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Publishing Milestones
Today, glance through a potpourri of book releases, important dates, and defining events that make up book publishing in general and Christian publishing specifically. Not all the books or events are “Christian” in nature, but their presence created historical markers to give perspective. (I stopped at 2010 since events and books take time to become true historical markers.)
1440 – German Johann Gutenberg invents movable type by developing foundry-cast metal characters and a wooden printing press
1455 – Gutenberg printed his first book, a Latin Bible
1611 – King James Version (KJV) of the Bible first published
1798 – Thomas Nelson Publishers founded in England
1828 – American Dictionary of the English Language (Noah Webster)
1859 – A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
1869 – War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
1870 – Revell Publishing founded by Fleming H. Revell, the brother-in-law of Dwight L. Moody
1873 – Charles M. Barnes started a book business from his home in Wheaton, Illinois
1875 – David C. Cook Publishing founded
1880 – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (Lew Wallace)
1885 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
1891 – Broadman & Holman (B&H) Publishing founded
1894 – Moody Publishers founded
1902 – The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Beatrix Potter)
1908 – Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery)
1911 – Eerdmans Publishing founded
1917 – William Barnes (son of Charles, see 1873)) founded Barnes & Noble with G. Clifford Noble
1926 – The Book-of-the-Month Club was founded
1931 – Zondervan Publishing founded
1936 – Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
1937 – The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
1938 – Our Daily Bread founded
1939 – The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
1939 – Baker Publishing founded
1941 – Christian Literature Crusade founded
1945 – Guideposts founded
1947 – The Diary of Anne Frank (Anne Frank)
1947 – InterVarsity Press founded
1949 – Kregel Publications founded
1950 – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)
1952 – Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
1956 – Bethany Fellowship Publishers founded (later renamed as Bethany House Publishers)
1957 – The Cat in the Hat (Dr. Seuss)
1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
1962 – A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
1962 – Tyndale House Publishers founded
1964 – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl)
1969 – The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle)
1973 – New International Version (NIV) of the Bible first published
1974 – Harvest House Publishers founded
1975 – NavPress founded
1975 – Strang Communications (Charisma House) founded
1978 – Christian Book Distributors founded (now christianbook.com)
1979 – Crossway Books founded
1979 – Love Comes Softly (Janette Oke)
1983 – New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible first published
1985 – This Present Darkness (Frank Peretti)
1989 – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen R. Covey)
1992 – The Five Love Languages (Gary Chapman)
1994 – Amazon.com founded
1996 – Left Behind (Jerry B. Jenkins & Tim LaHaye)
1996 – New Living Translation (NLT) of the Bible first published
1997 – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling); Sorcerer’s Stone in US
1999 – Self-publishing on the Internet began
2002 – The Purpose Driven Life (Rick Warren)
2003 – The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2004 – The Steve Laube Agency founded
2004 – Jesus Calling (Sarah Young)
2007 – The Shack (William P. Young)
2007 – Amazon released Kindle for eBooks
2008 – English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible first published
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Quote the Bible … Carefully
It is important to treat the use of quoting the Bible like you would in quoting any source material. Too frequently I run across an author who has not bothered to take that step. But they should. The Word of God is powerful and should not be taken for granted. There are many readers who admit to skipping over Bible verses when quoted in full. The thought is that they are already familiar with those words and they want to get into what the author is saying. Ironic, isn’t it? In the editing process, one of the jobs of the …
Fun Fridays – September 23, 2022
In a movie, after endless rehearsals and multiple takes, you see the perfect scene. Today’s video contrasts that with reality. Hilarious results! Writing lesson? Enough reality in your writing so the reader doesn’t end their suspension of disbelief with a “Huh? That can’t happen that way.” Enjoy! Share11Tweet
What Makes Readers Cross Genres?
Genre is important. For many reasons, it’s crucial for a writer to know the genre he or she is writing in and to know it well. In some cases, the devoted readers of a certain genre have defined expectations. For example, they may expect certain tropes and taboos to be observed (even if they’ve never thought about their expectations). After all, there are reasons readers prefer certain genres. And authors, editors, and agents think about genre all the time. But recently a reader of this blog asked a genre question I’d never considered. Bill Bethel, commenting on my post about …
Should I Enter the Contest?
Lots of contests for both published and unpublished writers abound. Should a writer enter these contests? The short answer? Yes! Goal: The contest sets a goal. For instance, a contest needing the first ten pages, fifty pages, or the first chapter and a summary all give the writer a deadline. The writer must prepare these materials to enter the contest. Statement: For the unpublished writer, the act of entering the contest makes a statement to yourself and to the world: “I am a writer.” Feedback: Some contests ask judges for specific feedback. When that happens, the author can use that …