Who is the best-selling author living and working in Alberta today? If you guessed Janette Oke, you would be right, and you would be rare.
 |
| Janette Oke |
While virtually every author based in Alberta today has to supplement his or her literary income with such things as fellowships, grants, teaching positions or other part-time work, Oke is a notable exception. Assuming she makes even modest royalties on each book sale, she could feed a village with her earnings.
Oke’s publisher, Bethany House, describes her niche as “inspirational fiction.” Having launched her career in 1979 writing accessible Christian fiction, a sector where she saw a large void, she has now written 76 books – so far. And her sales dwarf those of everyone else.
She writes from a perch in the Rocky Mountains, and lives in the Calgary area. Her stories are chiefly about
small-town prairie life. She pens her books quickly and with the inspiration that arises from her deeply held Christian faith and her rural Alberta childhood.
Her audience is mostly female and American. Many people have tried to capture that market, but few succeed as grandly as this grandmother.
* Year Founded: 1979
* Address: represented by Bethany House publishers
* Phone: (952) 829-2512
* Website: www.janetteoke.com
