Zerubbabel Focus: Zerubbabel Press–Republishing Norman’s Books
by Sanda Cooper

Zerubbabel Press is in the process of republishing several of Norman Grubb’s books. This has been a great responsibility and privilege, and we want to share the story of how it came about with our readers.

Several of us had been discussing the possibility of republishing Norman Grubb’s books for some years. Our lives have been radically transformed by the biblical truths he taught, and we strongly believed that his work should be made available to a new generation of Christian readers. Supplies of his more recent books were dwindling, and his out-of print books had all but disappeared. Besides, many of our own copies were in tatters, our God Unlimiteds held together by rubber bands, and our Who Am I?s dog-earned, falling permanently open at a well visited and heavily underlined chapter. When about twenty of us moved to Boone in 1992 to begin our Total Living Center, we finally had a central location from which to publish The Intercessor, the Znews, and, hopefully, Norman’s books.

We knew nothing about publishing books and needed help determining who currently held the publishing rights on the books, so we hired a copyright attorney. Thus began a labyrinthine search for who owned which titles, for how long, and whether the rights could be purchased. No one we contacted through the attorney seemed clear as to the facts, and there were even discrepancies over titles. Eventually we discovered that Norman’s original British publisher in England, Lutterworth Press, controlled the bulk of the rights and was desirous of seeing the main body of Norman’s work reprinted. In addition, we learned that there were other individuals and groups interested in reprinting one or more of the books, and we had no idea how negotiations might be progressing with them, or whether there was any way in which we might work together.

Finally, in October 1995, after almost 9 months of correspondence between our attorney and Lutterworth Press, Scott Prewitt, Page Prewitt and I made an appointment to meet with Adrian Brink, the managing director, in Cambridge, England. We found him to be extremely charming and personable, but more importantly, extremely committed to seeing that any reprint of Norman’s work be professional and true to the original books. One of his main concerns was that the text of the books not be altered, and we emphatically concurred, emphasizing that we were dedicated to preserving Norman’s writing and felt as protective as he did. We wanted to give the books a fresh, updated look, but nothing would be changed except obvious typos and spelling mistakes. We also indicated that we were eager to cooperate with any other person or group interested in making Norman’s work available once again.

Perhaps a deciding factor in Lutterworth’s later decision to sell Zerubbabel Press the publishing rights was our intention to initially reprint five of Norman’s books. Those of us who have "digested" his writings through the years know that in his earlier work he gives a fuller and more expanded treatment of some issues that are then distilled to a paragraph or two in his later and final books. Therefore it seemed necessary to reprint key books from his thirty some years of writing in order to give readers a thorough presentation of his extraordinary biblical understanding. The books we settled upon with Lutterworth were Who Am I?, The Law of Faith, Yes I Am, God Unlimited, and Once Caught, No Escape.

Having negotiated and signed a contract with Lutterworth Press, the actual process of publishing was upon us. Although we were publishing The Intercessor and Znews, as well as several short pamphlets, we were novices at full-length books. We decided to start with Who Am I?. First, we enlisted the aid of a Christian publishing firm (who were to eventually print the books) a computer expert (who helped us through the difficulties of fairly sophisticated software), and a local printer (who had the expertise and technological capacity to duplicate our cover art). We designed a whole new look for the books, from font to page size to the actual spacing of the text, all in an effort to make the books more readable. Next, we decided on the cover-our in house artist, Steven Prewitt, enlarged actual letters from Norman’s typewritten correspondence to spell the title, placed the letters against a parchment type paper, and chose a color close to the original book. He also designed our Zerubbabel Press logo, which identifies us to the Christian publishing world. The publishing team proofread and proofread, then the Boone fellowship proofed in small groups. At long last, after multiple conversations with our printer, Dickenson Press, we sent off our camera-ready pages for Who Am I? and waited.

As we proceeded, learning each phase of the process as we needed it, we were always conscious of the fact that the end product was to be the work of the man beloved by many of us, whose understanding of the Scripture had so revolutionized our lives and the lives of many others. When we received word from Dickenson Press that the first book, Who Am I?, was on the way to Boone, we were thrilled! What a moment it was to hold that first copy and remember the labor of love that had gone into it, and to realize that we were now able to offer this jewel to the public.

Who Am I? was followed by The Law of Faith and Yes I Am, and God Unlimited is being readied for press at present. After this first group of five, we expect to begin on a second set, beginning with some of Norman’s work which is less well known, but rich in insight and personal detail.

We have been privileged to make the work of this man of God available once again to the public, and we are grateful to our readers for their interest
and support throughout the process. We believe that Norman Grubb has made a huge contribution toward a more complete understanding of our union with Christ, and that Christians will be reading his books for generations to come.