‘Christian Retailing’ editors and writers reflect on what mattered most in 2008 and why

Books: Grass-roots marketing propels surprise best-seller
By DeWayne Hamby

The book that grabbed all the headlines and sold the most copies last year was William P. Young’s The Shack, the little book that could—and did. Originally self-published and energized by high-profile endorsements from Eugene Peterson (The Message) and singer Michael W. Smith, the novel found its real strength from grass-roots, word-of-mouth efforts before major publisher Hachette Book Group USA pushed it to an ever higher level.

“Have you read The Shack?” became the question of the year, while publishers who originally passed on it lamented publicly at the summer’s International Christian Retail Show (ICRS).

Nearing 4.6 million copies in print by year’s end, the book had stood on the New York Times Paperback Trade Fiction best-seller list for nearly half the year and been translated into more than 20 languages. Readers can look forward to a discussion guide, a DVD documentary on the author and even a major motion picture arriving in the near future, proving there is still steam in this unexpected engine.

Fireproof, the latest film from Sherwood Pictures (Facing the Giants) and Provident Films, was not only a smash on the big screen, but saw ancillary products fly off the shelves.

The marriage book The Love Dare (B&H Books/B&H Publishing Group), featured prominently in the film, debuted at the top of the New York Times Paperback Advice list and soon had more than 1 million copies in print.

The novelization of the movie, Fireproof by Eric Wilson (Thomas Nelson), also benefitted from the film’s success, selling more than 80,000 copies, hitting the New York Times Paperback Trade Fiction best-seller list and going back to print eight times.
Other big promotions at ICRS centered on study Bibles, as Crossway Books & Bibles and Tyndale House Publishers rolled out the ESV Study Bible and NLT Study Bible, respectively. Crossway quickly announced second and third printings of the new ESV after selling out of its original 100,000 units. Tyndale President and CEO Mark Taylor, noting that the NLT Study Bible was the second-biggest launch in the company’s history, said the Bible was “off to a great start,” although sales figures were not disclosed. In addition to new Bibles, milestones were celebrated for The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible (100 years) and the New International Version (30 years).

Still going strong from its release in 2007, Thomas Nelson’s The Word of Promise New Testament had what CEO Mike Hyatt called a “breakthrough” in 2008, winning the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) Book of the Year Award—marking the first time an audiobook had received the organization’s highest honor. The company plans to release the Old Testament and the complete Word of Promise audio Bible in the fall.

Thomas Nelson also generated other buzz during the year. In addition to its new Open House retailer event and its withdrawal from ICRS, the company announced the slashing of its book publishing for the foreseeable future, with CEO Mike Hyatt commenting, “We don’t need more books, we need better books.”

One book that did get published by the company was Stephen Mansfield’s The Faith of Barack Obama, one of a large group of politically oriented books that also included Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw (Zondervan), Personal Faith, Public Policy by Tony Perkins and Harry R. Jackson Jr. (FrontLine/Strang Communications), Ronald J. Sider’s The Scandal of Evangelical Politics (Baker Books/Baker Publishing Group) and Sarah Palin biographies from Zondervan, Tyndale and Bridge-Logos.

Rob Bell didn’t shy away from politics in his latest book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians (Zondervan). The author, who headlined the 25-city, sold-out The God’s Aren’t Angry Tour, appealed to large crowds of young adults embracing fresh new voices, a growing trend that also included Erwin Raphael McManus’ Wide Awake (Thomas Nelson), Doug Pagitt’s A Christianity Worth Believing (Jossey-Bass) and Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears’ Vintage Jesus (Crossway Books & Bibles), among many others.

Best-selling author Rick Warren, who was quite visible in major media during the year, saw a Purpose-Driven follow-up released from Howard Books. In November, the publisher released The Purpose of Christmas with an initial print run of 1.8 million and a major media campaign for the holidays.  The same month saw Warren announce a partnership with the Reader’s Digest Association to develop the multi-media Purpose Driven Connection, including a quarterly magazine.


Music: Hopeful signs add some  life to a declining retail market 
By Cameron Conant

Continued declines in music revenues and layoffs at several record labels indicated that the music industry was still searching for a new financial paradigm in a digital music world. Throw in a troubled economy and the fact that Christian music fans continued to illegally download (and burn) music in large numbers, and things looked downright nasty for traditional retailers and labels.

But there were a few bright spots, not the least of which was the number of Christian songs used in prominent TV shows and advertisements. With overall album sales in decline across the music industry—even with the increase in digital music sales—licensing music to film and television has become an important revenue stream. “Make Some Noise,” the title track from the 2008 album by Krystal Meyers, was used in a commercial promoting NBC’s fall lineup, while Pillar’s “For the Love of the Game,” the title track from the band’s 2008 album, was featured on Major League Baseball’s Web site as well as on several ESPN programs, including SportsCenter.

But some Christian music was still thriving by appealing to the core churchgoing listener, with no one doing this more effectively than Casting Crowns.

The unlikely seven-person band, made up of men and women and fronted by a 39-year-old youth pastor, continued to make news as it finished a national tour and promoted its highly successful 2007 album, The Altar and the Door (the band also released a Christmas album—Peace on Earth—in 2008). Fittingly, the band won three major Dove Awards in 2008, including Group of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year.

Other acts had a successful year as well, especially Natalie Grant, who became the first artist since Twila Paris in 1995 to win three consecutive Dove Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year. She released her latest album, Relentless, to strong reviews in February.

But it wasn’t just industry veterans who made news in 2008. Twentysomething newcomer Brandon Heath had a breakthrough year. Heath won the Dove Award for New Artist of the Year and saw his sophomore effort, What If We, strike a chord with audiences. The album’s first single, “Give Me Your Eyes,” sold more than 100,000 units as a digital download and was the top song on the iTunes Christian chart for more than three months.

For all of the new acts that come along each year in Christian music, it seemed that stories like Heath’s were increasingly rare in a crowded music market where the pie kept getting smaller and labels were hesitant to spend big money in marketing the newcomers.

That’s why acts that already have cache with audiences remained so valuable. One such group, Third Day, released one of the better Christian albums of the year with Revelation, proving that even after 15 years, a band can still sound fresh and re-invent itself.

Other top albums from 2008, from an artistic perspective, included Make Some Noise by Meyers, Resurrection Letters Volume II by Andrew Peterson, Dance or Die by Family Force 5, Around the Bend by Randy Travis, Love Out Loud by Jaci Velasquez, Roots by Shawn McDonald, Ring the Bells by Travis Cottrell and Salvation Station, the debut album from Canadian newcomers Newworldson.
Finally, it was a busy, and in one case, tragic, year for one of Christian music’s best ambassadors, Steven Curtis Chapman, who lost a child.

The year ended with Chapman and Michael W. Smith, who has a new worship album (A New Hallelujah) released in the fall, touring together for the first time—an uplifting ending to the year for Chapman, whose adopted daughter, Maria, died in an automobile accident in May.

More than two months after the accident, Chapman and his wife appeared on Good Morning America to discuss the tragedy. “Grieving with hope … that’s what’s kept us alive,” Chapman told ABC’s Robin Roberts in the interview, which was not only moving, but also redemptive.

The tragedy also brought new depth to one of Chapman’s best—and most recent—songs “Cinderella,” a beautiful ballad about a father savoring every moment with his daughter. Chapman didn’t know if he would ever sing the song again after Maria died, but he later decided that he would. ”

Gifts: Gift companies focus on strengths in tight economy
By Rhonda Sholar

All in all, 2008 was a quiet year for the gift industry as companies focused on maintaining the market share they had at Christian retail while looking at testing new categories or marketing strategies that would attract new shoppers.

While news of consolidations and mergers was frequent in 2007, similar major announcements were slim in 2008. In July, Life Publishing (formerly Lawson Falle) was sold by Dicksons to veteran general market company Marian Heath. In October, Roman Inc. merged with Cottage Garden Collections, both fiscally strong, family-owned companies that concluded that working together with common practices and values would further their businesses in today’s uncertain economy.

The summer months revealed the fragility of the greeting card industry, as Dickons’ sale of Life Publishing was followed by DaySpring’s announcing 80 layoffs and a subsequent cutback of its sales force. Divinity Boutique’s announcement that it would begin offering greeting cards further divided an already heavily fractioned pie.

The gift industry lost two larger-than-life icons with the April passing of Wally Bronner, founder of Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Mich., and the October death of Anthony DeMasi, longtime editor of the general market magazine Giftware Business.

Two trends that continued in popularity were the creation of products whose sales benefit those who are less fortunate and suppliers promoting a green environment. From Gregg Gift Company’s “God’s Green Earth” line of totes and T-shirts to Jeramie’s use of recycled steel drums from Haiti to create crosses, companies looked out of the box to capture dollars to be spent by eco-friendly consumers. Retailers also learned of a bath and body line that benefits women in a residential home owned by Thistle Farms and scarves from Abbey Press that support battered women in Chile.

A number of gift suppliers made debuts or delved more deeply into the juvenile product category. DaySpring expanded its Really Woolly brand into baby products. While Kerusso had tried toys in the past, the introduction of “God’s Girlz” poseable fashion dolls was its first foray into the popular doll category. Christian Art Gifts entered the category with backpacks, water bottles and floor puzzles.

Companies benefited from working together in the area of distribution, seen as larger companies took smaller ones under their wings and provided a channel for products in places not possible when acting alone.

DaySpring was the leader in this with ceramic décor from Art of the Spirit, jewelry from Remember Me, baby clothing from His Gem and home décor from Creative Faith Place. Cactus Game Design stretched its borders by taking on a new category—dolls and action figures. The company distributed talking biblical character dolls from Messengers of Faith and action figures from Angel Wars.

The gift book category was still relying on well-known authors. Joining Max Lucado, Beth Moore and Billy Graham with gift books based on their other writings, sermons or seminars was Rick Warren. In October, Howard Books published The Purpose of Christmas, based on Warren’s most famous Christmas sermon.

The general market continued to be interested in introducing products into the Christian market. New Day Christian Distributors stepped up to the plate to help make the connection, signing on to distribute Jibbitz, the popular shoe accessory, and several Fisher-Price toys, including the iconic ViewMaster now with Christian discs.

With general market companies still trying to make inroads into the Christian market, Christian retailers and suppliers were being forced to look outside their own market for new business. The termination of CBA Advance, the long-running winter trade show, led stores and suppliers to seek other opportunities to buy and sell Christian gift products.

Some suppliers were turning to their own, more cost-effective, in-house sales events. Others looked to shop and sell at the smaller, more economical shows such as the Munce CPE (Christian Product Expo) regionals and Strang Communications’ annual The Gathering, now open to independent retailers as well as church bookstores. Others, working in conjunction with CBA sought to find a place in the middle of the general market gift industry at the winter AmericasMart gift show.


Children: Publishers expand multimedia content for youngsters
By Karen Schmidt

Taking into account the fact that children’s and tweens’ brains have been saturated with multimedia input, Christian publishers were presenting book content in nontraditional ways. Instead of longer blocks of text opposite a picture, many book products used factoids, blurbs or short text blocks in color to attract and hold visually oriented readers’ attention.

Fact and trivia books also showed their popularity. Betsy Schmitt, project manager for children and youth with Livingstone Corp., noted that kids love almanac-style books with images and bite-sized facts, such as The One Year Did You Know Devotions from Tyndale House Publishers, The Amazing Bible Factbook for Kids from the American Bible Society published with Time Inc. Home Entertainment, and Mary Manz Simon’s fact-punctuated The Anytime Bible, out this month from Scholastic.

It was heartening to see authors strive to produce creative books to instruct and reinforce spiritual truth in youngsters, spanning the topics of salvation, God’s nature, creation, heaven, prayer and relationships. Likewise, writers and illustrators kept up the flow of Christian titles that inspired and excited new readers—a worthy endeavor.

With the potential to attract non- or marginal readers, the manga art style and graphic novel format persisted in their upward growth in the Christian market, with Tyndale House distributing a three-volume manga New Testament from NEXT Inc. The company was also behind the publication of what was dubbed an “illustranovella,” a type of book that blends the fiction and graphic novel genres. The first such product, G.P. Taylor’s “The Dopple Ganger Chronicles” series, was expected to be a harbinger of more such visual product to come.

While growing in the general market, multiplatform experiences that hinged on kids’ involvement with digital media were only nascent in the Christian realm. Books morphed from being a destination for readers to being a launching pad or part of a sequence of experiences in learning, entertainment or adventure. Online time continued to increase, with a Symantec study revealing that while parents believed their kids were online about two hours a month, the children actually spent closer to 20 hours on the Web in that period.

Publishers continued to rely on celebrity names and already-popular authors to get interest rolling for new children’s titles. Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy, country singer Tim McGraw and Jungle Jack Hanna debuted as children’s authors.


DVD: Growing home viewing   market continues to look good
By Andy Butcher

DVD was one of the hot categories of the year again—at least on paper. Two significant research reports spotlighted the recent and predicted big gains in the faith-based home-viewing market, though that potential still had to be fully realized at retail.

DVD sales in Christian stores grew 20% between 2005 and 2007, it was revealed in a movie-focused session at ICRS.

Belief in the growth of the market was reflected elsewhere at the event, with suppliers and distributors downplaying music in favor of DVD promotions. Preview screenings of Fireproof, the follow-up movie from the church-based makers of surprise hit Facing the Giants, were one of the big special-event attractions of the week.

Another popular draw was Fox Faith’s concert-reception promoting the coming Mama, I Want to Sing!, highly anticipated after a quiet year for the early runner in the inspirational movie market.

The switch in emphasis from music to movies evident at ICRS was underscored soon after the event with a prediction of more to come by market research group Packaged Facts. Its latest guide to The Religious Publishing and Products Market in the U.S. placed audio, visual and software (AVM) products collectively second in sales volume only to books—pushing inspirational gifts to the third spot.

Despite such positive reviews, most retailers continued to pursue the category somewhat cautiously. Each of the major Christian chains featured DVDs in special offers during the year, while a number of independents reported steady if not stellar increases in sales as they gave more time and attention to movies.

In the features arena, there were more gently “inspirational” or family-friendly films released than specifically Christian, such as the acclaimed pro-life drama Bella. Notable exceptions, with strong biblical content, were a well-received adaptation of Robert Whitlow’s novel The List and Saving God: One Soul at a Time from “Left Behind” moviemakers Cloud Ten Pictures.

The demand for a clear faith message was emphasized with the September theatrical release of pro-marriage drama Fireproof. The movie took in an astonishing $30 million in its first few weeks, surprising Hollywood and exciting retailers about the forthcoming pre-Valentine’s Day DVD release.

While some expressed concern about possible flagging in the children’s viewing area, category pioneer VeggieTales continued to dominate, bringing back to stores its popular “3-2-1- Penguins!” series after its revival on kids’ television. Meanwhile, Thomas Nelson and Tyndale House Publishers saw growing interest in their “Gigi” and “Friends and Heroes” series, respectively.

Movie companies hoped to add some weight to 2008 receipts with end-of-year DVD releases for earlier theatrical releases The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie from Big Idea and Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed from Premise Media. Christian retailers also hoped for interest in Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media’s December release The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.


Catholic: Political season offers publishers media attention
by Terry Walsh

A resurgence of interest in Catholic tradition was further fueled by 2008’s contentious political season that thrust Catholic doctrine onto front pages and into the blogosphere, sharpening the focus on who Catholics are and how they live out their identity.

Most Catholic publishers took a nonpartisan approach to the election with titles that stuck closely to educating on doctrinal issues to form faithful citizens, faithful Catholics. Liturgical Press’ pocket-sized Vote Catholic? Beyond the Political Din by Bernard F. Evans first sold through bookstores, but closer to the election, parish groups did most of the buying.

On the other hand, non-Catholic publishers chose to promote prominent Catholic personalities and published distinctly partisan titles. A notable example was Can a Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama (Overlook Press/Penguin Group (USA)) by noted legal scholar Douglas W. Kmiec.

This, along with interviews of Catholics Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden on their views on the Church’s abortion teachings, gave the general media, from Newsweek to blogs, the opportunity to address Catholic social teaching, including abortion, immigration and welfare. Many sides weighed in and offered Catholic publishers opportunities to promote their books covering these topics.

Politics aside, Catholic tradition garnered attention with documentaries on the monastic life. Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton, with a book of the same name by Liturgical Press, aired on PBS in December. Perennial interest in this spiritual leader’s life and writings became fodder for many other titles.

With the Catholic Church naming June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009, the Year of St. Paul, marking the bi-millennium of the apostle’s birth, publishers have responded  with titles ranging from the exploration of Paul’s epistles to his use of imagery. Many of these are expected to make good crossover titles into Protestant readership.
The popularity of books on more contemporary exemplary Catholics, such as Our Sunday Visitor’s Mother Teresa’s Secret Fire by Joseph Langford and books on the two most recent popes, showed the public’s interest in the lives of those who follow Catholic teaching as a steady compass in turbulent times.

An uncertain economy did not keep retailers away from the two prominent trade shows. The Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit, located outside Chicago, drew the same number of retailers as last year. Lutherans, Episcopalians, Catholics and others from a wide swath of the country attended.

On the East Coast, the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN) International Trade Show returned after four years to Somerset, N.J., for its annual August gathering that drew slightly more attendees than the previous year.


Spanish: Christian market expands south of the border
by Harold Goerzen

Despite turbulent global economic conditions, the Spanish evangelical products industry again experienced solid growth in 2008—especially in Latin America. A weak U.S. dollar early in the year combined with emerging Latino economies and a reticence on behalf of independent Christian bookstores to embrace Spanish products resulted in a growing proportion of business going south of the border.
“We experienced double-digit growth in all of our sales channels,” said Jim Cook, vice president of international sales at B&H Publishing Group.

One of the company’s top sellers this year was Diccionario Bíblico Ilustrado Holman (Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary), the result of a four-year translation project specially edited to fit the needs of the Spanish market.

The jury is still out on how the recent economic downturn and rising U.S. dollar will affect the industry as a whole. Attendees at ExpoCristiana Mexico in October concluded it could be six months before Latin American economies feel the impact. In anticipation, Spanish publishers are taking measures to cut costs, reducing the quantity of products they’re releasing while emphasizing quality.

Although there was no single top-selling title that drove the market in 2008, Jentezen Franklin emerged as a leading author with translations from Casa Creación, Strang’s Spanish imprint, such as El ayuno (Fasting) in March and Crea que usted puede (Believe That You Can) in October.

The year also saw the launch of a new Bible translation as Grupo Nelson, Thomas Nelson’s Spanish division, released the easy-to-read Nueva Biblia al día.
Produced by the International Bible Society, the translation was an updated version of Biblia al día, based on Ken Taylor’s paraphrase, The Living Bible, which was published in Spanish in 1979.

Editorial Portavoz, Kregel’s Spanish division, saw brisk sales of its La Biblia cronológica, a translation of the best-selling The Daily Bible from Harvest House Publishers.

Casscom Media also launched the 63-CD audio Bible featuring the 2000 Reina-Valera version of the complete Bible, narrated by Juan Alberto Ovalle.  This was one of the company’s many audio releases in 2008 in response to the growing demand for Spanish audio products.

The industry said farewell to David Vila who died Sept. 22 at the age of 74. A pioneer in the publishing and distribution of Spanish Christian literature in the Americas, he also founded the publishing house Editorial CLIE with his family in Barcelona, Spain. Today, it is one of the largest and most respected Spanish-language publishers.

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