News: The Door Interview with Jerry B. Jenkins
Posted on Saturday, April 10 @ 12:51:03 PDT by Virgil |
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The year 2004 saw an explosion in the Christian fiction market, due mostly to the never-ending Left Behind series and its many parallel and spin-off books. The high volume of sales, coupled with the recent purchase of several Christian printing houses, have made Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins the most influential men in Christian publishing. The following is from a November interview between TheDoorMagazine and Jerry B. Jenkins, co-author of the Left Behind series.
THE DOOR MAGAZINE: Many of your readers were surprised and disappointed upon finishing the final book of the Left Behind series to find the story was, still, not over. What was the reason behind the newest spin-off series Armageddon?
JERRY B JENKINS: Tim and I just felt one final book could not do justice to the judgment that awaits unbelievers. We received thousands of letters from readers who wanted to see more of God's wrath on sinners. So when we neared the end of the story, we decided to milk it, I mean stretch it into three books. That way we could really focus in on the judgment. You know, burning flesh, birds pecking out eyeballs, parents eating their children – stuff like that.
DOOR: This year marked the release of White Horse (The Dragon is Bound), the final entry in the Armageddon Trilogy. Is this finally the end of Left Behind?
JENKINS: Hardly! Tim and I have already begun work on a new extension to the series. As you know, the devil is bound, but not yet defeated. After a thousand years, he will be released to deceive the nations and another war will be fought between God and man.
DOOR: So, are you saying there will be a Gog and Magog trilogy?
JENKINS: Exactly! But in the meantime, we have the whole millennial reign to write about.
DOOR: When can we expect a book on the thousand-year reign?
JENKINS: Not just a book. A whole series! The first installation will come out early January of next year, and the second the following week.
DOOR: The following week?!
JENKINS: Yes. You see, with Left Behind, we originally planned on doing seven books: one book for each year of the Great Tribulation. We've decided to do the same with Millennium.
DOOR: You mean a 1,000-book series?!
JENKINS: If you'll remember, we couldn't stop at seven on the first series. There was just too much story at stake.
DOOR: And too much money.
JENKINS: So we're thinking we can milk ... excuse me, amplify ... Millennium to about 2,500 volumes. Give or take a couple hundred.
DOOR: !!!
JENKINS: Which brings me back to the weekly release date. If we want to get all these volumes out there, it'll have to be back to back, on a weekly basis.
DOOR: One week doesn't leave much time for proofreading and editing. Aren't you concerned that such a short deadline might diminish the quality of your writing?
JENKINS: What do you mean?
DOOR: Um, writing a book in one week is one thing; getting it through editors, attorneys, printing houses, and finally to the bookstores in that amount of time is another matter. How will you handle the publishing demands involved?
JENKINS: Of course we'll cut out some of the unnecessary middlemen, like the editors. As you know, Tim and I have bought up almost half the Christian printing houses in the last few years, so there's no problem there. With the name recognition we've gained, we won't even worry about all that legal stuff – except the royalties and advances, of course. No one would dare try to take credit for our work.
DOOR: Hmm. That's true. We can't think of anyone off the tops of heads, either.
JENKINS: But the key to the whole project is the template.
DOOR: The template?
JENKINS: Yes. Since, the Millennial Reign will be a peaceful time when Christ reigns on earth and the Devil is bound, it'll be pretty much the same old same old, day after day. So we created a template. Each week, Tim and I will make a few changes here and there and send them to the printing house. They'll print the changes and send them out to the stores.
DOOR: Do you really think your audience will buy 2,500 copies of the same book?
JENKINS: We think the changes we make will be worth it. For instance, Nicolae Carpathia spends the duration of the series in hell. But we'll have him one week in a vat of boiling oil, the next week suspended head-down in human dung, and the following week receiving a pedicure with a belt sander. You get the point. Each week, readers will buy the next copy to see what torment awaits the Antichrist.
DOOR: Sure, but you said yourself the Millennial Reign will be pretty much static. Without some kind of conflict, how do you plan to develop a plot?
JENKINS: Whoa! Hold off on the big words there.
DOOR: Sorry. You know, static: staying the same, never changing...
JENKINS: No, I meant that last word. Define that one for me.
DOOR: Uh, just look at the big picture for a moment, Jerry. I mean, let's face it. You and Mr. LeHaye are not exactly young men. Writing 2,500 books – one every week! It'll take at least (counting on our fingers and toes) 48 years! Even if you can pull off this rapid-fire publishing tactic, and even if anyone out there is stupid enough to buy the books, can you really expect to be around for the end of the series?
JENKINS: We will definitely run into some problems there. But Tim has it all worked out. He says that, according to prophecy, someone will eventually get fed up with us, and I will be assassinated. But then, just when everyone thinks Left Behind is over, the spirit of Tim LaHaye will take possession of my body and I will rise from the dead. Then, together we will continue our plan to subvert and control the Christian publishing industry.
http://www.thedoormagazine.com/archives/jenkins.html
Note: This interview is satirical and imaginary in nature.
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