Warner Showing Faith in Preacher's Potential

by Karen Holt, PW Daily for Booksellers -- Publishers Weekly, 10/6/2004

Bruce Wilkinson answered Multnomah's prayers. Rick Warren has driven up Zondervan's profits. Does Joel Osteen have the potential to make life the best ever at Warner Faith?

If Osteen isn't as recognizable as Wilkinson (The Prayer of Jabez) and Warren (The Purpose Driven Life), give him a minute. He's working on it. The minister's debut book, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential appeared on store shelves last Friday and already appears headed for the bestseller lists. Osteen's publisher, Warner Faith, gave the book a 131,000-copy first printing and has gone back to press four times to meet the demands of online orders and bookseller enthusiasm. As of today, there are 191,000 copies in print.

Just as their publishers turned Wilkinson and Warren into franchises, with companion journals and enough spin-off titles to fill a catalog, Warner Faith is already moving to expand on Osteen's early success. This spring, it will publish a journal to help readers work through the seven steps in Your Best Life. Osteen is also writing what publisher Rolf Zettersten described as a "devotional type book" for next fall.

Zettersten said Warner is in discussions for further titles, though he played down comparisons to the mega-selling preacher-author brands developed by his competitors. "We expect him to be a long-term author for us and someone we can build and take to higher levels," he said. "There's great potential, but I think it's still too early to say how great the potential is."

Osteen may be new to book publishing, but he's well acquainted with the warm glow of public adoration. The 41-year-old minister is the pastor of America's largest congregation, Lakewood Church of Houston. He also has a weekly cable TV show that made its USA Network debut on Oct. 3, becoming the first inspirational program to be aired on that network. Prior to that, he could be seen on networks including ABC Family, Black Entertainment Television, Discovery Channel, Turner Broadcasting and PAX.

Now he's gearing up for a book tour. The seven-city blitz will begin Oct. 18 and wind up with sold-out appearances at Madison Square Garden in New York Oct. 21 and 22. The Garden seats 19,600 and overflow seating for another 5,800 has been added. Altogether, that's about how many people show up each week to hear Osteen preach in his Houston church.

Nicknamed "The Smiling Preacher" for his energetically upbeat delivery--a demeanor dubbed Billy Graham meets Tony Robbins--Osteen preaches an inclusive message that appeals to people with a broad range of beliefs. Zettersten said Your Best Life has gotten strong support from CBA stores, but that he expects the majority of copies to be sold in mainstream outlets, reflecting the author's extensive exposure on secular TV.

Not everyone is a fan. Critics say he appeals more to greed and self-interest than a quest for piety. In its review, PW panned the book's style and substance, using words like "shallow," "overblown" and "redundant." The review concludes: "Editorially, the book would have packed more of a punch if a third of its repetitive slogans and stories had been pruned. Theologically, its materialism and superficial portrayal of God as the granter of earthly wishes will alienate many Christian readers who can imagine a much bigger God."

Maybe so. But Osteen's charisma and can-get message is clearly resonating with some readers. For Warner Faith, it's just a question of how many.