In Blue Like Jazz, author Donald Miller wrote: “At the end of each month I would start biting my nails, wondering what account owed me money or whether or not I would pick up any writing assignments. There’s not a lot of work in the Christian market if you won’t write self-righteous, conservative propaganda. I write new-realism essays. I am not a commodity.” These days, Miller is quite the commodity. His Thomas Nelson bestseller has more than 775,000 copies in print.

In an interview with Bart D. Ehrman on the Evangelical Textual Criticism Web site, the author was asked how long it takes to write a book like Misquoting Jesus. His response: “In one sense, Misquoting Jesus was the result of 25 years of study. In another sense, it took me five or six months of additional reading to get ready to write it. The writing itself goes very fast. I’m an intense, focused writer. I can crank out 30—35 pages on a word processor in about six hours. But then I definitely need to take a break and get a work-out!” The book has had an eight-month run on PW’s hardcover religion list.

Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven is selling well in Christian outlets and gaining sales in general stores, too. The Baker/Revell book is #6 on the New York Times March 18 nonfiction paperback bestseller list. Copies in print are nearing 1.5 million.

This article originally appeared in the March 14, 2007 issue of Religion BookLine. For more information about Religion BookLine, including a sample and subscription information,click here»