Big Warner Deal for Christian Author

Broadcaster and author Joyce Meyer is huge in the Christian marketplace, and under a new deal just signed with Warner's Faith imprint, plans to take her message more broadly into the non-CBA arena. Faith publisher Rolf Zetterstein signed with Meyer and her usual publisher, Harrison House in Tulsa, Okla., for Warner to take over her entire backlist, consisting of about 75 titles, plus a batch of new books, the first to appear next year. The world-rights deal was made with Tulsa lawyer Tom Winters, acting for Meyer and her previous publisher. In addition to her books, Meyer has a huge audience for her Life in the Word radio and TV broadcasts.

Another recent Warner deal, this one signed by Time Warner trade publishing chief Larry Kirshbaum himself, was for two more books by James Siegel, whom the house plans to develop as a star thriller author. This was also a world-rights deal, for a major six figures, signed with agent Richard Pine at Arthur Pine Associates. Siegel's first novel, Epitaph, appeared last year, his next, Derailed, is out next February, and the first of the new ones, tentatively titled Sideswiped, is due early in 2004. His editor will be Sara Ann Freed at Mysterious Press.