After three years, conservative Christian publisher Thomas Nelson has decided to ditch its imprint operation for WorldNetDaily. According to The Tennessean:
‘For what we were having to pay, we didn’t feel like we were getting the kind of value to justify it,” said David Dunham, a senior vice president and publisher at the Nashville religious publisher.
WND is now going to be published by Cumberland House, which is run by Ron Pitkin, who used to work for Thomas Nelson. Says Pitkin:
”It struck me as an opportunity to contribute to the dialogue that is taking place in our society about public policy on a whole range of issues and to sell some books,” said Pitkin. ”In the publishing world, the boat is tilting very much towards the left.”
So, what’s on the way?
The first book from WND Books/Cumberland, due out this spring, will be Atomic Islam: How Terrorist Iran Bought the Bomb and American Politicians by Jerome Corsi, co-author of Unfit for Command, which has sold more than 360,847 copies.
In an attempt to win a journalistic award for understatement, The Tennessean describes WND as “conservative-leaning”/
However, Thomas Nelson has plans of its own to keep in the wingnut market, with a new Nelson Current imprint. According to a press release:
Nelson Current will publish 15-20 books a year. Upcoming releases slated for the house include “The Savage Solution” by New York Times best selling author Michael Savage, “King of Cons: Exposing the Dirty Rotten Secrets of the Washington Elite and Hollywood Celebrities,” by Aaron Tonken, “Reagan’s Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All,” by Craig Shirley, and “Cleaning Up: An Inside Story of Corporate Crime from a One-Time Wall Street Con Artist,” by Barry Minkow. In addition, Nelson Current signed Mike Walker for “Rather Biased,” scheduled to publish in January.
The press release also notes the company’s ability to link with political and religious readerships, and concludes:
Thomas Nelson, Inc. is a leading publisher and distributor of products emphasizing Christian, inspirational and family value themes and believes it is the largest publisher of Bibles and inspirational products.
And you can’t more Christian, inspirational and family value themed than Michael Savage, as reported in a Salon review of one of his shows:
Let’s hear it for Laurie [sic] England!” he cheered. “The leash chick! Hey man, she had a great time over there!”…
Savage moved on to another of his favorite topics: bombing the bejeezus out of Iraq. Just a few days before the Uncensored [the name of his show] event, he’d been ranting on the radio about dropping fiery death on civilians throughout Iraq and the Middle East. “I don’t give a damn if they hide behind their women’s skirts,” he foamed. “Wipe the women out with them! Because it’s our women who got killed on 9/11! And it’s our women who are gonna get killed tomorrow unless we get rid of the bugs who are destroying us!” Tonight, Savage continued to elaborate on this disturbing vision of how to win the war in Iraq. He said he fantasized of being woken up by the sound of B-1 and B-52 bombers flying over his house on their way to the Middle East. Imagining bombers overhead at 4 a.m., he gushed about these nocturnal missions, “It’s better than an orgasm — it is an orgasm!”
(Historical note: Thomas Nelson actually began in Scotland in 1798, first as a second-hand bookshop and then as a publisher of Puritan works, and the Nashville-based firm was originally an offshoot of the British company. Although the British name continues in exist as Nelson Thornes, this educational publisher has no relation to the American Thomas Nelson. The revival and rise of the US Thomas Nelson is told in CEO Sam Moore’s autobiography.)
(Tennessean and press release snagged from the Publishers’ Lunch email newsletter)
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