Jon Pott brought Christian ethics titles to the fore at the Grand Rapids house

Veteran Christian retailer moves away from church bookstore competitors, adds Scripture House location

Majesty Bible and Gifts’ California chain is reconfiguring its stores. Hary Daud and his wife, Hae Hi Daud, who have owned and operated Majesty for more than 20 years, planned to open a new store in Visalia in early November, but also opted to close their Sacramento-area location.

The new Visalia store in the San Joaquin Valley, located at 226 E. Caldwell Ave., was previously a Christian bookstore called Scripture House before the Dauds added it to their stores in Fresno and Turlock. It will close for a week of renovations, then reopen under the new name but with the same staff and management.

A number of factors such as economic considerations and travel distance led to the Dauds’ decision to close the Sacramento store, which was three and a half hours away from the main location in Fresno.

“It’s much easier to work from within [your current market] to do marketing,” he said. Everything from the radio station the store worked with for promotions to Majesty’s customer list was completely different, given the significant distance, and that made managing the operation more complicated.

Daud also cites the growth of competitors in the marketplace.

“Sacramento just has too many church-owned bookstores already meeting people’s needs for another store to do well in that market,” he reported.

While Daud had explored other cities, Visalia made good sense. With Majesty’s largest store in Fresno, the Turlock store to the north and the new Visalia store to the south, there are distinct customer bases that also will benefit from having sister stores in the area.

“It happens many times that we will explore an option and somehow the door is closed,” Daud said. “But the Lord’s timing and direction is always better than ours. We just do the part we are gifted.”

Daud also sees his wife as a good sounding board for such big decisions.

“My wife is very grounded and realistic, so very few ideas pass my wife,” he said. “But when she was on board, that was a good indicator to me that opening another store made sense.”

Although the couple felt a distinct calling to take on a new retail location, they didn’t take the addition lightly. They took the time to ask the Lord to supply everything from finances and space to the right team to help run the new store.

“Closing down one store and opening another has been challenging, but we’re so excited about what’s going on,” said Daud who first got interested in the business after he saw that his own ministry needs were not being met through a local Christian store.

When his pastor asked him to teach Sunday school, he decided he would serve though he had never taught children.

“I went to a bookstore looking for books to help me be a teacher, but I wasn’t able to find much or get much help,” he said. “So the next prayer I prayed was ‘Lord, let me be the one who can help people like me,’ and I started the store. I was in the Army prior to that and had degrees in mathematics and economics. My Dad had been in retail, so I had learned something by watching him.”

As for finding success in business, Daud says there’s “no one silver bullet.” In large part, however, he attributes the success he has had to his Majesty team.

“A lot depends on your supporting cast—in my case, my wife and my family and my staff,” he said. “You cannot waver. You have to be all in, as does your supporting cast. We are also focused on what we do—this is all we do. It’s also a great help to build a staff who share your vision. If not for my wife, my family and my store family, I couldn’t still be doing this.” —Deonne Lindsey

Buyers and exhibitors will benefit from reduced registration and booth-space rates at 2015 convention

CBA previewed the 2015 International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, for more than a dozen companies this fall. The Christian retail association promised lower expenses and programming changes for the June 28-July 1, 2015, convention and also hinted at possible locations for future shows.

CBA will institute programming changes at this year’s ICRS, beginning with a general session Sunday afternoon before worship services and the Sunday evening concert. Monday and Tuesday general sessions and training will have exclusive hours, and exclusive exhibit-floor hours have been designed around those sessions. The Monday kickoff session begins at 8 a.m. with a keynote presentation followed by breakout sessions before the exhibit floor opens at 10 a.m.

ICRS “trendshops” will continue for fiction and film. The Children’s Product Trends session will feature a new research and presentation format, CBA announced. In addition, there will be more formal and informal time for networking.

International guests will benefit from additional special programming in 2015. In partnership with Media Associates International and the Magazine Training Institute, ICRS will feature specialized training and consulting for international publishing and magazine development and operations.

Show attendees also will receive free buyer registration without having to room in the CBA hotel block, although competitive room rates will be offered there. Booth space rates also have been reduced.

In addition to regular exhibit booths, the 2015 ICRS will feature special areas for authors/artists and international licensing and rights sales. Hospitality suites will be available outside the exhibit floor, and new space configurations allow meeting rooms within exhibiting areas on the show floor.

For 2016 and beyond, CBA continues to work with Arrowhead Conferences and Events to finalize new locations. Arrowhead’s Jill Jordan told ICRS-preview attendees that cities under consideration will enable CBA to offer lower prices for all attendees and exhibitors.

Possible 2016 show locations include Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; Austin, Texas; Cincinnati; and Phoenix. The 2016 location will be announced this fall with the 2017 site announced soon after. —Johnson

Some retailers await Bookstore Manager card reader option

Apple customers can now start making payments with the touch of a finger. The company’s new Apple Pay service became available in the U.S. on Oct. 20.

The company said that Apple Pay offers “an easy, secure and private way to pay” using the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in stores and through apps. Users of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 will be able to use Touch ID on their devices for Apple Pay within apps. The new service is enabled by a free software update to iOS 8.

“The reaction to Apple Pay has been amazing,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We continue to add more Apple Pay-ready banks, credit card companies and merchants, and think our users will love paying with Apple Pay.”

The mobile payment service allows customers to make purchases without cash or credit cards in hand. Consumers either use credit cards they already have registered with iTunes or enter a new credit card number. Each time a consumer makes a purchase, a unique, 16-digit security code is created that cannot be used on another device or by another person. Stores must install an NFC (near field communication) reader to accept Apple Pay purchases.

The Mardel chain is monitoring various payment options, but has not joined the Apple bandwagon—at least not yet.

“We do not currently accept Apple Pay as our systems are not built to accept it,” Mardel President John Nardini said. “We are looking at various payment technologies/options and will be adopting the ones we think are best for our customers. We will watch the market and if Apple Pay is effective and accepted by consumers, we will look at it in the future.”

LifeWay is also not on board.

“We’re intrigued by the capability, but have no immediate plans to implement Apple Pay,” a LifeWay spokesman said.

Family Christian Stores “will not have Apple Pay as a payment option at this time,” said Steve Johnson, the chain’s senior marketing manager.

Munce Group President Kirk Blank said that “the majority of the Munce Group retailers use Bookstore Manager software.”

Bookstore Manager is expected to roll out mobile payments hardware in the first quarter of 2015. Brent Casey, chief operating officer, said the price to retailers for each Verifone reader that will interface Bookstore Manager’s system likely will be at about $250, but it hasn’t been set yet.

Bookstore Manager is planning to offer two reader options, the contactless (NFC) and the standard reader, which requires the card to be inserted into a slot. Both offer the possibility of pin or signature.

Credit card issuers are moving toward providing cardholders with smart cards (cards with chips), and because of a change in the law shifting liability for bogus transactions to the retailer, stores must comply by October 2015.

“There is a tremendous expense that will be borne by the retailer/merchant and the banks, which will eventually trickle down to the consumer,” Casey said. “The problem with Christian retail is that due to downward pricing pressure, it is very difficult to recoup increased costs.” —Johnson

Group wins major categories Artist of the Year and Song of the Year at 45th annual Christian music event

Hillsong United took home five honors, including the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year, at the 45th Annual GMA Dove Awards. Other multiple-award winners were Switchfoot with three and Skillet with two presented at the Oct. 7 Nashville event.

Co-hosted by Lecrae and MercyMe’s Bart Millard, the Gospel Music Association (GMA) Dove Awards drew record attendance at the Allen Arena on the Lipscomb University campus. The awards show was broadcast at a later date exclusively on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).

Hillsong’s creative pastor, JD, accepted the awards on behalf of Hillsong United.

“We believe the local church is going to be the salvation to the rest of the world,” he said. “Keep the church strong. Through the sacrifices of many ... on behalf of thousands of volunteers, over the past 30 years, I’ve been honored to be a part of this.”

Switchfoot received the awards for Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year for Fading West (Atlantic/Word Distribution); Rock/Contemporary Song of the Year for “Love Alone Is Worth the Fight” from Fading West; and Long Form Video of the Year for Fading West.

Skillet won two significant categories, Rock Album of the Year for Rise (Atlantic/Word Records/Word Distribution) and Rock Song of the Year for “Not Gonna Die,” one of several No. 1 radio hits from Rise. Rise made its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Rock and Christian charts and No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

“Have to say it was pretty cool hearing the news about these wins,” said lead singer John Cooper. “We couldn’t be there since we’re heading to Europe again this week, but to have this album recognized in this way is definitely an honor, and we’re really thankful.”

The awards were handed out in 42 categories. The televised winners include: Hillsong United, Song of the Year for “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” (Hillsong/Sparrow Records/Capitol Christian Distribution); Karen Peck & New River, Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year for “Revival” (Daywind Records/New Day Christian Distribution); Hezekiah Walker, Contemporary Gospel/Urban Recorded Song of the Year for “Every Praise” (RCA Inspiration/Provident Distribution); Erica Campbell, Traditional Gospel Recorded Song of the Year for “A Little More Jesus” (My Block/eOne Music/eOne Distribution); Andy Mineo, Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year for Never Land (Reach Records/New Day); Mandisa, Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year for Overcomer (Sparrow/Capitol Christian); Kari Jobe, Praise and Worship Album of the Year for Majestic (Sparrow/Capitol Christian); and Inspirational Film, God’s Not Dead (Pure Flix).

“Honestly, I’m just sitting in God’s Word, and the songs just keep coming,” said Holcomb, New Artist of the Year.

Praise and Worship Album of the Year winner Jobe said: “We praise until the breakthrough comes, and I love to get to watch that happen.”

Singer Michael Tait of the Newsboys reflected on the God’s Not Dead movie win.

“People are hungry,” Tait said. “They want some light from heaven. The song inspired the film. These guys came along and made it into something special.”

Four special honors also were presented. Hillsong was given the Lifetime Achievement Award; Eddie DeGarmo, the GMA Impact Award; Akintunde, the Grady Nutt Humor Award; and SiriusXM, the Outstanding Mainstream Contribution to Gospel Music Award.

Jonathan McReynolds and Meredith Andrews were co-hosts of the pre-show ceremony where more than 30 of the awards were received and many top artists performed.

GMA members determine the winners in each category. Kraft CPA is the official accounting firm for the GMA. See a full list of winners at doveawards.com. —Johnson

Crossway leads with five winners in annual book cover competition

The art and science of book design was celebrated Oct. 21 with the announcement of the best designs of the year produced by Christian publishers. The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) presented the Top Shelf Book Cover Awards among the industry’s design elite during the association’s PUBu event at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.  

“The Top Shelf program highlights book design excellence, intelligence and beauty, and we are grateful to all who participated in the program with their quality entries,” announced ECPA President and CEO Mark Kuyper. “We also thank Faceout Studio, Color House Graphics and the 2014 judges for hundreds of volunteer hours that drove this program.”

One of the features of the program is to allow the judges to select the top designs regardless of how many there are. Last year, 10 designs were chosen, but this year, 16 stood out as the best of the best.  

“It was a difficult yet fun process reviewing so many good entries. Many of the entries were unanimously chosen by all of the judges,” said 2014 design judge Kirk DouPonce, whose has worked on thousands of covers.

DouPonce was joined by University of Chicago’s designer Isaac Tobin and renowned freelance designer Abby Weintraub. If there were a conflict of interest in the competition, a judge would refrain from scoring a particular title.

“Like words on a page, the visual cover story is meant to inform, inspire and entertain readers,” said program manager Torrey Sharp, principal of Faceout Studio and PUBu design community captain. “The cover is a first impression.  A first introduction.  When done well, it compels a reader to respond—to pick up the book and read it. We’re all in the business of telling stories that matter.  It’s exciting to see ECPA publishers wrapping their stories with amazing covers that are engaging and meaningful.”

Judge comments on each cover are featured in a print annual produced by Faceout Studio and printed by Color House Graphics.

Josh Dennis, Crossway’s senior vice president of creative, was “grateful” the design team was recognized with five awards, the highest number of winning covers for a single publisher this year.

“At Crossway, we have the privilege of working with wonderful authors and many gifted designers,” he said. “The work that was recognized would not have been possible without them. Thanks to everyone that we have the privilege to work alongside.”

“I am incredibly proud of our B&H design team,” said Jeff Godby, senior art director at B&H Publishing Group. “We could not do this without external partners so we thank Dual Identify Design and FaceOut studios. Also, the Teen to Teen Devotions were uniquely illustrated by B&H’s Diana Lawrence. It is amazing to see the amount of excellence coming out of the evangelical creative community today, and we are thankful for each of the judges publishers involved.”

The cover award winners are posted at bookcoverawards.com. —Johnson

Wanda Brunstetter and Vickie McDonough have sold millions

Sales of Wanda E. Brunstetter’s books have topped 8 million copies, Barbour Publishing announced in the fall. Readers have purchased 1 million copies in each of the last two years, the publisher said.

The announcement was made as Brunstetter, branded as “Amish Country’s Most Beloved Storyteller,” was visiting with readers during her fan-filled weekend in Ohio’s Amish country.

That same weekend Brunstetter and Barbour were celebrating the news that sales of her August novel, The Healing Quilt, had sent the third installment in her series about an Amish couple teaching quilting lessons to the No. 1 slot on the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Fiction list and to placement on the Publishers Weekly list as well. Barbour also reported that sales of Amish Friends Christmas Cookbook are well on their way to propelling her to the 9 million mark.

Brunstetter’s Amish books resonate well with readers in part because of her relationships with the Plain People via family heritage and Amish friends across the country. These close acquaintances, whom Brunstetter and her photographer-husband, Richard, visit frequently, enable her to portray the Amish lifestyle accurately, affectionately and with a voice of authority, according to her publisher.

During her tour to promote The Healing Quilt, she visited the homes of Amish friends while signing and speaking in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Some of her signings were scheduled in conjunction with performances of Half-Stitched—the Musical. The play is based on Brunstetter’s 2012 novel, The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club.

Along with Brunstetter, Vickie McDonough has seen recent success. In October, it was announced that she hit and surpassed her first million-copies-sold mark with Barbour.

“Barbour Publishing appreciates Vickie McDonough’s hard work and congratulates her for hitting the 1 million mark in sales,” the company said in a statement.

McDonough has authored more than 30 published books and novellas that have appeared frequently on best-seller lists from CBA and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Her titles have won numerous Heartsong Presents’ annual readers’ contests and Inspirational Reader’s Choice contests. McDonough also is an American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Awards finalist. In 2013, she was the winner of an OWFI (Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Inc.) award for Best Novel and had a Romantic Times Recommended Inspirational Book.

McDonough’s next release with Barbour is the first installment of the “Land Rush Dreams” series, Gabriel’s Atonement (Shiloh Run Press, Jan. 1).

In addition, the company’s novelists, including Brunstetter and McDonough, took half of the spots on the October fiction best-sellers list from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. —Johnson

Online retailer moves forward with one Big Five publisher but continues e-books battle with Hachette

Simon & Schuster and Amazon have reached a multi-year agreement for the sale in the U.S. of print and digital books. The deal, which goes into effect Jan. 1, reportedly came after a months-long process.

“We are very happy with this agreement, as it allows us to grow our business with Simon & Schuster and help their authors reach an ever-wider audience,” the Amazon books team posted online Oct. 20. “Importantly, the agreement specifically creates a financial incentive for Simon & Schuster to deliver lower prices for readers.”

In an unusual move, Simon & Schuster President and CEO Carolyn Reidy announced the deal in an Oct. 20 letter to authors and agents: “It is not our usual practice to announce such agreements, but our publishers and I feel that the high level of public speculation over the status of these talks made it important to let you know about this positive development.

“We are very happy with this agreement as it is economically advantageous for both Simon & Schuster and its authors and maintains the author’s share of income generated from eBook sales. It addresses our mutual concerns about preserving the value of our intellectual property in the marketplace, as it is a return to a version of agency pricing that, with some limited exceptions, gives control of eBook pricing to Simon & Schuster, while providing us the flexibility to deliver great prices for readers.”

Reidy told authors that the deal assures that Simon & Schuster books will be “continuously available for sale” through Amazon this holiday season and beyond.

Amazon’s contract dispute continues with another of the “Big Five” book publishers, however. Nine-hundred authors—including household names Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, John Grisham and Malcolm Gladwell—signed a letter protesting Amazon’s tactics in the Hachette Book Group fray, but the online giant defended itself, working for e-book pricing that is not “unjustifiably high.”

“I think it will serve to make Hachette more frustrated with their inability to make a deal knowing that one of their competitors has reached a deal,” Richard Pine, a partner in the New York literary agency InkWell Management, told the Wall Street Journal.

The dispute with Hachette may be coming home to roost. For the July-September period, Amazon announced its worst quarterly loss since 2003: $437 million. Some observers believe publicity surrounding the battle with Hachette may have contributed to Amazon’s downturn.

TIME magazine pointed out Amazon’s image problem and concluded: “If book lovers ultimately decide that Amazon is bad for authors, Amazon could lose its hold on the very business that nurtured its growth.”

Amazon also was due to negotiate new contracts with Penguin Random House, Macmillan and HarperCollins Publishers at press time. —Johnson

Author’s ‘Harbinger’ novel also sees a resurgence after more than 150 weeks as 'New York Times' best-seller

Jonathan Cahn’s The Mystery of the Shemitah (FrontLine/Charisma House) has charted for seven weeks on multiple best-seller lists—New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, CBA and Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA)—since its release Sept. 2. The new nonfiction title from the author of The Harbinger had 460,000 copies in print at press time.

In Shemitah (SHMEE-tah), Cahn reveals a 3,000-year-old biblical prophecy for America’s future, building on the mysterious prophecy highlighted his first book, The Harbinger—a FrontLine title that has sold in excess of 1.8 million copies.

“The Shemitah has the same trajectory as The Harbinger, even though it’s nonfiction,” said Woodley Auguste, vice president of marketing at Charisma Media.

The “Shemitah,” or Sabbath year, is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the land of Israel. Cahn says understanding this pattern is essential for understanding the prophecies and mysteries of the Bible that are still applicable today.

As of press time, Shemitah placed at No. 2 on the New York Times October Religion list only behind Oprah Winfrey’s What I Know for Sure and at No. 6 on the Nov. 2 Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous list. Additionally, Shemitah is at No. 51 on the USA Today Top 150 Books with No. 24 its best showing.

It also ranks at No. 1 on the October ECPA best-sellers list ranking above Phil Robertson’s UnPHILtered and Sarah Young’s popular devotional Jesus Calling. On the CBA list issued in October, Shemitah sits at No. 5 with The Harbinger at No. 19.

In addition, on Amazon’s list, Shemitah topped the Christian Prophecies best-sellers at press time. The list is updated hourly.

Cahn’s first book placed on the New York Times list for more than 150 weeks. It also charted as an ECPA, Publishers Weekly, USA Today Top 150 Books, CBA and Parable best-seller.

Not only has Cahn, a messianic rabbi and broadcaster, had success with his books, but also with his DVD documentary, The Harbinger Decoded (FrontLine/Charisma House), which has been syndicated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network and at press time was just shy of 100,000 copies sold. At Family Christian Stores, it was the No. 1 DVD in June.

When his second book charted on several general-market and Christian-trade lists, including Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and Christian Book Distributors, sales triggered a reprint to meet market demand on the book's release date.

The Mardel Christian store chain has seen healthy sales of Cahn’s new book.

“I can tell you that his latest book is performing very well for us up to this point,” said Kevin McDonell, merchandise manager at Mardel. “It has also helped elevate sales of his first book, The Harbinger.”

A Parable Group store, Christian Publishers Outlet (CPO) in Springfield, Missouri, was the top seller of Shemitah in CBA independent stores at press time.

Bruce Erdel, owner of the 8,000-square-foot store, said that Cahn was appearing periodically on The Jim Bakker Show in nearby Branson, drawing interest from the store’s customers.

“I always ask people where they heard about a book just for intelligence, for my own purposes too, to help us better manage the store,” Erdel said. “With his appearance on The Jim Bakker Show before the book was out, we got several inquiries, so immediately we set it up as a prebuy.”

Using a poster from Charisma Media to draw attention, CPO created an endcap of Shemitah, Harbinger and similarly themed books and DVDs such as John Hagee’s The Four Blood Moons (Worthy Publishing); Cahn, a three-DVD set of the author’s teachings (WND Films); and The Harbinger Decoded DVD (Charisma House).

“Because Jim Bakker is in the area, that spurred interest early on, and we put a really good price on it too,” Erdel said. “We’ve been sale-pricing it since it’s been out, and we’ve kept our endcap up.”

With this emphasis, the store has sold big with Shemitah, but also has seen a resurgence of The Harbinger.

Although television ministries offer Cahn items direct to viewers, the stores still play a significant role in sales.

“The cool thing is that people, when they see things on TV and when they hear things on the radio, they think of me as a resource where they can get those things,” Erdel said.

Erdel thinks the mystery of the prophetic is boosting sales.

“I just think the mystery of it all it just intrigues people, all the different things that are going on,” he said. “Many people find the topic fascinating and some of the discoveries that he has made and such kind of just mystifies people to some degree.”

To get the word out about Shemitah, Cahn has appeared on a number of shows besides The Jim Bakker Show, including The 700 Club and Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural. Charisma Media has run 30-second spots on TheBlaze TV, FOX Business, FOX News and the INSP Network as well as on radio broadcasts “The Laura Ingraham Show” and “The Mark Levin Show.” —Johnson

Nonprofit’s CEO also transitions to HarperCollins Christian

HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP) has taken on Biblica's direct and trade sales business in the U.S. and Canada. Biblica CEO Doug Lockhart also has made the move to HCCP as senior vice president of Bible marketing and outreach.

Biblica is the copyright holder and worldwide publisher of the New International Version (NIV) Bible translation, and licenses its North American publishing rights to Zondervan. Under the agreement announced in early October, HCCP has assumed sales of Biblica’s low-cost outreach Bibles through Zondervan publishing.

Biblica is refocusing on translating and publishing Bibles in the 100 most widely spoken languages and helping people to experience Scripture more deeply.

“Our partnership with Zondervan spans over four decades, during which time our two organizations have worked extremely well together," said Scott Bolinder, executive vice president of Biblica. "While any change of this magnitude is complex, it makes perfect sense for us to move this area of our ministry to HCCP. They’ll be able to give customers the best possible service, and Biblica will be able to put all of its energies into Bible translation and publishing, as well as our renewed efforts to help people read the Bible well through ministry programs like Community Bible Experience.”

Mark Schoenwald, president and CEO atHarperCollins Christian, added: "Growing our Bibles and biblical resources continues to be a core focus for our business, and it is where our mission—to inspire the world by meeting the needs of people with content that promotes biblical principles and honors Jesus Christ—is grounded. We are committed to serving Biblica’s current customers and ensuring a smooth transition.”

HCCP absorbed the sales of the NIV, NIrV (New International Reader’s Version) and NVI (Nueva Versión Internacional) outreach Bible lines. —Johnson