We all know Joel Osteen has a new book coming out this year, right? Didn't know that? Well, now you do. But that doesn't happen till the end of the year. Apparently, there's a few more titles rolling off the presses between then and now, though. Perhaps not too surprisingly, the details raise a few questions that I suppose we'll have to wait a few months to see the answers to.

» Starting Your Best Life Now: A Guide for New Adventures and Stages on Your Journey

From the publisher ...

Pastor Joel revisits his seven core principles to help those embarking on new journeys get an edge on successful living.

This comes out April 11 (says Amazon) and in hardcover with a mere 128 pages. Am I wrong to think this might be a smaller, niche market book (ala the smaller devotional)?

» Your Best Life Now for Moms

An April 12 release date? Granted, this is just taken from Amazon, but the weird thing about these dates are that neither this or the one for "Starting ..." falls on a Tuesday, the usual release date for books and music. Just as well, something about this title tells me that it might not be targetted for me.

Another oddity, though ... this title isn't listed on the publisher's website. Oh, and it's a book for moms published by Joel. Could it be that this might turn into Victoria's new book? Just asking is all.

» Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential ... paperback!

I've been waiting for this one. Just because I have a hard time plunking down full dollar for the hardback version that I read in the free handout devotional version. There might be a chance that we get a discount on something at the Lakewood bookstore ... either a cheaper price on the new paperback or a clearance price on the existing stock of hardcovers. Cheapskate that I am, I think we can all pretty much guess what my decision set looks like. I owe it to myself to at least get a copy of one for posterity's sake.

These are all under Joel's old arrangement through Time Warner's publishing unit ... the same Time Warner that published the first book (good) ... the same Time Warner that operates Time magazine that ran a hit peice on Joel (bad) ... the same Time Warner that eventually saw a board game go through the system without Joel's approval (also bad). The paperback is a predictable move, no big question marks there. But do the other books have Joel's actual sign of approval? There wasn't any problem with the smaller devotional book, it seems ... so my hunch is that these are all kosher (so to speak). Still ... ya just never know till ya hear the official word anymore.