Digital editions among giveaways and specials for inaugural Oct. 23 event

A free copy of the 2010 Christian Book of the Year is to be given away as part of the first Christian Store Day, aiming to boost traffic at Christian stores next month.

A PDF download of Richard Stearns’ The Hole in Our Gospel (Thomas Nelson), which received the top award in the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s (ECPA) annual prizes in May, will be included in the $5 benefit CD being produced for the Oct. 23 event.

Organizers hope that several hundred stores across the country will sign up for the event, which will feature author and artist appearances, giveaways and special offers.

Raising money for Compassion International, Samaritan’s Purse and World Vision efforts in Haiti, the limited-edition CD will feature up to a dozen tracks by leading contemporary artists. Likely to be included are Newsboys’ “Build Us Back” from the group’s latest release, Born Again, and “All In” from TobyMac’s Portable Sounds. Other artists will include Jeremy Camp, Francesca Battistelli and Sidewalk Prophets.

The CD will also include the first episode of Phil Vischer’s new children’s DVD series, “What’s in the Bible?” (Tyndale House Publishers), and digital editions of Remember Why You Play by David Thomas (Tyndale House) as well as The Power of a Whisper by Bill Hybels and The Aedyn Chronicles: Chosen Ones by Alister McGrath (both Zondervan).

More than 100 books, CDs and and DVDs will be available for sale as $5, $10 and half-price specials, with vendors supporting the effort also providing free products for hourly giveaways.

Modeled after Record Store Day, which has created awareness of independent music stores in the past few years, Christian Store Day is being promoted as an occasion to “Celebrate Faith and Community.” The idea is to raise awareness of Christian stores as the Christmas shopping season begins.

Backed by CBA, ECPA and the Christian Music Trade Association with support from Tyndale House, Thomas Nelson, Zondervan, Word Distribution, EMI CMG Distribution and Provident-Integrity Distribution, the event is being coordinated by Nashville area-based marketing consultant group Propeller.

Stores have until Sept. 23 to register as participants in the program—for which there is a $25 sign-up fee—with product to be shipped a week to 10 days before the event. The campaign will be promoted through social media and to the three charities’ supporters, with radio advertising also possible, said Propeller Executive Vice President and COO Bob Elder.

The Munce and Parable marketing groups were supporting the effort, he added. LifeWay Christian Stores would be taking part. Although it had been part of the organizing committee, Family Christian Stores would not be joining in this year because of “executional” challenges, Elder told Christian Retailing.

Planning for Christian Store Day began at the International Christian Retail Show in 2009, with involvement limited to three initial vendors to make organization easier, Elder said. Some other suppliers had subsequently expressed an interest in being part, and could be involved in future years.

Organizing details of the event had been a challenge, Elder said, but there was “a deep commitment to the marketplace” from those taking part. “There is an entrepreneurial spirit of love and service to the body of Christ that happens through a local Christian retail store that has been all over this.”

The aim was to “create a repeatable event and learn from the marketplace what works and what doesn’t and then grow from there.”

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