Left Behind Background

How It All Started—And What's Ahead

In 1995, no one could have predicted the phenomenon that the Left Behind series would become. In fact, it could have been just one book as Tim LaHaye first envisioned it.

The seed of an idea

Tim LaHaye says it all started in 1985 "through a chance discussion with one of our dearest friends, Shirley Peters—whose husband Art was my associate pastor—and she mentioned this idea of the rapture taking place on an airplane. A few days after that I was flying across the country to a prophecy conference, and this handsome 42-ish airline pilot stepped out of the cabin and started flirting with the chief stewardess in the galley. I noticed he had a wedding ring on and I looked at her finger and she didn't have one on. I got to thinking, 'oh, these people are pretty friendly.' And then I got to thinking about the story that Shirley had mentioned. … What if the rapture took place? According to a Gallup poll, about a third of the population is born-again, so about a third of the people on the 747 would be gone. And, she would discover their clothes and pound on the door and say, 'Captain, a hundred people are missing from our aircraft.' The rest is history."

The right mix for a powerful vision

But the book did not come about immediately. While already a noted author, Tim LaHaye recognized he was not a fiction writer and sought the advice of his agent, Rick Christian, to find one. "So, I prayed, Rick prayed, and one day he called me. I'll never forget that. He said, 'Tim, I just signed Jerry Jenkins as a fiction writer. I think he's your man.'"

Jerry recalls his first meeting with Tim. "We really hit it off almost immediately. Any novelist is looking for an idea for a book that's a big concept—anything that has, like this one does, supernatural elements and the fact that the basis of it is true is just a writer's dream. But, I was struck by Tim's burden for souls. He really cares about people and he has an evangelistic spirit."

In fact, one of the hallmarks of the Left Behind series would become the inclusion in each book of at least one event described by Tim as "a believable conversion that's reproducible in the heart of the reader."

Finding a publisher

Once their mutual literary agent connected Jerry and Tim, they submitted the series to several publishers in 1992. Tyndale Publishing House showed the greatest interest. Mark Taylor, president of Tyndale, saw great potential and even commented he felt that Left Behind might sell as many as 500,000 copies, a remarkable number for any book.

Left Behind was originally planned to release in the summer of 1994. However, when Jerry Jenkins was asked to contribute to Billy Graham's memoirs, Just As I Am, the book was pushed back a year to 1995.

One book or—12?

When writing began, the thought was a single book that would tell the story of the rapture, the tribulation, and Christ's Glorious Appearing. Here's how Jerry describes the process, and the realization that one book was just not enough:

"I remember I got half way through the writing of Book One, which I thought was the book, and I had covered one week. I called Tim and said, 'We've got a problem.' We talked to Tyndale. So, before I even finished Book One we had agreed it would be a trilogy. By the time I finished Book Two, I wasn't much further and we agreed it would be six books. And then we were locked in at seven books."

"The first four books were a year apart, and at the end of the fourth book I was only 2-1/2 years into the Tribulation. Ron Beers, Vice President of Editorial at Tyndale, said 'Do you really think you can get 4-1/2 more years into three more books?' And I said, 'Well, it's going to change the pace. It will have to be more action-oriented, a little less character-driven.' And he said, 'We think that's part of the secret of the success. People care about the characters, they fall in love with the characters, they want to know what happens. So, if you didn't change the pace, how many?' So, I said, "It will take six books to get to the half-way point, thus another six to finish—so, twelve."

The series and its success

For most books, sales of 15,000 are fairly normal, 100,000 is considered very good, and reaching a million is spectacular! God must have had plans for Left Behind that required more than one book or even the three or four imagined in the early stages. Not only does it take time to tell the story, but that story may not have reached nearly as many people.

It took 39 months for Left Behind to reach sales of 1-million copies. The following books took less time, 32 for Tribulation Force, down to 2 for Assassions. By The Indwelling (Book 7), each book went to press with more than 2-million copies and sales of 1-million the first week (much of that based on pre-sale orders). Left Behind became the fastest-selling adult fiction series ever. Desecration (Book 9) was the best-selling novel in the world in 2001. Each book, starting with The Indwelling, has debuted at #1 on the New York Times Fiction list.

After the end

After describing the development of Left Behind into a 12-book series, with the usual twinkle in his eye, Jerry quipped "We're hoping Tyndale won't ask us for one book for each year of the millennium." With the success of Left Behind, however, many fans wouldn't mind that a bit!

What next?

No, there won't be one book for every year of the millennium, but instead of a single "prequel" there will be a "Countdown to the Rapture" trilogy describing the background of the characters and events you already know from the series. The first of these, The Rising, will be on store shelves on March 1, along with the 10th Anniversary edition of Left Behind. An excerpt from The Rising is online now, but here's the gist of the story:

Marilena Carpathia has only one dream: to be a mother. So when a mysterious clairvoyant promises the fulfillment of this dream, Marilena does not hesitate. Through genetic engineering and the power of the prince of darkness himself, Marilena is about to become a chosen vessel, one who will unknowingly give birth to the greatest evil the world has ever known.

Halfway around the world, God's plans are subtly being carried out too. Young Ray Steele is determined to avoid one day taking over the family business. Instead, Ray sets his heart on becoming a pilot. …

Soon Carpathia's and Steele's lives will intersect. And good and evil will clash in an explosion that will shake the world.

The eternal battle for souls has come to earth. The world hurtles toward the countdown to the Rapture.

The next book in the Countdown series will come in November and the final one is slated for June 6, 2006 (6/6/06!). Right now, a single sequel book is planned for March of 2007.

There's more

• We already mentioned in our last newsletter the new one-year devotional Embracing Eternity, which is out now, but could provide you with an excellent devotional guide for 2005.
• The third book in Neesa Hart's political series, Necessary Evils, comes out in paperback and audio book form in January. We'll do a Q&A with Neesa in January.
• For all you Left Behind trivia fans, the book you've been waiting for—The Authorized Left Behind Handbook—will be available in February. We'll also preview this book in future editions of the newsletter.
• Also in February, Shaken and Unmasked—books 7 and 8 in the Young Trib Force series will be out. This series is a must-have for collectors and fans of this upscale version of the comic book.
• Four more books in the Young Trib Force series will follow. Books 9 and 10—Deceived and Protected—are due in April, and books 11 and 12—Hunted and Arrived—in July.
• Beyond the Left Behind series, fans of Mel Odom—whose Apocalypse Burning completed the Left Behind military series in October—will be glad to hear that Mel is writing a new CSI-style series, the first due in the summer of 2005.
• Shadows, the third book in Jerry Jenkins's Underground Zealot series, will be out in July.
• And, we anxiously await another book, The Ezekiel Option, by best-selling author Joel Rosenberg (The Last Jihad), who is excited about bringing his prophecy-based novels to Tyndale readers. We'll introduce you to Joel and talk more about the other upcoming books in future issues of the newsletter.

2005 promises to be a very good year. We wish you God's blessing for the Christmas season and the new year ahead, as we celebrate the salvation made possible by his miraculous incarnation. We encourage you to share the hope of heaven with someone each day of 2005!