Kingsbury Inks S&S Deal
January 22, 2011–USA Today and New York Times bestselling novelist Karen Kingsbury has signed a five-year, ten-book co-publishing agreement with Simon & Schuster, it was announced today by Alive President Rick Christian, who negotiated the innovative deal. The novels will be released under the NY firm’s imprint, Howard Books, with the first title launching in late 2012.
Kingsbury described the partnership contract as “an absolute work of art, suitable for framing,” and said she was excited to be reunited with Becky Nesbitt, who served as her editor at Tyndale House before joining Howard as VP & Editor-in-Chief. Her most recent novels have been published by Zondervan.
“With sales of more than 15 million books, Karen has earned her position as America’s favorite inspirational novelist,” Christian said, noting that her devoted fan base is exploding–due in part to acclaimed film adaptations of her work.
The award-winning film, Like Dandelion Dust, which hit theaters last fall and released last month on DVD, debuted in the Top 10 on iTunes and in other venues. It was also named one of the Top Five inspirational movies of 2010 by IMDB, along with True Grit, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Book of Eli and Secretariat.
“This partnership signifies our dedication to bringing quality fiction to the marketplace,” said Jonathan Merkh, Vice President and Publisher of Howard Books. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Hailed by Time magazine as the “Queen of Christian Fiction,” Kingsbury has written more than 50 novels, including the latest, Unlocked, released in October 2010, which debuted at #3 on the NYT bestsellers list. Kingsbury’s last twelve novels have each spent multiple weeks in the top ten spots on the NYT list. Her works have also won “Book of the Year” and “Retailer’s Choice” awards, among numerous others. She has more than 200,000 Facebook friends and Twitter followers, and speaks live to more than 100,000 women a year–RC