In the United States, the world's largest market for consumer books, religion book sales grew by 50 percent last year from 2002, far outpacing other categories to account for about 17 percent of consumer book spending.
A lot of the growth is attributable to Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life," which says that every life has a divine purpose and offers a 40-day path for Christian devotion to God. It has sold 20 million copies in English, 1 million in Spanish and is published in more than 40 languages.
"...I think the success of the book and the broader religion market is because people are more open to a spiritual exploration of life than they have been in years," said Stanley Gundry, senior vice president and editor in chief of the book's publisher Zondervan, in an interview at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Greater access to books about religion has also helped boost sales, with shops devoting more space to the genre. Christian publishers, which in the past relied on specialized sellers, now say about half their sales come from mainstream spots like Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
Readers have sought answers about Middle Eastern culture since the 2001 attacks on the United States.
"Certainly the Sept. 11 attacks spurred a big interest in books about Islam," said Samuel G. Freedman, "What I think is driving the upsurge is that America is in the midst of one of its periodic great awakenings," Freedman said. "The growing confidence and sophistication of evangelical Christians and Orthodox Jews are part of this."
Though conventional wisdom says rising religion and spirituality book sales to the huge population of baby boomers, a recent survey of 10,000 consumers by trade magazine Publishers Weekly found that 45 percent were under the age of 35.
People are a little adrift and not quite sure they know what's going on factually around the world, and maybe that drives a little more spirituality," said Patricia Schroeder, president of the U.S. trade organization for publishers.
Though fiction is not included in religion book sales data, some analysts said it inspired readers to read non-fiction books on the subject.
Thu Oct 7, 2004 10:39 AM ET
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.