Joel Osteen Working on His Next Book

By Josephine Vivaldo, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Joel Osteen is set to work on a new book scheduled for publication this September.

The senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, which attracts about 40,000 people to its Sunday services, has signed a publishing agreement with publisher FaithWords.

"We are thrilled that Pastor Joel Osteen is returning to Hachette. His message offers hope, inspiration and motivation to millions of readers," said Rolf Zettersten, senior vice president and publisher for FaithWords, in a statement Monday. "We intend to serve him with a very aggressive and creative publishing program."

FaithWords is part of Hachette Book Group, a leading trade publisher based in New York.

Hachette Book also published Osteen's first book, Your Best Life Now in 2004, which spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list. In total, Hachette has sold more than 8 million copies of Osteen's books to date.

In response to the book deal, Osteen commented, "I believe wholeheartedly in our message of hope and in the ability of Hachette to help us deliver that message to the greatest number of people through publishing. Hachette is on the cutting edge of this changing industry, and I know that our partnership will result in millions of lives being changed for the better."

His latest book, The Christmas Spirit: Memories of Family Friends and Faith was released late last year. In the book, Osteen shared personal childhood memories of Christmas and emphasizes the importance of creating good family memories, especially during Christmas.

There is no word yet on what Osteen's upcoming book will be about.