IVP has retained bestselling author, spiritual director, and retreat leader Sharon Garlough Brown as an editorial consultant to continue to grow IVP’s presence in the adult fiction market. Brown has written seven novels for IVP beginning with Sensible Shoes. Her most recent fiction title, Feathers of Hope, released in April 2022.

“I am honored and delighted by this new opportunity for partnering in ministry with IVP,” Brown said. “IVP has a long history of commitment to publishing books that invite us into deeper life with Jesus, and I’m excited about finding and working with fiction authors who can tell compelling stories that take us on a journey of transformation.”

Brown is a spiritual director, speaker, and cofounder of Abiding Way Ministries, providing spiritual formation retreats and resources. A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, she has served on the pastoral staff of congregations in Scotland, Oklahoma, England, and most recently in West Michigan, where she copastored with her husband, Jack, for many years. Brown is the author of the bestselling Sensible Shoes Series, which includes spiritual fiction novels Sensible Shoes, Two Steps Forward, Barefoot, and An Extra Mile, which won Christianity Today’s 2019 Fiction Book of the Year. Her other books include Remember Me and Shades of Light. Each of her books has a separate study guide intended to help readers deepen their understanding of spiritual practices.

“It has been one of the particular delights of my publishing career to work with Sharon Garlough Brown,” said Cindy Bunch, IVP Vice President, Editorial. “I have watched her grow as a novelist over the course of her seven books. She not only has craft and skill, but she combines these gifts with an openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As a result, Sharon’s particular vision for fiction that illuminates spiritual practices and the process of being formed in Christ is a hallmark of her work. It is that quality that IVP is looking for in the next authors we acquire. With Sharon’s guidance we look forward to developing new voices in spiritually formative fiction.”

In addition to Brown’s fiction titles, IVP recently released Kelly Flanagan’s The Unhiding of Elijah Campbell: A Novel. Flanagan is currently working on a second novel for IVP. In 2020 IVP picked up James Bryan Smith’s classic book about heaven, Room of Marvels: A Story About Heaven that Heals the Heart. All of these books are a part of the IVP Formatio line of books focused on spiritual formation.

IVP plans to publish three to five novels a year and is looking for fiction focused on themes of spiritual formation and personal transformation. The press will be looking for authors who are subject-area experts, and who are teaching, speaking, and writing on the themes of their work.

Visit ivpress.com/submissions for more details on how to submit a manuscript. Authors should be ready to submit a complete manuscript upon request.