"I feel God has put big things in me," he said.Īgain and again in the first book, Osteen exhorts readers to shun negativity and develop "a prosperous mindset" as a way of drawing God's favor. Not bad for a college dropout who seven years ago was manning the television cameras at his father's church and was too nervous to ascend the pulpit until succeeding him in 1999. (The author's usual royalty is 15 percent of sales.) The new deal is potentially richer than the $10 million or more that former President Bill Clinton was advanced for his autobiography, "My Life." Osteen said the terms of the new contract were confidential, "so I don't think I ought to comment one way or the other." But people involved in the negotiations have said that the contract is a co-publishing deal that gives Osteen a smaller advance, but a 50-50 split on profits from the book.
"That's what I want to get into my next book."īut he may have written himself into a corner with the earlier title, he agreed with a laugh, leaving him next time around with something like "A Little Bit Better Than Your Best Life Now." "I've got some material I haven't used, stuff on relationships, believing in people," he said. "So I'll take what I did today and maybe massage that into some chapters." "Your Best Life," Osteen said, went through 10 versions with his editors at Warner Faith "until I felt it was right." "A lot of my book comes from my messages," he said. Osteen (pronounced OH-steen) said he would write the second book, like the first, on his computer, without a ghostwriter, based largely on his sermons. "I've never asked for money on television." But opening oneself to God's favors was a blessing, he said. "You know what, I've never done it for the money," he said in an interview after the Sunday service, which he led with his glamorous wife and co-pastor, Victoria. "I believe God wants us to prosper" is the gospel according to Osteen, 43, who offers no apologies for his wealth. The news for Osteen has lately been very good indeed: Last month he signed a contract with Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, that could bring him as much as $13 million for a follow-up book to his debut spiritual guide, "Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential," which, since it was published by Warner Faith in 2004, has sold more than 3 million copies. "We come with good news each week," he told the packed crowd at his gigachurch in his native Texan twang. HOUSTON - On a recent Sunday morning, as usual, the ever-smiling preacher, best-selling author and religious broadcaster Joel Osteen took the stage at Lakewood Church, formerly known as the Compaq Center, the 16,000-seat home of the Houston Rockets basketball team.Īfter a warm-up of rousing original rock and gospel hymns with lyrics and videos flashing on jumbo screens around the arena, Osteen began to speak.
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