Don Pape is Publisher over trade books and study resources at David C. Cook, a role he has assumed for three years now. A varied history in publishing that spans over twenty five years, he has been involved in shipping and packing, sales & marketing and even most recently as a literary agent, representing such luminaries as Brandilyn Collins, Mark Mittelberg and Robert Elmer. Born in Brazil of missionary parents, he grew up in Canada where he completed his degree in Political Science – with aspirations of travelling the world as a diplomat. Married to his best friend, Ruth Gentry, he resides in Colorado Springs, CO. He is the father of three exceptional young men – Jeremy, Matt and Tim. He relaxes with constant dates with his wife, enjoys watching Jeopardy, hiking, swimming and listening to smooth jazz. Oh, and always has a book or manuscript handy.

On October 5, I will celebrate my third anniversary as publisher of trade books at David C. Cook. The company itself has been around for over 132 years and has its roots in Chicago. The founder, David C. Cook, began the company as an outreach to young people of the large city. His desire was to provide Christian reading material to young boys and girls who didn’t have any exposure to learning. We have come a long way from those humble beginnings, yet our distribution center is still warehoused at the original site of the head office in Elgin, Illinois. My office is in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado, and each day as I look out my window to Pike’s Peak, I am reminded of David C. Cook’s prayer, “God, make all you can of my life”.

David C. Cook is uniquely positioned as a publisher simply because it is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit company and has a mission not only to equip the church of North America with Christ-centered resources but also to make these resources available worldwide. All profits of this company are then directed to global missions: a library is provided to a pastor in India, vacation Bible school material is sent to a fledgling church in Cuba, and a number of churches throughout China can study God’s Word through the commentaries translated into their native tongue. It is thrilling to think that whatever project we work on, we will ultimately be involved in a global outreach. Most recently it has been exciting to see our bestselling title, Crazy Love, translated into over twenty languages, including Hebrew and Mandarin.

Since assuming the role of publisher for the trade book group, our team has identified four key audiences. This enables us as well as the author and agent to know what type of products we will publish. Reaching four audiences allows us to minister directly to the fifth, the global church.

The first audience is the senior pastor and his team—whether

they are paid or unpaid, full or part-time. These resources equip them in their leadership and discipleship roles.

Second, the future church, the current or next generation of leaders, ages eighteen through thirty-five. Preparing them for key roles in the church is crucial today, more than ever, as is providing them with Christ-centered books that are biblically relevant to their twenty-first-century living.

Third, is the mature disciple, the church members who have followed Christ most of their lives, faithfully serving Christ and wanting to strengthen their personal walk while actively mentoring or discipling others.

Finally, we have parents and families. Currently we are providing family resources to help parents pass on their faith. We have joined forces with Awana to provide parenting titles and workbooks. In the future we hope to develop children’s books for parents to talk about their faith in a most natural way. This fall we begin to release some young adult novels, and summer of 2010 we will publish two illustrated books: one from pastor of family ministry, Michelle Anthony, and the other from Lee Strobel’s daughter and her husband, Alison and Dan Morrow.

This summer our fledgling fiction program was honored by receiving three Christy nominations. One of our first-time novelists, Joy Jordan-Lake, won the Christy Award for best first novel. I am excited to provide strong story writing from skilled Christian novelists. We look forward to publishing names such as Lisa Bergren, Kathy Herman, Nancy Rue, and Travis Thrasher. Alongside these seasoned writers, it is a personal delight to launch the debuts of Richard Doster, Jim Ware, and Bonnie Grove.