The facts about Zondervan publishing house

Zondervan publishing house has been established since the 1930s and is now part of Harper Collins. It is an exclusively religious publisher within the evangelical tradition, producing Bibles, commentaries, academic and devotional books. Its Christian book publishing activities have led it into videos, software, e-books and also a range of books in Spanish.

Origins

Early beginnings Zondervan publishers was established in Grand Rapids by the Zondervan brothers in 1931 in their farmhouse. They originally sold publishers' remainders (surplus books) and works whose copyright had expired, but shortly afterwards, began to develop their own list, their first volume being Women of the Old Testament. Growth Sales developed quickly and soon they became Bible publishers. Zondervan Bibles include the Berkely version, which was followed by the amplified version, and later the Zondervan NIV study Bible and the devotional Bible. Along with Bibles came Bible commentaries. The company was so successful that it was bought out by Harper Collins, the publishing arm of News International. It maintained its Christian character and became the company's Christian publishing arm, although its owner Harper Collins was criticised for publishing the Satanic Bible, though not under Zondervan's imprint.

What it publishes

Zondervan's income comes entirely from Christian books. Most are in English, but Zondervan has a strongly established Spanish list to reach out to the United States' Hispanic community. The books that Zondervan publish vary in kind. Besides Bibles, there are devotional books and academic books. "Half the Church" deals with Christian attitudes to women, and "Historical Theology" deals with the development of doctrine over time. Other educational books are aimed at a younger readership. There are also teen books and e-books. There is a small fiction element to Zondervan's list. While not exclusively religious, the ethical basis of the books is always Christian. The company produces NIV bible software to reach out into the internet age, and there are videos dealing with Christian topics. For some time, it produced Pradis Bible software, and after this became obsolete, it was replaced by Logos Bible software. Zondervan tried to license Pradis software to other publishers, though not with great success, but technical developments have led them to hope that now there will be a greater take up. For some, Zondervan was in the Christian record business, after it bought out the Christian labels Benson and Paragon. The high point of this business was the 1960s, but it was eventually sold off. The company seems to be secure, free from problems and trading successfully.