Jakes ventured successfully into the literary world as a best-selling author, with books that infuse spiritual guidance and real-life issues. Two nonfiction reads reached No. 3 on The New York Times Best Sellers list, Before You Do: Making Great Decisions That You Won’t Regret ($23.93; Atria), and Reposition Yourself ($24; Atria). Reposition Yourself remained on the list for 23 weeks, and spent 20 weeks on USA Today’s best-sellers list. He’s also the author of fiction novels including Cover Girls.