Multnomah Publishers

Focusing on Faith
May 1, 2007

The large New York publishing firms might have been forgiven, in early 2000, for taking little or no notice of a slim volume of Bible commentary put out by Multnomah Publishers, a small religious publishing house based in Colorado Springs. The book, which analyzed an obscure Old Testament passage as a sort of self-help guide to releasing “God’s favor, power and protection” through prayer, was bought up by large evangelical churches and began to be talked about online and in so-called “small group ministry” sessions around the country. One year and 4 million copies later, everyone in the publishing world had heard of

Publishing to a Higher Power
April 1, 2007

Dwight Baker, president of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Baker Publishing Group—the third-largest publisher in the Evangelical Christian publishing market—arrived in his position from a different starting point than most publishing company presidents, and he’s using that fresh perspective to put his own personal spin on religious publishing. His approach seems to be working. The company’s annual sales in 2006 surpassed $50 million, four of its publishing divisions saw double-digit growth, and it has a current New York Times Best Seller on the market with 1.4 million copies sold. The family business was founded in 1939 by Dwight’s grandfather, Herman Baker. When Dwight was a teenager, he

Pedal to the Metal
July 1, 2002

For publishers that want to roll out new titles with thunder, fronting them with a heavy metal paper could be the answer. Used primarily to manufacture jackets and paperback bookcovers, metallized papers possess characteristics that more readily attract customer attention in the bookstore. Metallized paper is often specified by the publisher in order to create a dramatic, livelier affect. "We use it occasionally on a lot of sci-fi type books," says John Carbone, chief operating officer of Phoenix Color (www.phoenixcolor.com). "Word Publishing, a religious group, also uses it quite a bit to enhance its crosses." Carbone says publishers may also choose the metal