds like I have a salty personality….
Salty is great! In fact, in Brazil, when we want to say that something isn’t exciting or interesting or special we say that this something has “no salt”. So, there you go! But, anyways, when an atom is ionized it has become electrically charged. :o)
Hi Bart,
I will cut straight to the point: I have read on the internet about the experience of an author who unexpectedly made it to the Amazon top 10 for a few weeks. He made it just because Jack Daniels sued for his book cover which looks just like their household whiskey label.
He said writing books isn’t that profitable even if they become bestsellers (not necessarily NYT bestsellers).
His book was on Amazon’s top 10 for a few weeks and all he made was 15 grands.
I have read some truly amazing books that probably made next to nothing for their authors.
Then comes Dan Brown and he becomes a millionaire for writing a load of …..
Why does the way of the guilty prosper?
I hadn’t heard that. More important than being on the Amazon top list is to be on the NYTimes Bestselling list. Top Ten books — especially fiction — tend to make tons of money.
You must enjoy writing trade books now, even if you never intended to when you started. What do you prefer writing, trade books or scholarly books?
I like them both! But they are very very different from each other, hard in completely different ways.
Oooh… I think I see where you’re going… You want your new book to be categorized in the ‘History’ section of major bookstores, instead of the often-hidden-to-the-side ‘Religion/Spirituality’ section. I was thinking this recently – it’s a shame that many of my favorite authors on Christian Origins have their books placed in the ‘Religion/Spirituality’ section rather than the ‘History’ section. Am I onto something?
Ha! I actually hadn’t thought about where a book would appear in bookstores!
Yes, that makes so much sense, putting the bible in with the history publisher where it is at home. I understand why you would be energized. It’s contagious.
Congratulations, and continued good fortune on future books. ?
How Jesus Became God is my favorite so far, and it didn’t even make it on the Bestseller list? Go figure. I thought there were issues with the latest one, but if it’s on the Bestseller list, it must be doing quite well.
I wish you (or maybe you and another person together) would write a comprehensive book about the prophecies in the Old and New Testament. There’s so many Christians who need it to clear up their misunderstandings. All of these books out there about how Jesus is coming back but not a lot of information about how that perception is wrong. There’s the Preterist view, but that’s still misunderstanding the scriptures. I think it’s just as important as what you wrote in Misquoting Jesus.
Yes, it made the list. I’m not a big believer in prophecy, so I’m probably not the guy for that book.
Some folks don’t seem to realize there is a difference between prophecy and fortune-telling. The latter simply tell us that this and that is going to happen to us and others on such and such a date. As I understand it, the “true” prophet tells us what is going to happen if we don’t change our ways, act ethically, or somesuch. He (she) is not magically forecasting the future, but rather informing us what honorable and/or intelligent actions we should take in order to avoid a dismal fate, or to live a good and ethical life. If people don’t want to hear what the prophet says, he/shemay end up clobbered like Jeremiah. Is this more or less the distinction as you conceive of it?
Yes, that’s a good way of putting it.
Oh! It’s not listed on your post as a bestseller.
That’s what I mean. How many people think that prophecies are still for the future instead of the past? Or do you mean you’re not interested in writing about it?
I”m not interested in what most people are interested in, namely how the prophecies will come true in the near future. I don’t believe that for a second.
Right. I don’t think I’m explaining myself well. What I mean is that I wish a scholar (maybe you?) would write a book about the OT and NT prophecies and explain how they’re *not* about the future. How many Christians are misunderstanding these alleged prophecies? Thousands? Millions? A critical scholar could clear up all of that misinformation. If there’s a book out there written by a scholar that covers how prophecy is not really for the future from beginning to end I’d like to know about, but I don’t think it exists yet.
Ah!!! Interesting idea. Thanks — it’s a good suggestion. (I have so *many* books I want to write!! But I can add this to the list)
I so appreciate you considering it. Unless I’m not looking in the right place, I can’t find anything other than a small part of the topic in a book by Pagels.
Patty:
There’s a book by Robert J. Miller called “Helping Jesus Fulfill Prophecy” that I just bought and can’t wait to read. It might be what you are looking for.
Miller is a professor of law isn’t he?
Bart: Does the latest information on the discovery of written texts from before the removal of the Israelite’s to Babylon indicating a wider level of literacy in 7th century BCE change your mind in any way about the illiteracy of the followers of Jesus?
Not really! But I’ll explain why on Friday. I’ll include your question in my weekly mailbag.
Great! Looking forward to your next books. Really liked your last one 🙂 It definitely fills a hole in all the arguments about Jesus, the birth of Christianity, etc!
But Bart, with this big change in publisher, to someone that needs a guy that knows the NT and religions stuff, is there anything left to say about it? Because, by golly, you’ve covered a lot of turf.
Lots! But my next book isn’t about the NT, as it turns out….
I didn’t find any relevant place to ask this, so I ask this here:
In Did Jesus Exist? you mention that you shall tackle the James the brother of Jesus part in Josephus’ writing (p. 59). But you never did. What happened? Did it get edited out or what?
Ha! It looks like it ended up slipping my mind! How funny, even having read the book thousands of time, I never noticed. My point was *going* to be that the comment in Josephus Antiquities 20 is almost certainly original and it presupposes that he has already mentioned that Jesus was thought be some to be the messiah, an obvious backward glance to chapter 18, the Testimonium. Or so it is widely judged.