"New Age titles are still the cash cow," says Hay House publicity director Jacqui Clark. "The main difference these days is that New Age has moved into the mainstream market with sales to Target, Wal-Mart and Costco as the norm, along with appearances on national TV shows. We promote the titles like regular books now." That includes big-name endorsements such as Larry King's foreword to John Edwards's After Life: Answers from the Other Side (Princess Books, Sept.), which has 200,000 copies in print following a second pre-publication printing.

When it comes to promotion, says Clark, "the old mail-a-book-off-and-hope-it-gets-there is a thing of the past." Instead Hay House has become proactive with such programs as its four-city Mystical Connections Tour, featuring well-known psychics like Doreen Virtue, author of Chakra Clearing: Awakening Your Spiritual Power to Know and Heal (Jan.), and up-and-comers like Sonia Choque! tte, author of Diary of a Psychic (July). Next month, the publisher will mount its own I Can Do It conference, featuring founder Louise Hay as well as Suze Orman and Marianne Williamson.

At Inner Traditions/Bear & Company, president Ehud Sperling tells PW, "We're doing very well. We're ahead of last year and we were 20% up then. You can look at our growth in troubled times as a serious commitment to our subject area." Of course, a mention of two of Margaret Starbird's books on Mary Magdalene in The Da Vinci Code hasn't hurt. Starbird's The Woman with the Alabaster Jar (1993) went from sales of 200 copies a month to 2,500; The Goddess of the Gospels, from 70 to 700. Starbird's third book on the forgotten apostle, Magdalene's Lost Legacy, was released in May.

Thorsons/Element, a division of HarperCollins U.K. with U.S. offices in Boston, has also benefited from the Da Vinci effect. Sales and marketing director Steve Fischer attributes interest in what he terms "repressed/alternative religious history" for boosting sales for Laurence Gardner's Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark: Amazing Revelations of the Incredible Power of Gold (Mar. 2003) and Christopher Knight and Kristen Hartvig's Book of Hiram: Freemasonry, Venus, and the Secret Key to the Life of Jesus (Jan.). "It takes a big commercial bestseller to turn people on to new ideas," says Fischer. "There's nothing new about New Age; there's always been a search for a higher self."

For many New World Library titles 10,000 copies in one year would be a lot, but not nearly enough for Stillness Speaks (Sept.), the follow-up to Eckhart Tolle's bestselling The Power of Myth. "We're printing 200,000 copies and we've advanced 150,000," says associate publisher Munro Magruder. "We just did a promotion with Amazon, and it reached number two, behind Harry Potter." With an excerpt in O magazine, Tolle's reached a level that most other authors aspire to. Magruder believes that's because Stillness Speaks, like other New World Library titles such as Riding Between the Worlds: Expanding Our Potential Through the Way of the Horse (Nov.) and Angel Cats: God's Messengers of Comfort (sp! ring 2004) resonate with people dissatisfied with their lives. Other books that offer positive advice include The Call: Discovering Why You Are Here (HarperSanFrancisco, Sept.) by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, which has an announced 100,00 copy first printing; Faye Mandell's Self Powerment (Dutton, Sept.), which helps readers arrive at a state of "Here-Now"; and Dante's Path (Gotham, Sept.) by Bonney Gulino Schaub and Richard Schaub, which uses The Divine Comedy as a metaphor for leading connected lives.

Deepak Chopra, whose two forthcoming titles are The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence (Harmony, Oct.) and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga (Wiley, May), with David Simon, continues to be a spiritual leader of New Age. "What makes Deepak such a force," says Harmony publisher Shaye Areheart, "is that he himself is always evolving. He's not a salesman; he's not a showman. He's very devoted to making people's lives better. I think what proves that New Age books are important is when a 9/11 happens, we turn immediately to these authors and these books from whom we got relief all along." Other "helpful" books on Areheart's list include Arthur Jeon's hip guide, City Dharma: A Survival Handbook for City Dwellers and Suburbanites (Feb.) and well-known British psychic Mia Dolan's memoir, I Know Why We Are Here: The True Story of an Ordinary Woman's Extraordinary Gift.

"The way I look at it, New Age has grown into middle age," says Tom Miller, executive editor of general interest books at John Wiley & Sons. "New Age has got its tentacles into health, spirituality and science." Like Hay House's Clark, he uses a lot of mainstream techniques to build interest. "I start by getting as many endorsements on a book as I can. It not only looks good on the book, but it starts getting word-of-mouth going from the manuscript stage. It help! s." Among Miller's upcoming books are Thomas and Beverly Bien's Finding the Center Within: The Healing Way of Mindfulness Meditation (Oct.) and the first paperback edition of Michael Samuels's Healing with the Mind's Eye: A Guide to Using Imagery and Visions for Personal Growth (Nov.), which was originally published in 1991.

Ancient traditions from various cultures continue to be a source of New Age wisdom, whether it's Irish myths in Niall Mac Coitir's Irish Trees: Myths, Legends and Folklore (Dufour Editions, Nov.) with watercolors by Grania Langrishe or Native American ways of viewing the land in Nature's Way: Native Wisdom for Living in Balance with Earth (HarperSanFrancsico, Mar.) by Ed McGaa and Eagle Man.

Not Your Typical New Age Publisher

Some publishers that aren't typically thought of as New Age do in fact publish books that cross over. That's true for religion publisher Shambhala Publications in Boston and its many editions of Sun Tzu, most recently as a book and deck kit, The Art of War Box (Sept.). "It's hard to tell where the line is," says Shambhala president Peter Turner. "Books that a few years ago might have been perceived of as Buddhist books aren't perceived that way anymore. Most are received as pretty mainstream." The works of Tibetan Buddhist Pema Chödrön—like her upcoming The Compassion Box(Sept.), which contains a book, CD and card deck—are also category breakers. "People are clamoring for tools," says Turner. "These are scary times, uncerta! in times. When she says 'Chaos should be regarded as really good news,' she's telling you that the solution to the problem is the problem."

Not that boxes and card decks, two popular New Age sidelines, are for religion publishers only. Chronicle Books offers The Kali Box: Goddess of Creation and Destruction (June), which includes a painted Kali figurine and a book by Manuela Dunn Mascetti on Indian art and myths, as well as The Tibetan Buddhism Deck: Buddhas, Deities and Bodhisattvas (July) by Priya Hemenway and The Healing Deck: 36 Affirmations for Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Wellness (Sept.) by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber. Running Press has a number of mini-kits with a New Age theme, including The Art of the Bonsai Potato (Mar.) by Jeffrey E. Fitzsimmons.

Asian-oriented Tuttle Publishing, a member of the Periplus Publishing Group, has also found new readers among New Agers. "There's a general interest in spiritual approaches, and there are Asian approaches that have proved popular, like Buddhism. This has always been a pretty strong part of the Tuttle list, and from our point of view, we're going to grow that part of our list," says publishing director Ed Walters, who would like to replicate the success of Kakuzo Okakuroa's The Book of Tea with a new work based on Buddhist aesthetics, Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence (Nov.) by Andrew Juniper; Book of Peace: Meditations from Around the World (Journey Editions, Aug.) by Claire Nahmad; and Asian Face Reading! : Unlock the Secrets Hidden in the Human Face (Journeyman Editions, Sept.) by Boye Lafayette De Mente. Other mainstream books originating from Eastern thought include Where Is Love? A Simple Buddhist Guide to Romantic Happiness (Andrews McMeel, Dec.) by Taro Gold and Be a Light unto Yourself: Discovering and Accepting Who You Are from the Words of the Buddha (Andrews McMeel, Oct.) by Priya Hemenway and Philip Dunn.

With its emphasis on illustrated books, Welcome Books might seem like an unlikely New Age press. But that's one of the audiences for its photographic celebration of Buddha, with photographs by Jon Ortner and an introduction by Jack Kornfield. "It's cross-market in the same way Jack Kornfield's cross-market. Buddhist teachings are wisdom almost any religion can embrace," says publisher Lena Tabori, whose marketing plans range from features in New Age Retailer and Popular Photography to a window at tony Henri Bendel in New York City. Ryland Peters & Small also tries to marry strong images with New Age content in books like Magic House: Practical Magic for a Harmonious Home (Sept.) by Teresa Moorey and My Dream Journal (Sept.) by Charles Phillips, which includes tips and exercises on dreaming.

Now that New Age has become accepted by popular culture, what's next? "The lines are very blurry between self-improvement and spiritual health. We've been here since January, and we're scratching our heads where the market is," says Gotham Books president Bill Shinker, who back in 1992 published two of the first New Age writers to break through into the mainstream, Thomas Moore (Care of the Soul) and Marianne Williamson (A Return to Love). Despite the uncertainties, judging by the diversity of titles that have come to be known as New Age, publishers' future lists will contain a heady mix of spirituality, the soul and the sacred in everyday life, with an overlay of self-improvement that will appeal to pagan and nonpagan alike.

Even with one of the most successful backlist titles on the market, Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (still hovering in the top 30 on the BookScan bestseller lists four years after its publication), New World Library continues to look for ways to re-promote its books. This fall it will launch a gift line using the Tolle bestseller—The Power of Now Meditation Deck: 50 Inspiration Cards—and Shakti Gawain's six-million–copy seller Creative Visualization—Create Your Own Affirmations: A Creative Visualization Kit. "We're always trying to re-energize backlist," says associate publisher Munro Magruder. "The idea is to leverage New World Library's content. We're looking at about 10 products a year, and we're doing most of the design internally."

"The unorthodox, the unexplained maverick topics—these are the kinds of books we're looking for," says Patrick Huyghe, editor-in-chief of Paraview Publishing, the body/mind/spirit publishing arm of Paraview, which includes Paraview Literary Agency in New York City. Founded three years ago to publish print-on-demand books, Paraview launched an unusual joint venture with Simon & Schuster's Pocket Books this spring. "We find the books, the authors and the editors and then turn the book over to Pocket," explains Huyghe. "The idea was a half-dozen titles the first year, nine the second year and 12 the third." While most Paraview Pocket Books are trade paperback nonfiction titles—The Phaselock Code: Through Time, Death and Reality: The Metaphysical Adventures of the Man Who Fell Off Everest (Oct.) by Roger Hart or Men in Black Dresses: A Quest for the Fut! ure Among Wisdom-Makers of the Middle East (Nov.)—the joint imprint will also publish visionary fiction in mass market, such as Jill Morrow's Angel Café (July).

David Jastrow, a senior analyst at SIMBA Information, a publishing research firm in Stamford, Conn., says his firm's data indicate that religion book sales in 2003 increased by 4.6 percent to $1.5 billion.

But even industry analysts who question the increase reported by AAP note that including or excluding a few phenomenally popular titles can change the landscape of the entire category.

Lynn Garrett, religion editor at Publishers Weekly, points to the supreme example of the moment: Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life," which has sold 16 million copies and inspired a host of related titles since it was published in 2002. (Purpose-Driven gift products have sold nearly 3 million units.)

"A book that big can skew the numbers," Ms. Garrett observes. But she believes the success of religion publishing is also broader, less tied to the rise of a single title or author. "Religion is just so much a part of the cultural conversation these days," she says, "because of global terrorism and radical Islam. People want to understand those things. They're looking to go more deeply into the religious traditions."

Hunger for religious offerings seems to be permeating the television industry as well. Over the past 10 years, TV coverage of religious issues has been rising sharply, according to a study released this week by the Media Research Center. The major networks broadcast 303 stories on religion in the year ending March 1, compared with 121 in the same period last year.

But John Wilson, editor of Books & Culture, a bimonthly magazine published by Christianity Today, says the AAP figures "just can't be right." However, he agrees that the trend is definitely up, contrary to earlier predictions about the direction of religion in America.

"In the '60s, everyone was saying that religion was fading away," he says. "I remember sitting in a sociology class and the professor calmly explaining that religion would continue to play less and less of a role in people's lives. That was wrong."

In fact, the current success of religious publishing is the continuation of a long story in America. In the 17th century, before there were bestseller lists or publicists to draw halos around the data, the bestselling books were collections of sermons, and editions of John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress."

In defense of the AAP's 50 percent figure, Ms. Blough emphasizes that her data on religion book sales for 2003 also includes whatever self-help books publishers decide to report.

That conflation of religion and self-improvement reflects a particularly American mind-set. Ben Franklin didn't invent the self-help category, but his "Autobiography" - with its industrious plan for reaching moral perfection - hasn't gone out of print since it was published in 1791. And his popular "Way to Wealth" is the founding father of the self-improvement books piled in glossy altars at Borders.

H.W. Brands, who wrote a Pulitzer-nominated biography of Franklin in 2000, isn't surprised by the rising popularity of religion and self-help books. "Americans tend to be optimistic by nature," he says. Like Franklin, they "tend to think that evil is something they can fix or that it's the result of bad arrangements."

Mr. Brands believes historians will look back at the current period as another Great Awakening, a repeat of the religious revivals of the 1740s and the 1830s.

Regardless of what the scribes conclude about the exact sales figures for religion books in 2003, Ms. Garrett at Publishers Weekly says, "I certainly don't see sales falling off anytime soon, given the confluence of cultural factors at work."