Friday, March 22, 2013

Pope Books Compete for Shelf Space


By Marcia Nelson | PW - Mar 20, 2013

photo: Casa Rosada
The newly elected Pope Francis.

Rather like a crowd in St. Peter’s Square awaiting the Pope, publishers are multiplying reading choices for those who want to know about newly elected Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires. The Spanish-language edition ofFrancis, Man of Prayerby Mario Escobarwillship April 10 from Grupo Nelson, the Spanish-language imprint of Thomas Nelson; an English language edition will ship April 17 from Nelson’s W Publishing imprint. Escobar has written about Catholic and Protestant religious history. No first printing number was available.

In the meantime,Image, which was first out of the gate last week with its book, said Tuesday said it would release on May 7 the first English-language edition ofBetween Heaven and Earth: Pope Francison Faith,Familyand the Church in the 21stCentury, a book co-written by the Pope himself and Abraham Skorka, rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Skorka and Bergoglio developed the book out of conversations the two had. Maya Mavjee,president andpublisher of the Crown Publishing Group, acquiredNorth American, world English, audio, electronic, first serial, and large print rights fromNúriaCabutí, CEO ofRandom HouseMondadori.The book was originally published in Spanishin 2010in Latin America and Spain. Mavjee said in a statement the book had global appeal because of its interreligious context.

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