Baker Publishing Group and David C Cook have recently signed significant author contracts.

Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, has signed psychologist and author Larry Crabb to a three-book contract. Focused on what it means to be created as distinctly masculine or feminine bearers of God’s image, the first title is set to release in summer 2013. In it, he shows how men and women reveal something unique of God’s character by the way they relate to each other.

Chad Allen, Baker Books’ editorial director, said that Crabb’s work “has had a profound impact on how Christians think about relationships and church and our mission in the world” and that the book “illuminates what it means to be a godly woman or man in today’s culture.”

Another Baker Publishing Group division, Bethany House has announced a new partnership with Christy Award-winning author Dee Henderson, who has achieved career sales of more than 2.8 million copies. Her first novel with Bethany House, blending suspense and romance, will debut Oct. 2.

“Dee has a remarkable talent, and an outstanding reputation among fiction readers and booksellers,” said David Horton, vice president of editorial at Bethany House. “She has helped to grow an entire genre, mentoring several other authors along the way.”

Elsewhere, David C Cook has signed theologian and best-selling author R.C. Sproul for a multi-book deal that includes never-before-published works as well as previously published books.

Scheduled for release this summer, The Work of Christ is book one in a partnership between Sproul, Ligonier Ministries and David C Cook. Pleasing God and Loved by God will be released in the fall, with other titles slated for 2013.

“It is a great honor to work with one of the church’s great teachers and scholars,” said Alex Field, deputy publisher at David C Cook. “Dr. Sproul’s powerful teachings are based in years of scholarship, strong theology, prayer and decades of ministry—so we are thrilled to bring his deeply biblical message to the church at large through these new books.”

Based on Sproul’s popular teaching series, The Work of Christ examines the acts of Jesus from His incarnation to His future return, explaining basic facts, dispelling common misconceptions and addressing critical questions.