The No. 1 nonfiction book in 2003 was Pastor Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life," according to the Book Industry Study Group. The self-help guide has sold 17 million copies.
Top sellers on the fiction side include "The Da Vinci Code," "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," and "Armageddon," all titles with a spiritual bent.
"What we are looking at is unquestionably religious books becoming mainstream," said Albert N. Greco, the study group's statistician and a professor at Fordham University. "They are so hot that big chains like Barnes & Noble and mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart are allocating more space."
Last month, the Association of American Publishers released its 2003 statistics, showing religious books generating sales of $337.9 million, up 36.9 percent from 2002. The category includes Bibles, hymnals and self-help titles, but it is religious fiction that is driving the surge in sales, Greco said.
The Left Behind series written by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye is a big reason for the increase, Greco added. "Glorious Appearing," the most recent book in the series, which chronicles Jesus Christ's return to Earth, was on the New York Times best-seller list earlier this month. The series' previous 11 volumes have sold more than 40 million copies.
Industry experts point to the aging baby-boomer population's search for spiritual peace and security and the destabilizing effects of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as prime reasons for the rising popularity of religious books.
Consumers who purchase religious products buy them primarily because they are interested in spiritual matters, are looking for God's presence in their lives, or are seeking a purpose in life, according to the preliminary findings of a new study by Publishers Weekly. These buyers are primarily evangelical Christians, are more often women, and are on average 38 years old.
The study's results were released last month at Book Expo America in New York, which offered its first religion and spirituality day during the annual publishing-industry convention.
"It was a long overdue recognition of how important this category has become," said Lynn Garrett, religion editor of Publishers Weekly, a cosponsor of the convention.
BY KRISTIN E. HOLMES
Knight Ridder Newspapers
© 2004, The Philadelphia Inquirer.