It is with mixed emotions that I share the news today that Dan Balow, our beloved colleague and one of the most admired and respected leaders in the world of Christian publishing, has decided he is ready to embark on the next chapter of his life and will retire on September 15.
He has had a long and fruitful career. Over the years, Dan has worked on the business side of the industry, including marketing, sales, foreign and domestic rights management, audiobooks, digital publishing, and acquisitions.
He spent a significant amount of his career with Tyndale House Publishers from the early 90s to the mid-2000s. While there, Dan developed a wide-ranging perspective on the industry through involvement with hundreds of authors, thousands of books, and a love for the business. He has been with the agency since 2013, temporarily leaving in late 2018 to focus on a publishing-related venture he owned, and returning in early 2021.
Dan served on the board of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, the trade association for Christian publishers in the U.S., and chaired the Global Publishers Alliance, a group of U.S.-based publishing executives that mentors Christian publishers in other countries. He was an original member of the advisory board of the Christy Awards (now part of ECPA) and helped train and mentor Christian publishers through Media Associates International (www.littworld.org). He also recently organized and ran the Write to Publish conference for two years. As an agent with the Steve Laube Agency, he has represented numerous authors and helped nurture hundreds of books into the industry.
A few months ago, when Dan first broached the topic of retirement with me, he felt it was time to focus on his family and church activities after almost 50 years in Christian media, starting back in his college days at Wheaton College. Other than hitting the milestone of his 70th birthday, there were other considerations:
— Dan’s wife retired from working in the local school district, and now they will be able to travel a little, mainly to see grandkids living out of state and some National Parks.
— By early October, they’ll have three grade-school granddaughters living a block away.
— Involvement in the centennial celebration planning committee for their church, which Dan and his wife have attended for 47 years.
— The church asked Dan to be on the leadership team for their men’s ministry of about 300 men.
Family, church, and other productive and fun pursuits like working for the game management staff for Wheaton College football and basketball games, which he has done for 20+ years, will redeem the time.
Dan said, “I’ll definitely miss working closely with people in the publishing industry. It has been an honor.”
I personally have enjoyed working with Dan for the last thirteen years. He is a dear friend, a man of great integrity and dignity, and has a great sense of humor. He has been a tremendous colleague, friend, and mentor to so many authors. We will all miss his commitment to bringing powerful messages of redemption and hope to the largest possible reading audience.
Please join me in expressing deep gratitude to Dan for his significant and valuable contributions to our Christian publishing industry over the years, and in wishing him and his family all the very best in the years to come.
