Doug Batchelor Marketing His Latest Book Through a Leading Evangelical Magazine
by AT News Team
Outreach is a magazine read by large numbers of Evangelical pastors across the United States and the latest issue includes an ad featuring Seventh-day Adventist pastor and television evangelist Doug Batchelor. It is selling his new book, A World of Wonder distributed by afbookstore.com.
The book is a daily devotional with 366 short readings for the coming year, “nineteen years in the making.” The ad states that it is “available at leading retail outlets,” although Adventist Today checked two local Barnes & Noble stores and found that it was not on the shelf. It is listed with Barnes & Noble’s online book sales web site.
Batchelor is senior pastor at the Central Church in Sacramento, California, and his Amazing Facts broadcasting ministry is an institution of the Northern California Conference. He is controversial for taking very conservative positions on topics such as ending gender discrimination in ordination.
“Adventist authors have generally had great difficulty breaking into the Evangelical market,” a publishing executive told Adventist Today. “It is interesting how Batchelor is attempting to work his way into this. It can be lucrative, if he is able to sell enough books.”
“A number of scholars have pointed out a trend toward connections across denominational lines among leaders with common views on various issues,” one researcher told Adventist Today. “Perhaps this can be seen along those lines.” It remains to be seen what kind of sales the book has outside of Adventist circles and the reaction of Evangelical pastors.
Considering the past history of prejudice against Adventists among the publishers of such magazines causing them to typically reject such ads, it makes me wonder what circumstances changed their minds. Was it their need for ad revenue? Or, something else?
I pray that many will be converted to Adventism as a result of reading pastor Doug book .
Seminary Student,
Pray, definitely! Expecting many to be converted? Let's inject a dose of reality. I'm a published author. One of my books spent several months at #3 on the Review & Herald's "best seller" list after a reprint of articles from the old "Youth's Instructor" and a repackaged devotional book by H.M.S. Richards, Sr. (If that doesn't tell you who is buying Adventist publications I don't know what does.) Can I point to a single person who has become a believer as a result of reading one of my books? No. Nor can other authors I know who have been published more frequently than me. So I'm not saying advertising Doug Batchelor's book in non-SDA magazines isn't worthwhile. What I am saying is we need to get rid of any illusions we may have about any book having more than a very small impact.
Sorry never heard of you
You'll have to go back about seven years in the R&H archives. They published two of my books, which are long since out of print. However, having them land in the discount bin is not necessarily a bad thing because last year I earned more in royalties from discounted sales than I did the three years before combined!
Except the Bible of course, or the Koran.
My concern is that Doug Bachelor is mistaken to be representing typical Adventist positions – when in fact he only represents one particular "wing" of Adventism. Whether it is to be our primary aim to convert evangelical Christians to Adventism can be debated. At least it might be more successful than attempting to reach a secular, post-modern world.
What 'wing' is that exactly?
I think Pastor Doug is a biblical person and he believes in our 28 fundamental beliefs . I would say he represents another wing of Adventism if he were against our fundamentals .
pastor Fredy Reinosa
That wing may just be the needed fin on a rocket….
The one long stick on my bottle rockets make a great fins, but I no I never had one go past Saturn!
I think pastor Doug is a prophet .
I wouldn't go that far
I'm quite certain Pastor Doug has much more name recognition than most of us. Insofar as what I have heard from Pastor Doug and read he represents *true* Adventism and not some "wing" as liberals seem intent on disparaging anyone who has allowed culture to sully their belief in both the Bible and EGW.
That's OK. My books got moved to the discount bins starting about five years ago.
That should be "anyone who has *not* allowed culture" etc. Too bad there is not a method to make corrections.