Week ending Jan. 19

NavPress executive publisher Michael Miller (http://michaeldmiller.wordpress.com/, Jan. 19) kicks off an interesting discussion by referencing the top ten selling Christian books of 2008, according to statistics from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

Heading the chart for the year was B&H Publishing's The Love Dare by Stephen & Alex Kendrick, followed by William P. Young's The Shack (Windblown Media). Also in the

top ten were books from Karen Kingsbury, John Eldredge, Don Piper and Max Lucado.

Promising to unpack his thoughts in the days to come, Miller poses the questions:

• What does the list tell us about the reading preferences of those who buy Christian books?
• What subject categories are not included in this list?
• Do these books represent what the body of Christ wants to share with the world?

Over at IVP, associate publisher for editorial Andy T. Le Peu takes a glass-half-full look at the growing popularity of electronic reader the Amazon Kindle.

Noting how online bookselling is impacting publishing, and that people like himself view the growth of digital publishing "with a combination of excitement and fear," he wonders whether the Kindle might have a positive side.

Writing at http://andyunedited.ivpress.com/2009/01/are_book_lovers_killing_books.php#more, he observes that with an e-book "you can't loan it or resell it for pennies (or for any price) as you can with print books. It totally eliminates the online reseller phenomenon…"

Meanwhile, Barbour Publishing has reluctantly killed off its new Heartsong Presents Mystery Romance Club, according to the ladies at The Edit Café (http://editcafe.blogspot.com/, Jan. 14).

Though the club launched early last year had a good launch, the fall membership drive "had the worst response that we have ever experienced or even heard of in the industry," the blog reveals. While last year was still "pretty good" overall for the company, "we know we have to tighten our belt and keep our money where we are confident it can give us the most return."

Agent Chip MacGregor tells of escaping serious injury in a car wreck (http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/, Jan. 16) which saw 12 of the students he was leading on a field trip to publishers taken to hospital. "If you'd seen the van, you wouldn't believe it," he says. "An 8-car accident, with several of the vehicles totaled. Not only did we hit the semi, but we were then rear-ended by the car behind us, and the van began burning right away…"