Christian publishers report ‘pretty good traffic,’ titles with crossover appeal at Book Expo America

Despite the downturn and some religious publishers scaling back their presence at the U.S. book world’s biggest event, Christian publishing houses reported lively traffic during Book Expo America (BEA).

Held May 28-31 in New York City, BEA drew 29,923 people—a 30% increase—compared to 28,494 when the event was in Los Angeles last year, according to organizers. Attendance, though, was down 11% from 2007, when it was last held in New York. With approximately 140 religious publishing companies, the number that exhibited was flat or just slightly down from the 2008 event, BEA officials said.

Baker Publishing Group chose to cut costs by only having one booth, which the company positioned in the African-American pavilion.

“We’ve found over time that we can reach a number of the same accounts we reach at BEA through existing relationships,” David Lewis, director of sales and marketing, told Christian Retailing. “However, our budding presence and meetings with authors and stores interested in the urban market cannot be as easily replicated outside the BEA experience.”

Some of the increased traffic could be attributed to the positioning of Christian publishers’ booths throughout the main exhibition hall instead of placing them in a separate religious section—as in past years.

Football-themed titles were showcased during the expo, with HarperCollins imprint HarperOne previewing Pulitzer Prize winner Jeffrey Mark’s The Long Snapper—the life story of former NFL player and Fellowship of Christian Athletes speaker Brian Kinchen that is to be released in September.

Tyndale House Publishers spotlighted several football-related books, including Uncommon by recently retired NFL coach Tony Dungy; Game Plan for Life by NFL Hall of Fame member Joe Gibbs; First Things First: The Rules of Being a Warner by Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner and his wife, Brenda; and LT & Me: What Raising a Champion Taught Me About Life, Faith, and Listening to Your Dreams by Loreane Tomlinson—mother of NFL star and San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

Christian fiction proved to be a strong selling point to both Christian retail channel and general market booksellers. The publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House, Abingdon Press doubled its booth size from last year to accommodate the fall launch of its new fiction line. Best-selling author Karen Kingsbury was on hand to sign copies of the recently released Take One (Zondervan), the first book in her new “Above the Line” series.

Other books with crossover appeal that were promoted at BEA included The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning, Be a People Person by John C. Maxwell and Breathe by Lisa T. Bergren—all published by David C. Cook—as well as Role of a Lifetime: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Significant Living by sportscaster James Brown and Nathan Whitaker (FaithWords) and The Love Revolution by Joyce Meyer (FaithWords).

Brown was on hand to sign galleys and “the response was overwhelming. He had a line for two-and-a-half hours,” Pamela Clements, associate publisher of marketing for Center Street and FaithWords, told Christian Retailing. “The show was quite successful for us.”

Additionally, Free Press—an imprint of Simon & Schuster (S&S)—showcased Joel Osteen’s It’s Your Time: Finding Favor, Restoration, and Abundance in Your Life Every Day, to be released in November. Osteen’s previous Free Press book—Become a Better You, released in October 2007—had a first printing of 3 million copies, the highest for a hardcover book in S&S history, company officials said.

Meanwhile,Harvest House Publishers spotlighted leading author Stormie Omartian’s new prayer book, The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children, and prophecy expert Mark Hitchcock—whose 2012, the Bible, and the End of the World was to be released in October.

Barb Sherrill, vice president of marketing for Harvest House, said the first two days of BEA was “lively with pretty good traffic,” but the last day was much quieter. “The economy may have played a part in that, but it’s also the nature of the show to wrap up and slow down at the end like that,” she said.

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