(To keep this podcast alive, please consider donating to Mormon Stories by clicking on the “Make a Donation” button at the top right of this blog). What’s it like to actually try to publish a Mormon-themed book? As an author, how many copies are you likely to sell, and how much money do you stand to make? And how do Mormon authors view the implications of the recent acquisition of Seagull Book and Tapes and Covenant communications by Deseret Book?
As we continue part 3 in our series on this acquisition, we interview Christopher Bigelow, president of Zarahemlabooks.com, and author of multiple Mormon themed books, including Mormonism For Dummies and The Mormon Tabernacle Enquirer.
- In the first half of this interview, Christopher discusses his early years as a Dungeons and Dragons publisher in high school, through his years as a writer for Ensign magazine.
- In the second half, Christopher discusses his journey as a publisher of Mormon books and opines on the recent acquisition of Seagull/Covenant from a Mormon author’s perspective.
Part 1
Part 2
5 Responses
John, so glad to see you’re back in Business! You rock! Keep up the good work!
I’m lovin this. As a whole the LDS populous is so focused on becoming perfect (because that is what we are all taught to do). We misunderstand (myself included) and take ourselves far to seriously. I love this heart to heart, sort of frank talk with Bigelow. We are all imperfect. What does it hurt to laugh at ourselves a little and talk about the mistakes we make? The human side of ourselves… Non members usually respect LDS members but, they don’t like us very much because we come across stuffy and self-righteous, even if that is not our intention. Bigelow’s mission comes across loud and clear in this interview. “…Lighten up, and get real.” We can learn a lot from his open style of talk and literature.
Very interesting and insightful interview with Chris and important bibliographic narratives. Tom
You can find some of the old Sugar Beets in the Way Back Machine at https://www.archive.org/index.php
Search for http://www.thesugarbeet.com
Some of the links don’t work,and the graphics are gone, but you can find many of the stories there.
It appears that the episodes are backwards. I believe that the beginning of the conversation is episode 41, and the continuation is episode 40. However, your introduction appears at the front of episode 40, while 41 has no introduction.