Carol Stream, IL—Sixteen years ago, an apocalyptic thriller titled Left Behind quietly released to Christian retailers nationwide. Little did its authors, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, or its publisher Tyndale House know that it would become a phenomenon, resulting in seven #1 bestselling titles and a product line with sales of more than 63 million copies. In April 2011, a decade and a half later, Tyndale is repackaging the 12 primary titles with new covers and updated content to inspire a new generation of readers.
“Sales for the Left Behind Series have remained consistently strong since we stopped publishing new titles in 2007,” says Cheryl Kerwin, Tyndale senior marketing manager. “To this day, they are among our top-selling fiction titles month in and month out. For example, the e-book versions released just a few months ago and already we’ve sold more than 25,000 copies. We felt the time was right to give the books a new look that evokes a sense of timeliness for the days in which we live.”
The fresh covers have a feeling of immediacy, as if the action of the plot is happening alongside today’s headline news. With powerful graphics and bright orange spines, they are big, bold, and dramatic—both to reflect the urgency of the news and to stand out among today’s best-selling suspense thrillers.
“The new designs for the Left Behind Series imagine how TV networks would cover the end times as the sequence of events takes place,” adds Kerwin. “We approached the imagery and composition with an eye for photojournalism rather than pure fictional drama. The result is a collection of covers as arresting as a breaking news bulletin. We have been very pleased with the positive feedback we’ve received from the trade.”
In addition to the new look, Tyndale has added some new content for readers who want to take their interest in prophecy to the next level. The new features include:
·Test your prophecy IQ
·The Prophecy Behind the Scenes
·“In the Meantime” – a look at events that have occurred since the series released
To commemorate this re-branding of the Left Behind Series, Tyndale is re-releasing the dramatic audio radio program to stations nationwide. The free weekly series has been re-mixed and updated to reflect a contemporary sound. When the dramatic audio originally aired more than 500 stations carried the serialized drama often running it multiple times per week. The Left Behind dramatic audio is also available for download at earflix.com.
The bestselling non-fiction title by LaHaye and Jenkins, Are We Living the in End Times?, has received a makeover as well. The revised and updated content with a new cover will re-release in April 2011. Tyndale has sold more than a half million copies of Are We Living in the End Times since it was originally published in 1999.
Using the prophecies from the Book of Revelation as its framework, the Left Behind Series became more than a publishing phenomenon. It also sparked debate and discussion in churches, communities and across the internet about Christian beliefs in the End Times. More importantly, it motivated readers to take a hard look at their own beliefs with thousands writing to the authors LaHaye and Jenkins that they had made decisions to become Christian believers for the first time.
The Left Behind brand includes twelve adult novels, three prequels, one sequel, a set of 40 juvenile novels, audio books, devotionals and graphic novels. Seven titles in the adult series reached #1 on the bestseller lists for The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. All sixteen adult titles have appeared on all the major bestseller lists.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins are the foremost Christian fiction writing duo. LaHaye is a bestselling author, conference speaker and former pastor of one of the nation’s most successful churches. He is also founder of the Pre-Trib Research Center. It was LaHaye’s idea to fictionalize the Book of Revelation.
Jerry B. Jenkins has written more than 175 books of which more than 20 are New York Times bestsellers. Jenkins owns the Christian Writers Guild, an organization that trains professional and aspiring writers and Jenkins Entertainment, a film production company in Chicago. He serves at the chairman of the board of trustees for Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.
For additional information, visit leftbehind.com.