New Imprint Lets in Fresh Air
by Lynn Garrett, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 4/9/2008
Upper Room Books, a division of Upper Room Ministries that primarily publishes nondenominational Protestant devotional books, is launching a new imprint, Fresh Air Books, which will offer "Christian books for non-churchy people." The first two titles--Compassion: Cultivating a Good Heart and Forgiveness: Offering Hope to a Wounded World, both compiled and introduced by Amy Lyles Wilson, are collections of articles and chapters originally published in the organization's several magazines and by Upper Room Books. The trade paperbacks also will include previously unpublished material and will be available in audio and e-book formats. Eventually the line will comprise nonfiction on the topics of adventure, biography, Christian spiritual practices, faith formation, culture and current affairs.
Kathleen Stephens, Fresh Air acquisitions editor, described the audience for these new books as "people who want to make a connection with God but feel very uncomfortable doing it through the church. They've been turned off, or perhaps never involved, and don't know how to find their way in—as one of our writers describes it, they've have been turned off by the 'unapologetic dorkiness' of the church." Stephens says they hope to publish books that "will help people connect with a longing in their souls that they don't know how to fulfill. We hope to lead them to look beyond the surface of life."
On the docket for spring 2009 is Chocolate-Covered Umbrella: Breaking the Code of Your Dreams by Tilda Norberg, described as "a simple, fun, holistic, and non-analytical way to begin letting our dreams speak….God is at work in them." Fresh Air is actively seeking proposals from writers, who can find guidelines at www.FreshAirBooks.org.
Upper Room Ministries has another imprint, Discipleship Resources, which publishes books aimed at church leaders on subjects such as leadership, stewardship and Christian education. The organization also publishes a number of niche magazines, including The Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide (with a circulation of more than two million), Pockets (for children), devozine (for teens) and Weavings (for adults interested in contemplative practices).
