Looking back on big licenses and significant products in children’s and gifts

As we did last issue, reflecting on the year 2014 in a number of product categories, this issue we look back on the year that was in two key categories for Christian retailers—children’s and gifts.

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Fostering a ‘solid connection’ with churches can pay off in Christian retail sales

The future is bright in Christian publishing as new, talented authors are discovered. Each one of the following authors we’ve noted here has at least one book out or soon to be released, reaches out to readers online—through websites, blogs or social media—and points readers to the God they love and serve.

From a Lebanese-American emergency room doctor to the son of a famous theologian, from a woman writing for teen girls to a novelist offering gritty biblical tales for men—all offer readers a new perspective on life and writing.

Robin Barnett, senior publicist for Revell (Baker Publishing Group), sums up what publishers are looking for in an author they see as a rising star.

“We want to get a sense from the author that they have something to say. It doesn’t have to be revolutionary, but they should offer a new slant,” Barnett said.

She adds that publishers want authors who are engaged online, pointing to bloggers who already have created an audience who want to hear what they have to say.

“The quality of writing is important too,” Barnett said. “If an author doesn’t have the writing goods to follow up their first book, they won’t have a long career in publishing.”

The standards apply to fiction and nonfiction authors.

“We are looking for authors we can build past one book. This definitely applies to fiction, but also nonfiction,” she said. “If you get a good Christian Living author, you can work with them for years.”

Booksellers look for the same things in authors whose books they stock—longevity, good storytelling, an eagerness to connect with readers. The list below is a forecast for authors whose books Christian retailers should expect to see on store shelves for years to come.

Looking back on the significant events and substantial sales of 2014

Emphasize the true meaning of Easter with resurrection-themed books and gift releases

Create an exciting sense of discovery in your store as customers learn of independent books and authors

Could a mystery that began on a desert mountaintop in the Middle East 3,000 years ago possibly be determining the direction of world history, the course of our lives and the specific events that await us in the days ahead?

Mainstay category thrives but changes with the times

Christian Living, the anchor point for book sales in Christian retail stores, continued to thrive in 2014, strengthened by a renewed focus on content from a new, more diverse group of authors.

The category, labeled “Christian Life” by the Book Industry Study Group, includes such topics as relationships, death and bereavement, personal growth, spiritual growth, social issues and women’s issues.

Connecting with local congregations spells ongoing business for retailers

Church supplies remain a steady source of sales for brick-and-mortar stores willing to stock up even as some product categories have seen serious shrinkage at Christian retail in recent years. Retailers pursuing church sales of everything from pulpits to pews and from communion wafers to choir robes report that this department not only can hold its own, but also even grow when handled with care.

“Church supplies could be anything from ministry resources, Bible studies, small-group materials, welcome and outreach products, office supplies, bulletins, certificates, record books, communion products and so on,” said Mike Meadows, director of product marketing for Warner Press. “These aren’t items your average parishioner is going to be shopping for. The list is varied, but think about who the customer is, and that will help narrow down what products would fit into church supplies.”

Innovative Inc. has done the research, and results are encouraging.

“We did a report earlier this year that showed the two areas of growth for Christian stores are church supplies and gifts,” said Troy Hurst, director of church sales and marketing for Innovative. “But I think a lot of churches still don’t know that Christian bookstores have church supplies. It’s important to have a section specifically for church supplies—even if it’s a small section. One of the biggest challenges for retailers, from a church standpoint, is that stores carry so little of it that churches don’t know they can get things from the Bible bookstore down the street rather than ordering online.”

Stores that are successful with church supplies keep in close contact with congregations in their area and ensure that they have plenty of consumables on hand for last-minute Saturday shopping.

Tampa Christian Supply has seen such a downturn in sales of Christian books, music and gifts that the store recently announced it will sell only church supplies, a few gifts and Bibles, and the top 10 or 15 best-selling books and DVDs.

“That is the category we have seen the least amount of shrinkage in,” said Patrick Pelizze, the store’s vice president. “Church supplies and Sunday school materials will now be our main thrust, as well as things that you can’t buy anywhere else locally, like anointing oil.”

Jack Savage ran the Christian gifts and bookstore Jack’s Religious Gift Shop in Maryland for 50 years before closing the store in early 2010 when he planned to retire. Instead, Savage found himself in the church-supplies business.

“Every church needs communion cups and candles,” Savage said. “Those items get customers into your store, and then you can sell them other things.”

Savage keeps the consumables readily available but also stocks a selection of choir robes, chairs, communion tables and clergy shirts for browsing by appointment.

CARRY THE CONSUMABLES

One way to get repeat customers in this age of online buying is to carry consumables. Communion cups, seasonal bulletins, offering envelopes and candles get used. When they’re gone, churches need more. They can order them with the click of a button, but shipping often costs extra, and the time it takes to receive what they need can keep a church heading to their local Christian retailer.

“Stores need diversity in this category, and they need the new products like the latest bulletins,” said John Whitaker, vice president of Anchor Distributors. “It’s a nice category because so much is consumable. Communion cups, prefilled communion sets and offering envelopes are consistently in our top 20 items for this category.”

Staying well-stocked is critical.

“When a church goes to the local bookstore to pick up their monthly supplies or quarterly supplies, if the store doesn’t have a good amount in stock the churches will start ordering online,” said Ed Barber, church accounts sales manager for Send The Light Distribution (STL). “Churches need to be able to run down to their local Christian store on Saturday if they are out of communion bread and pick up that communion bread.”

Today stores may be picking up communion bread that is gluten-free. Swanson Christian Products is one company that offers gluten-free, organic, kosher wafers.

“We sell communion bread, including some of the gluten-free, and our biggest thing is communion cups,” said Donna Dightman Baker, owner of Dightman’s Bible Book Center in Tacoma, Washington. “We get them from Broadman and go through a ton. We have used some of the other ones, but our churches really like the Broadman ones best because they have a deluxe cup that has a lip that is a little heavier and not as sharp. The biggest problem with the plastic communion cups is that they get broken in shipping sometimes. We’ve had some disasters, but Broadman is good and will always replace them.”

Prefilled communion packs like Compak’s Celebration Cup (with grape juice and communion wafer) and Broadman Church Supplies’ Remembrance (with grape juice and communion bread) and Fellowship Cups (grape juice with communion wafer) are seeing sales increases, as churches like the convenience and the ability to easily carry communion off site or take the elements with them on mission trips.

“We sell a ton of those prefilled communion sets,” Tampa Christian’s Pelizze said. “The all-in-one Remembrance cups—we are doing a lot of those.”

Some stores also are seeing a rise in sales of certificates, offering envelopes and bulletins.

Dightman’s in Washington state has a reputation of carrying the largest variety of bulletins on the West Coast.

“We do carry and sell a lot of Warner bulletins,” said Baker, noting she stocks hundreds of designs.

Meadows said the ongoing popularity of Warner bulletins remains in part because the company regularly updates the designs of its paper goods, often with the advice of retailers.

“We are regularly seeking their input on new ideas, and working with them to make the church resource lines both attractive and profitable,” Meadows said. “We’re in regular contact with stores throughout the year.”

FIGURE IN FURNITURE

Beyond the consumables, church furniture is becoming a growth category for some Christian retailers, in large part due to Blue Ridge Church Furniture, the largest American manufacturer of church furniture that does not sell directly to churches, but works only through vendors.

“Churches in the United States spend more than $100 million on furniture annually,” said Blue Ridge owner Scott Gabrielson. “We’ve had a lot of stores tell us that church furniture sales are what kept them open this last year.”

Gabrielson said Blue Ridge partners with STL for distribution, and stores can become dealers without carrying bigger pieces in stock. Blue Ridge creates pulpits, chairs, communion tables and baptistries, and also refinishes and reupholsters church furniture.

“Just place the order with STL, and everything is handled from there, right down to the delivery,” Gabrielson said. “And when you are talking big-ticket items like pulpits and pews, stores make a nice commission.”

While Savage could stick with showing brochures to his customers, he feels it’s important to have one or two pieces on hand, especially sample chairs.

“They need to be able to touch it, sit on it, see the color,” Savage said. “I had a church member take a chair to a board meeting the other day, and now the church is buying 75 of them. You get a pretty good return on them too.”

“Seeing is believing,” agreed Gerald Derreberry, owner of the 15-year-old Living Water store in Murphy, North Carolina. “You have to have one or two of the items in stock. It makes all the difference in the world. We’ve been doing some small church supplies, but what is beginning to help us is the fact that we have started carrying church furniture. Communion tables are a big trend, and we have many churches that need chairs. We can even help get pews reupholstered.”

HELP THE HOLIDAYS

Christmas and Easter call for extra communion supplies and candles for most churches. These holidays present an opportunity for retailers to introduce themselves to church leaders, reminding them that they can buy local. The stores can send out extra discount flyers and coupons to church secretaries during these times of year.

“Church supplies have always been a staple part of our business, but in the last couple of years in particular we have noticed a fairly sizable increase,” said Brian Schroeder for Phoenix-based Christian Brands, a manufacturer and distributor of church supplies and Christian gifts. “Where we have seen a lot of growth is in the candle business. A few years ago, we acquired Will & Baumer, a candle company that has been around nearly 160 years. It is a quality brand that has been really good for us.”

Schroeder said that almost every church uses candles for many reasons during the holidays, from filling candelabras to decorating communion tables to using small tapers during candlelight services.

“Churches need congregation candles because everyone uses them for Easter and Christmas,” Schroeder said. “We have seen that grow significantly in the Protestant market. And the beauty of candles pieces is that they are completely consumable. They need to be replaced year after year after year and season after season. By carrying these items, you can make your store a destination.”

Another item that may be needed for the holidays is new clergy shirts or choir robes. Christian Brands recently acquired R.J. Toomey, billed as “the oldest and best-known” clerical apparel firm in the United States.

“We felt like there is a shortage of good-quality clergy shirts in the marketplace,” Schroeder said. “These are great shirts in the $50 range. With our lines, we want to offer great quality at a great price.”

Savage gives an added bonus to churches that buy shirts and robes from his store. If a church spends $200, he gives them a store-branded robe bag. The bags cost Savage less than $3 each, and the choir then carries Savage’s store name wherever they travel. If stores want to buy the bags separately, he sells them for $7.95.

CASE-SIZE CURRICULUM

Retailers reported mixed results selling curriculum to churches, with increases in small-group studies for adults and decreases in children’s and VBS overall.

“Standard lesson commentaries in the King James sell the most for us,” said Baker of Dightman’s. “A lot of our black churches are using that as the curriculum because they had trouble getting curriculum from their denomination. We only stock limited curriculum now and make sure we are very careful to call all the churches two-and-a-half months ahead and confirm their orders, then we consolidate orders to get free shipping.”

Case Bibles do well, as well as DVD-driven products for small group studies, Baker said.

Savage has seen Sunday school curriculum sales drop.

“We are selling less and less Sunday school for children,” Savage said. “We still sell books for adult Bible studies and small-group DVD studies. We’re seeing more of that.”

POUND THE PAVEMENT

Christian retailers hear it all the time, but in church supplies—as with most categories—nothing brings in sales better than by building relationships. In order to reach churches new and old, that may mean pounding the pavement, visiting churches face to face to introduce the store and what it has to offer. Smaller stores can work the phones when there is a lull in traffic. Hosting an annual pastors’ breakfast can break the ice, and inviting secretaries and board members may broaden retailers’ ability to reach decision makers.

Retailers can always make sure they are getting to know every customer who walks into the store.

“What we are finding is that pastors and lay leadership are shopping in Christian stores, but a lot of the time we just can’t identify them anymore,” Hurst said. “Their clothes don’t set them apart. They look like regular guys. If a retailer doesn’t have the time to go out to the churches, he can get the contact information of everyone that comes up to register buying communion cups in large quantities. Chances are they are not taking them home for a project. Stores should start putting a notebook together of their different contacts, engaging people in their stores in conversation and being more precise with the questions that they ask.”

Another way stores are reaching congregations is through joining marketing groups and programs to take advantage of discounts as well as catalog and coupon promotions. Innovative’s Church Marketing Solutions offers a comprehensive program with an annual church supplies catalog and three seasonal catalogs. The catalogs are custom-branded with the store’s information.

“We work with about 50 different vendors and work very hard to build and grow our church business within the retail industry, not only with our catalogs, but through our more than 200 Signature store websites,” Hurst said.

Munce Group offers a new 16-page church supplies catalog, featuring eight pages of standard items and eight pages of small group, Sunday school/children’s ministry and pastoral items.

Covenant Group and Christian Brands each offer an annual church supplies catalog. Covenant publishes a 400-page catalog for the category each September that goes out to more than 60,000 churches. Covenant provides its member stores and Parable franchise stores with the catalog. Christian Brands produces a 135-page spring church supplies catalog that is not branded, so that stores can put their own sticker or stamp on it.

Another way for stores to participate in deeper discounts and promotional materials is through STL’s Premier Partner Advantage Program. Stores that join the program receive an extra discount on more than 200 church supply items in 16 categories from vendors such as B&H Publishing Group, Abingdon Press and Swanson.

“I worked in church supplies with Broadman & Holman for 27 years before I came to STL, so I know what items are consistently in the top 50,” STL’s Barber said. “I thought we could take those top items, expand them and pass an extra discount along to the retailer when they sign up for this program.”

In addition, Premier Partner Advantage participants will receive specials on certain seasonal and best-selling products. They also will receive downloadable marketing materials like videos and brochures.

LIVE LA VIDA LOCAL

Some Christian retailers are going to new churches as well as visiting current customers, reminding them of all the ways their store can benefit congregations.

“Relational shopping is huge, much larger than people realize,” said Richard Hauhuth, director of online sales and marketing for Innovative. “That’s why we think of our websites as more of a tool to drive people to the store than as e-commerce. We offer a lot of different programs so stores can have as many lines in the water as they can. Print catalogs are still very important, but a store also needs to frequently email promotions. A lot of stores feel like all they need to do is put up a Facebook page, but they need to be able to communicate in many ways.”

Barber also encourages building relationships with churches.

“In our Premier program, I plan to give retailers tools that almost force them to get in front of church pastors and church secretaries and decision makers—those that are making buying decisions for local churches,” he said.

“I think for bookstores to survive and thrive, they need to know where new churches are starting in their area, whether at the local elementary schools or YMCAs. They are going to need consumables and curriculum. Get some face time and say, ‘Hey, here’s a 25% off coupon. Come see me.’ Be proactive, and you can use these catalogs like a calling card.”

Retailers also can build relationships by promoting the “Shop Local” theme and partnering with other businesses such as audiovisual equipment dealers that work on church sound systems or dry cleaners that handle choir robes. Offer to cross-promote each other’s businesses with flyers and coupons.

“We are right down the road from Lewis-McChord Army and Air Force base, and they are great at shopping local,” Baker said. “They buy great big cartons of bulletins.”

Derreberry reminds his fellow retailers of how important it is to simply get the ball rolling in the right direction.

“We are going out to the churches, handing out flyers and getting business now by word-of-mouth,” he said of Living Water’s recent church furniture sales. “If you can just get that one church to buy, everybody else starts to follow.”

B&H Publishing Group president settles into role at helm of Nashville publisher

Christian Retailing was privileged to chat with B&H Publishing Group’s Selma Wilson earlier this year. Wilson took the helm of B&H in 2010 and oversees the company’s products, which include the Holman Christian Standard Bible; B&H Books—fiction, nonfiction and children’s; B&H Academic; Broadman Supplies; and Crossbooks’ self publishing. A former social sciences teacher, she is married to a marriage and family minister.

What goes around comes around in the global sphere of Christian publishing

The heathens are storming the gates of our profession, and from the standpoint of the church, this is a reason to celebrate. Before I explain further, let’s consider a time when the Christian book business faced a shortage of helpful heathens.

Upon the occasion of our company’s 75th anniversary this year, I was curious to learn more about the publishing landscape when my grandfather, Herman Baker, launched his new business. During this process I noticed that while great changes occurred in publishing during the 20th century, the beginning and end of the century form a mirror image of each other.

Herman Baker’s enterprise was one of a pack of publishing startups that appeared inside the perimeter of the West Michigan community: Kregel (1909), Eerdmans (1911), Zondervan (1931) and the new kid, Baker (1939). Operating at various profiles, all four businesses established solid positions within the landscape, and collectively we are referenced now by Publishers Weekly editors, with polite and sardonic wit, as the “Michigan Moguls.” However productive our region might be, West Michigan was not alone as a Christian publishing base. The early 20th century witnessed the launch of numerous self-identified Christian publishers, independent and ministry based. Many of these publishers continue operations to this day.

The founders of these publishing houses—men and women—acted boldly and with a strong personal mission. Their skills are undeniable, but talent alone doesn’t explain their success. A setting had been prepared for them.

LITTLE HOUSE—BIG MISSION

Prior to the arrival of Christian publishers, the established industry leaders had shifted their focus to new directions, and this shift generated a gap for newcomers to enter. Mostly of the East Coast, these large publishers forfeited their dominant role in the religious category in a pattern that mimicked the secularization of American culture in general.

Until the turn of the 20th century, most major publishers produced religious books as a standard category, steadily providing Christian books for the church. Penguin Group imprint Dutton, for example, celebrates its 150-year anniversary in 2014, and the company’s website reports that its first best-seller was The Life of Christ by Frederic Farrar (1874). In spite of such achievements, Dutton later shifted its attention to nonreligious categories. This movement provided a gap that was soon filled by emerging publishers with missions that were, fittingly, explicitly missional. Baker Book House—a retailer and publisher at the time—was one of them.

The church requires literature to thrive, and it will seek new books with or without the assistance of New York publishing executives. Innovators such as our founder Herman Baker eagerly accepted that responsibility, and Christian book retailers thrived on a parallel track. By midcentury, the volume of Christian book publishing and retailing was extensive. Two significant organizations, the Christian Booksellers Association, now CBA, and the Evangelical Christian Publishing Association, were launched during this time. This was a period when the Christian book business and the general (“secular”) book business were thriving, but they operated at some distance from each other. To paraphrase Tertullian’s timeless inquiry on the secular-sacred divide, what has New York City to do with Grand Rapids?

The self-imposed isolation of the Christian book business was the standard setting when many of us began our careers in this profession, but our comfortable territory was destined to face a challenge—not from our failures but rather the opposite. As the previous century drew to a close, Christian books were generating far too much success to remain an overlooked corner of publishing and retailing. When now-famous Christian writers first appeared on the New York Times best-seller lists, the East Coast recognized a significant business opportunity. Their spiritual “awakening” reversed a 60-year business trend.

CORPORATE RAIDERS FOR JESUS

Beginning in the late 1980s, the business headlines for Christian publishing reflected a new pattern:

•  HarperCollins Christian acquires Zondervan (1988)
•  Random House launches WaterBrook Press (1996)
•  Hachette launches FaithWords (2001)
•  Random House acquires Multnomah (2006)
•  Simon & Schuster acquires Howard (2006)
•  HarperCollins acquires Thomas Nelson (2012)
•  Amazon launches Waterfall Press (2013)

To summarize that list, five multinational media conglomerates have launched or purchased seven Christian publishing imprints, and all transpiring in about a quarter-century. It is doubtful that this trend is predicated on the personal spiritual revival of New York executives. Whatever their personal religious affinities might be, these savvy business leaders recognized a viable opportunity when it appeared. Even Dutton reconnected with the faithful, launching the writing career of best-selling Christian author Timothy Keller. We’ve all made a wide circle, and it feels a bit like we’re back in the 1800s.

In light of the success that general publishing has achieved with Christian books, it is a safe prediction that they will not lose interest in this category. Faith-based and general publishing have joined forces in serving the kingdom of God.

From the perspective of an independent business such as Baker Publishing Group, this observation is neither a lament nor a complaint. Some of us might grimace at the growing competition—and I often do just that. Yet we all have a reason to celebrate when the resources of multinational corporations are enlisted to serve the church with literature. As Christian readers, we must be selective with books from publishers that also represent non-Christian viewpoints, but there was never a period in our history when reader discernment was unwarranted.

The major publishers invested in the religion category because the Christian independents were unable or unwilling to accept the full burden of that task directly. Our caution provided a gap for corporations to enter, just as surely as corporations provided a gap for Herman Baker and others long ago. This is spiritual quid pro quo.

Even so, there are signs that the corporate pendulum has reached its full arc. Recently NavPress and Regal Books were brought under the respective care of Tyndale House Publishers and Baker Publishing Group. The proprietors were determined that their legacy would continue within independent and Christian-owned companies, and two qualified purchasers promptly accepted that challenge. These are modest adjustments when viewed against the larger trend, but it does show a determination of independent Christian businesses to invest fully and to face the associated risks.

BACK AT THE READING CHAIR

How is the Christian book reader impacted by all this backstage activity? It means that by one method or another, fine Christian books will continue to reach the believers who most need them.

The significance of this blessing cannot be overstated. The hand of God is at work in all this frenetic activity, and His hand is predictably steadier than all of ours. Fine Christian books continue to appear. No matter what period we investigate and no matter who the participants may be at the time, God has unfailingly provided His church with Christian literature. His church will be faithfully served by one means or another.

We have reason to celebrate when New York executives invest their substantial resources to generate good Christian books. Meanwhile, our faith-based publishers remain as determined as ever. Independents may not duplicate the resources of corporate giants, but they do possess experience that is based on decades of participation within Christian communities. These faith-based publishers will discover and introduce most of the emerging Christian writers of the next generation.

As an independent Christian publisher, we have clarity in our mission and an uncompromised connection to Christian readers. That obligation provides us with plenty of reasons to celebrate, whatever challenges we might face.

Devotional books offer rich spiritual content for the growing Christian

Devotional books didn’t often make headlines, that is, until Sarah Young came along with her 10-million-copy-selling “Jesus Calling” brand from Thomas Nelson. Ann Voskamp of One Thousand Gifts fame also has had success with a devotional based on her best-selling Zondervan book that helped readers cultivate thanksgiving and joy—and this year Tyndale will release her Christmas devotional, Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. Whether headline-making or not, readers of devotionals often want new titles for themselves and to share with others.

Relentless readers drive the twists and turns of Christian-fiction publishing

Talk to Christian retailers, publishers, editors, agents and authors, and they all say the same thing about the state of Christian fiction: Like a good suspense novel, the plot keeps changing.

Launching a new Bible translation in the spirit of the venerable version

This fall brings the release of the Modern English Version (MEV) Bible—the first update of the original Bible texts in the King James tradition in over 32 years. Passio, an imprint of Charisma House, will release several offerings in the September launch of this significant work.

Discovering the differences between traditional and independent publishers in a changing marketplace

As a book retailer, you’re familiar with traditional CBA publishers like Thomas Nelson, Howard Books, Harvest House Publishers, Zondervan and Bethany House. You typically know what to expect from these well-known publishers. You know the genres in which they specialize, you understand the audiences they’re reaching, and you’re familiar with the doctrine governing the pages of the books they publish.