In 1820 the General Conference chose Ruter to establish a new branch of the Methodist Book Concern in Cincinnati. During his eight years as book agent, he edited or wrote more than a dozen books, the most influential of which, History of the Christian Church (1832), was required reading for Methodist preachers for several decades. At his death, he left unfinished a "Plea for Africa as a Field for Missionary Labor" and a "Life of Bishop Asbury."
