CBA Chairman Jim Whitaker—co-owner of New Life Christian Store in Lynchburg, Va.—plans to close his brick-and-mortar shop, but he will stay in business.

“We are not shutting down; what we are doing is closing our present location and transitioning to a new business model,” he told Christian Retailing. “We will continue to serve our church/institutional accounts and others by face-to-face direct sales, Web site, e-mail and phone orders. We are also investigating other innovative avenues of marketing Christian retail product.”

Puerto Rican distributor sees growth as others note slowdown 

As Christian publishers continue to feel the pinch of consumers reeling in spending due to the global economic crunch, the Latin evangelical market is experiencing growth in some areas.

One leading distributor of Spanish Christian books in Puerto Rico is reporting booming business—despite a recession in the last four years in the U.S. territory located in the northeastern Caribbean.

Ricky Feliciano told of his success with Pura Vida Books—offering encouragement to the U.S. Christian products industry as it faces its own economic challenges—during a buying trip to see American accounts in March.

Meanwhile, with the Spanish publishing industry gathering later this month for Expolit—the largest trade fair in the U.S. for the Spanish-language Christian literature and music world—publishers are also reporting some bright spots in a year of economic uncertainty, while music sales have struggled.

Pura Vida Books—which distributes titles for Grupo Nelson (Thomas Nelson), Editorial Vida (Zondervan), Editorial Unilit, B&H Español (B&H Publishing Group), Tyndale Español (Tyndale House Publishers) and Casa Creación (Strang Grupo Hispano)—the Spanish imprint of Christian Retailing’s parent company, Strang Communications—“has been growing constantly during those four years of a recession—30% growth annually,” he told Christian Retailing.

“This year, we’ve hit it out of the ballpark. We have grown 140% in the first three months because of new open markets,” Feliciano said.

Pura Vida started distributing books to 16 Wal-Mart stores and four Costco locations in January. Pura Vida also distributes to nine Sam’s Club locations, three Borders and 120 pharmacies and hospitals.

“We are the biggest Christian distributor in Puerto Rico,” said Feliciano, who started Pura Vida in 2002, although the company nearly went bankrupt in 2004. Though there are two other Christian distributors in Puerto Rico, “I don’t consider them as my competition. I consider the secular distributors as my competition,” he said. “We found out that non-Christians buy Christian books. The secular market is hungry for Christian books.”

Strang Grupo Hispano Director Lydia Morales said Casa Creación’s sales in Puerto Rico have grown 364% since 2005, including 47% during 2007-2008. Casa Creación’s top sellers through Pura Vida include ,i>¡Cielo es tan real! (Heaven Is So Real!, Charisma House) by Choo Thomas and 23 minutos en el infierno (23 Minutes in Hell, Charisma House) by Bill Wiese.

“We are amazed of the growth that Pura Vida has shown in the last four years with our products,” she said. “Ricky has been able to penetrate the secular market in Puerto Rico and almost quadruple our sales.”

Feliciano noted that Christian books appeal to the mass market in Puerto Rico because of three reasons: their message touches the heart and mind, the good quality of book covers and good price point. “This is how we have competed against secular books,” he said. “We have taken the shelf spaces of secular books in secular stores and filled them with Christian books.”

Feliciano, who has 15 employees—up from a staff of 12 in 2008—expects Pura Vida’s growth to continue. “The reason is there is a hunger in Puerto Rico for spirituality,” said Feliciano, who also owns a Christian bookstore in Mayuaex, Puerto Rico. “A buyer from Sam’s Club asked me, ‘I don’t understand how your Christian books sell.’ I tell him that people are in need. They are looking for comfort and encouragement.”

Larry Downs, executive vice president and publisher for Grupo Nelson, said even in what has been “a difficult year for all involved,” the Thomas Nelson division had seen increases in three areas—business, electronic and fiction titles.

“Fiction is the largest growth area for us,” said Downs, adding that the company is invested in it “heavily” by launching a search for new original Spanish fiction writers. New titles include Donají by Keila Ochoa Harris, Loruhama by César Vidal and olumnas de Humo by Álvaro Pandaiani.

Exchange rates, raising costs of exports to some areas by 50% and heavy returns in the U.S. were some of the challenges faced by the company during an already tumultuous economic year.

“I believe we will see this trend for at least another 12 to 18 months,” Downs said. “We still have six to nine tough months ahead before we see any breaks.”

David Ecklebarger, executive director of the Spanish Evangelical Products Association and president of Editorial Unilit, said the Spanish market outside of the U.S. had not seen a downturn to the extent experienced by the English market.

“The economy in Latin American countries has been up on an average of 5% in the past several years and it was projected to continue,” he said. “I think it’s a wait-and-see on how seriously the economic impact is going to impact Latin America. It could be that it’s minimal.”

One of the areas hit hardest by the downturn was Spanish music, Ecklebarger said, noting a number of companies had shut down or merged—resulting in a decline in registrations by independent artists attending Expolit, scheduled for May 14-19 in Miami. “Spanish music and the recording industry has really been hurt,” he said.

Integrity Music Latin’s Elias Yepez, director of sales/marketing and operations, acknowledged that music sales in general have struggled. But there was still room for growth, especially in the Spanish market.

“The music industry in whole has declined, but that doesn’t mean so have the opportunities,” Yepez said. “Innovation, new presentations, more features, added value and decreasing costs are other aspects to consider in order to avoid riding the wave of the plummeting music industry.”

He said stores could weather the storm by researching top music titles and managing inventory. Yepez was also optimistic that Hispanics were still loyal to physical products.

“A large percentage of the Hispanic market does not buy digital music yet, so retail outlet sales still have the potential compared to Anglo sales at least for the next two years,” he said.

The Spanish retail industry is not “frontlist-driven nearly as much,” Ecklebarger said. “We’ve seen most of our growth in the backlist sales rather than the front end,” he said. “In a lot of ways, that’s good. We’ve got a lot of good, steady books that have been there for years and continue to do very well. Our market is not driven by having one big winner.”

Downs agreed, suggesting bookstores stick to core inventory and introduce new releases “slowly” with good exposure, including endcap placement.

‘Fresh recruits’ give stores a new face and focus, defying economic downturn

Undaunted by the challenge of the economic downturn, a wave of newcomers to the industry is ringing the bell for Christian retailing.

Among those bringing a new face to the industry is a Canadian trio whose made-over Bell Tower Books is trying to reach beyond traditional evangelical circles by opening up a lounge to the local arts community and carrying some popular general market titles like those featured on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show.

“God is sending in fresh recruits, charging up the whole team like in a basketball game,” said CBA President Bill Anderson of the industry’s new arrivals, reporting an average of 15 new trade association members a month. “One of the main characteristics I observe is their conviction that God has called them. They have a realistic sense of optimism, and a sense of need for more Christian retail stores.”

Leading the way at Bell Tower Books is Dave Sohnchen, who was manager of the former Christian Publications outlet in Kelowna, British Columbia, that was bought out by Jim and June Brown last year.

The 4,000-square-foot store celebrated a grand re-opening in March, unveiling The Belfry—an informal upstairs meeting area where “bell ringers” who pay a $60 annual subscription can meet and borrow books and other resources supplied by the store’s management team, free of charge.

“I knew that things needed to change somewhat in terms of how we did business,” said Sohnchen, whose store’s new mission statement is summed up as CHIME—communal, holistic, integrated, missional, engaging. “We are trying to engage our culture,” he said.

Meanwhile, New York City’s famous Brooklyn Tabernacle has given new life to its bookstore operations, closing the two former Timeless Treasures locations and replacing them with Bell Tower Christian Gift & Bookstore.

The store is a member of the Munce Group, where sales and service coordinator Danielle Woods said though times were tough, “the rate of retailers looking for marketing help is relatively steady, if not growing.”

Newcomers were motivated by ministry, she told Christian Retailing. “Christian retailers want to keep their doors open so that the lost and hurting can walk through them. What characterizes the average new Christian retailers is an evangelistic heart.”

That is the case with Patricia Hill, whose Christian Books and Gifts ... And Then Some in Philadelphia, is due to open June 1 after two years of preparation. Leaving the corporate world after more than 30 years gave her the opportunity to fulfill the long-held dream—shared with her pastor husband—of opening a Christian store.

The new business would be able to put valuable resources in the hands of church members, she said, and reach out to “those who maybe grew up in church but are not there now, and maybe they will be led to go back to the house of God.

Hill said she was not discouraged by the financial crash that had occurred since she started planning the new store. “We are walking into this knowing where the economy is, so there’s no way to go but up. That’s the way I see it. I know that this is God’s will.”

Nor did last fall’s slump deter Dan and Dayna Panella, who were in negotiations to buy Vine & Branches Christian Bookstore in Lodi, Calif., from Phil Biddle. The pair decided “there would be no better time to buy the business,” said Dan Panella. “I felt that if there is any place people are going to be spending money it should be at a place like this, because hopefully they would be focusing on God instead of the latest video game or whatever.”

With a grand re-opening at the end of March, the 4,400-square-foot store has been given a fresh logo, reorganized with a more contemporary look and re-stocked to reach younger consumers. “We didn’t want people to think that all we sold was Bibles, especially if they had never been in the store before,” Panella said.

Opening Abundant Life Christian Store in Aiken, S.C., at the beginning of the year was a “leap of faith” for Kay Mortimer, an accountant who decided to venture into Christian retail after learning that Haven of Rest, a Christian store that had served the city for almost 20 years, was due to close with the owner’s retirement.

While some Christian products can be bought at places like Wal-Mart, Mortimer said she believed Aiken still needed “a place where the focus is the Word of God and His kingdom.” Customers of the former store a couple of blocks away have welcomed the new business, she said. “I believe the support is there. We are trusting that God is leading us, and He wouldn’t lead us down a path to failure.”

Although the new direction of stores like Bell Tower Books has been welcomed by many, with Sohnchen reporting a good number of first-time visitors, not everyone is impressed. Bell Tower’s new approach was criticized in an e-mail sent to churches in the area that warned the store’s Web site included Wiccan and gay and lesbian materials.

“Anybody who has come to us directly with criticism or concerns have had them quickly put to rest,” Sohnchen said. “We just open up our hearts and what we believe God’s vision is for this store. When they hear and see it, they immediately say, ‘Yes, I get it.’”

Recent changes at these companies made to ‘proactively deal with the economic downturn’

Leading publishers have made moves to streamline and re-organize their operations in the face of the struggling economy and market slump.

David C. Cook laid off 29 people in a late February move impacting its U.S. operations in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Elgin, Ill. The company’s Canadian Distribution unit and the Kingsway music subsidiary in the United Kingdom were not affected.

Cook’s CEO Cris Doornbos told Christian Retailing that although the company was ending its fiscal year June 1 with revenues ahead of last year, it was “positioning for the future and investments that were required for the future.”

Harvest House Publishers, which declined to disclose numbers of employees affected by layoffs in late January, also made internal changes.

“Like many other publishers in our industry, we have had to conduct a small reduction in our workforce to proactively deal with the economic downturn,” said Harvest House President Bob Hawkins Jr. “It was a decision that will enable Harvest House to continue to be very healthy for the years to come, even if the economy does not turn around right away.”

Strang Communications—publisher of Christian Retailing—has also re-branded and downsized. Starting last month, the company began conducting business under three names: Strang Book Group, which includes seven imprints; Strang Grupo Hispano and Strang Media Group—which includes the company’s magazine and Internet properties.

“We will continue to do business under the names of our many imprints and brands,” said Stephen Strang, founder and CEO. “But this more clearly identifies the three distinct groups under which we now do business.”

The company laid off 11 people in February. Previously, seven full-time equivalents were let go in January. The total reduction was just less than 12% of the staff, with none of the nine full-time equivalents who work on Christian Retailing, The Church Bookstore or Inspirational Gift Trends affected.

“We’ve been coping with the same market changes everyone else is facing, plus the technology changes as the Internet becomes a more important part of what we do,” Strang said. “But the layoffs were a response to the current economic slowdown to improve profitability to fund future growth.”

Doornbos said he remained “hopeful and optimistic” while also being realistic, and believed that a society coping with “instability” would turn to Christian products for guidance.

“I think it represents a real opportunity to those of us in Christian publishing,” he said.

Blogs and social networking tools tapped to build ‘a loyal following’ among consumers

Christian authors and publishers are increasingly using new technology to bypass traditional methods of connecting with consumers. While in-store book signings and appearances remain popular for local authors and some big-name writers, many are going online to build a following.

The trend has been highlighted by the growth of author-run blog sites and new social media forms such as Twitter and Facebook.

“An author needs to be online somewhere—whether it’s a blog, Facebook page or Web site,” Cheryl Kerwin, senior marketing manager for Tyndale House Publishers, told Christian Retailing. “Digital seems to be the trend, and we recommend this to all of our authors, encouraging their involvement in this ‘cost-free’ communication … (which) builds a loyal following.”

Several authors—including Max Lucado, Donald Miller, Mark Driscoll, Robin Jones Gunn, Brandilyn Collins and Tricia Goyer—have signed up with the micro-blogging site Twitter, which not only reveals a glimpse into their lives, but also spreads the word about their upcoming books and projects.

Earlier this year, Lucado rallied his Twitter followers for a prayer campaign for President Barack Obama, quickly gathering more than 280,000 names on his Web site.

Jana Muntsinger, Lucado’s publicist, said the gratification for the author and his fans was “immediate and real.”

“I am seeing more and more high-profile authors, those with busy pastoral jobs and writing/speaking schedules, making more of a concerted effort to engage with readers,” Muntsinger told Christian Retailing. “Authors are blogging and Twittering to make a connection with their fans. … I can only see this trend continuing.”

Goyer, who estimated that she receives about 20 new Twitter followers daily, told Christian Retailing that the “conversation” was important and the 140-word character messages from the micro-blogging site “go a long way.”

“As a GenXer, I understand that people in this generation love connectivity,” she said. “They love a glimpse into my ‘real’ life, and I think both Twitter and Facebook give them that.”

Sometimes, the author-fan connection impacts directly on a book. After Colleen Coble’s readers expressed lingering questions about the outcome of her 2008 book, Cry in the Night (Thomas Nelson), she drafted an epilogue, and with her publisher’s blessing, posted it along with an interview on her Web site.

Books by Jerry Jenkins and Ted Dekker have also sparked enough interest to prompt the creation of new book-related, online communities.

After the release of Riven last year, Tyndale House Publishers commissioned a Web site where readers could post about how the book impacted them.

Fans of Dekker’s “The Circle Series”—Black, Red, White and the upcoming Green—all published by Thomas Nelson, wear circle pendants to book signings, and more than 40,000 have joined an online community. In June, the third staging of The Gathering will draw Dekker fans to Nashville to take part in several activities, including a Q-and-A with the novelist, drama, dance and multimedia elements.

Kevin Kaiser—brand manager for Creative Trust, Dekker’s management company—told Christian Retailing that the event, which he expected to attract more than 500 participants, was started at the request of readers who first connected online.

“They see it not just as a way to connect with Ted, but it’s also a venue for them to connect with each other,” he said.

At last summer’s event, Dekker fans were shown a preview screening of the movie House, based on his 2006 novel co-authored with Frank Peretti. In addition, attendees of The Gathering were given an advance copy of Dekker’s novel Sinner.

Publishers and authors have also held contests and requested input from readers to help shape the actual plot of a book. Randy Singer’s The Justice Game, to be released in July by Tyndale House, solicited reader votes after a viral video of a mock trial included in the book was posted online. After thousands of views and votes, the final verdict will be rendered with the book’s publication.

“I wanted to do something different and get my readers really involved in the story,” Singer said. “This gives them an opportunity to hear both sides of the national gun debate and gets them thinking. Plus, it adds an element of fun to the book.”

This month on a weekend edition of the FOX & Friends morning TV show, FOX’s news and legal analyst Lis Wiehl was scheduled to announce a recipe contest inspired by her new book Face of Betrayal, to be released this month by Thomas Nelson, with submissions coming through her Web site. The winner will be flown to New York later this year to share the winning recipe on the show.

CBA’s annual summer show has been shortened, but the trade association is seeking to “provide real help” to retailers by adding several new events and attractions for its International Christian Retail Show (ICRS).

Marking its 60th anniversary in Denver, ICRS is set for July 12-15. The new Heart of the Author Luncheon, to be hosted by Karen Kingsbury, is scheduled for July 14. Besides Kingsbury, several other authors will reveal the stories behind their books, the retailers trade association said.

Additionally, a new general session July 12 will feature B&H Publishing Group author and missiologist Ed Stetzer and R.R. Bowker General Manager Kelly Gallagher, who will provide information on industry trends, research and best practices.

CBA also has plans for an extended ribbon-cutting ceremony July 13, while the new Town Center will feature a new product gallery, merchandising demonstrations, personality booths and food concessions.

Also July 12, Josh McDowell, author of Evidence for the Resurrection (Regal Books) and NFL Hall of Fame member Joe Gibbs, author of Game Plan for Life (Tyndale House Publishers), will speak during the Pacesetter event, which is not a new event. However, it will be followed by the presentation of CBA’s new Spirit of Excellence Awards, which will honor stores for their innovation.

The theme of ICRS is “Real Help for Your Business”—an indirect reference to the economic slowdown. CBA President Bill Anderson told Christian Retailing that the anniversary show “is not about breaking attendance records.”

“It is about helping real people with real issues and helping them find practical solutions,” he said. “And it will not be a meeting of the defeated, but of a group of people ... called to the ministry of Christian retail who are experiencing some of the toughest years in the history of our industry.”

Anderson added that ICRS will “provide real help for dealing with real issues in these real hard times.”

“We want to help retailers understand and deal with the realities of our current economic climate, but recognize that they are not going it alone,” he said. “The road may be rough, but it is not a dead-end street. … There are plenty of Christian retail stores who are actually seeing business growth and are more than willing to share what is working for them as well as offer encouragement.”

CBA will also debut “Product Intelligence Tours,” distinguished by product category, which will be showcased on the exhibit floor and exhibitor booths. The tours will enable retailers to learn about various categories of product, while sponsoring suppliers can demonstrate their specific products for buyers.

CBA previously announced plans to shorten its annual summer show from five to four days. Total exhibit time will be reduced by just three hours, while shaving off a day of travel costs, meals and time investment.

Christian gift suppliers are up to speed with a new federal law designed to protect children from tainted products.

Vendors contacted by Christian Retailing said they were paying “close attention” to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), passed by Congress in August 2008 after Mattel Inc. recalled more than 21 million toys imported from China in 2007. Many were found to have dangerous levels of lead.

CPSIA bars the sale of goods, including toys and clothing that contain more than 600 parts per million of lead marketed to children 12 and under. The law was to go into effect Feb. 10, but the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) approved a year stay of enforcement Jan. 30 for certain testing and certification requirements for children’s products manufacturers and importers. Violations could mean shutdowns and fines.

“We are contacting all suppliers and asking them to confirm their CPSIA compliance, so that we can identify fully compliant suppliers on the CBA Web site and at the International Christian Retail Show,” CBA President Bill Anderson said.

According to the retail trade association, 82 suppliers so far have completed a survey on its Web site, noting that the companies were in compliance with CPSIA.

Hans DeMildt, manager of Right Way Christian Bookstore in Orange City, Fla., said he was not overly concerned about any impact from the new law.

“I asked one of our big gift suppliers, and they said that they were compliant,” he said. “I haven’t had any inquiries from customers (about CPSIA). I feel confident that the products we carry are in compliance.”

Although testing can range from a couple hundred dollars to $4,000 per item to comply with CPSIA, vendors said the cost was not a major issue.

George Nizynski, president of Lighthouse Christian Products, said the company was paying “close attention to all the CPSIA rules and regulations.”

“We have always followed CPSC standards and testing requirements for our children’s products and other consumer products,” he said. “Lighthouse pays an extra commission that ranges from 15% to 20% to our Far East representative offices, (which) have staff that monitor and manage our quality and safety levels on our products throughout the entire production cycle. … This extra cost is a significant investment that we have always made.”

Laura Lung, president of Bob Siemon Designs, said the company’s products “have been lead-free even before this new law.”

“We’ve been very proactive to let our customers know that our products are lead-free,” she said. “About a year ago, we let our customers know that this legislation was coming. Additionally, we provided information (about CPSIA) at trade shows and on our Web site. … Personally, we’re happy that there’s this requirement now.”

Julie Kaempfe, owner of infant apparel company His GEM, said she received some calls from stores inquiring about CPSIA.

“Our apparel is safe,” she said. “Our products are tested overseas in Bangkok, Thailand, and Hong Kong. They meet the requirements of CPSIA.

“We plan to put a copy of our General Conformity Certificate on our Web site, so people are appeased that we don’t have lead,” Kaempfe added.

Kerusso Vice President of Marketing Chris Rainey said only the apparel company’s toy products, including “Praise Ponies,” “God’s Girlz” and “Friction Powered Trucks,” were largely impacted by CPSIA.

“We are in compliance to conformity of the regulations, but have not completed third-party testing to receive certificates on all items,” he said. “We do have these on most all jewelry items, and we will continue to get third-party testing accomplished on all items required by (the) end of 2009, which will meet the February 2010 requirements by CPSIA.”

Rainey added that Kerusso had conducted third-party testing on its jewelry items in the last two years.

“While our jewelry isn’t designated as children’s product and therefore isn’t affected by this new law, we’ve taken the extra steps, precautions and costs to make sure all of our products are safe,” he said. “Much of our jewelry has certifications from third-party testing organizations.”

Thomas Nelson is giving consumers free audio and electronic editions of some of its books in a move that has been welcomed for promoting digital publishing.

The NelsonFree program that lets purchasers of print copies download listening and e-versions at no extra cost will initially be limited to titles from its Business and Culture division, but could be extended to other categories if successful.

NelsonFree launched last month with the release of Scott McKain’s Collapse of Distinction and Michael Franzese’s I’ll Make You an Offer You Can’t Refuse, retailing for $24.99 and $22.99, respectively. The program is being promoted on the covers with a red logo. Ten other Nelson titles will be made available in the program before the end of the year.

“The book is, in a sense, trapped by its format,” said Joel Miller, publisher of Nelson’s Business and Culture division. The consumer, too, was “locked into choosing one format over another or shelling out scarce funds for the same book in different wrappers,” he added.

The NelsonFree initiative has been welcomed by other leaders in the industry, though some expressed concern about the impact on authors if the practice was adopted widely.

Zondervan President Moe Girkins applauded the Nelson program. “I think it’s great,” she said. “We are all trying to figure out the whole digital world, and the more we explore and try things, the better off we are all going to be.”

Her company would not be following suit, though, focusing instead on its Symtio program launched last fall, she added. Twenty other publishers have so far contracted to join the program, which lets stores sell gift cards giving online access to downloads of audio editions of specific books.

By the end of March, more than 1,000 titles were due to be available on Symtio, with nearly 400 stores offering the purchases. In addition, the company was working on developing iPhone applications for some of its content, Girkins said.

She was glad that NelsonFree was not on a broad scale “because I would not want people to start considering digital content as free content,” Girkins added. More content in the future would be published digitally but not in print, so it was important to protect authors, she told Christian Retailing.

Book agent Chip MacGregor expressed similar reservations. Though supportive of giving away books to help build readership, which NelsonFree might encourage, he said losing two potential income streams could see authors being further “squeezed” on royalties. “Everybody wants things for free in this market,” he said. “But I work with authors who are trying to make a living with words, so I need to figure out how the authors I represent will get paid a reasonable wage.”

At Baker Publishing Group, publisher Dwight Baker said the company was “steadily moving into facilitating digital formats,” but did not provide content for free. “Our company has an obligation to our authors to generate royalty income from all unique uses of their fine works.”

Dan Balow, publisher for Oasis Audio, which currently licenses more than 100 Nelson books including titles by popular novelist Ted Dekker, said the NelsonFree initiative was creative, perhaps best-suited “for titles where the audio will probably not sell enough to make money anyway.”

NelsonFree follows and broadens a path first taken by Crossway Books & Bibles, which since 2005 has given consumers who buy books at the company’s Web site access to a free PDF download of the title. Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Geoff Dennis said the initiative had seen a 60% increase in direct-to-consumer sales on some titles.

Crossway’s program does not include audio as few of its titles were in listening editions, he said. Meanwhile, around a third of the 180,000 people who purchased Crossway’s new ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible since its launch last fall had signed up for the online edition offered free, Dennis said—many more than had been expected.

Miller said NelsonFree would initially be available at general market outlets, where the business titles were more widely available, but he expected them to be on sale in Christian stores too. The authors participating in the program were excited that their books were “voices in the expanding conversation about what publishing in a digital age looks like.”

Christian publishing veteran Jonathan Merkh has been named vice president and publisher of Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Meanwhile, Focus on the Family founder and author James Dobson has stepped down as board chairman of the nonprofit organization that he founded 32 years ago, but he will continue to appear on its popular daily radio program as well as speak out on moral issues.

Merkh joined West Monroe, La.-based Howard Books last month after recently joining the William Morris Agency as an agent for the Hollywood talent agency’s Book Department. Merkh resigned last year as vice president of Guideposts Books. After 14 years, Merkh resigned from Thomas Nelson in November 2006 as senior vice president and publisher of Nelson Books.

Merkh was “well-known and highly regarded in both the CBA community and the wider world of publishing,” said Mark Gompertz, executive vice president of Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone Fireside division. “He is the right person to help us grow this area of our publishing, expanding upon the solid foundation built by John Howard and the rest of Howard Books staff.”

In his position, Merkh will be responsible for all the editorial and marketing functions of Howard Books and the senior management team. John Howard, who will continue to serve as vice president and publisher, will report to Merkh. Simon & Schuster officials said that both men would have the same title. New York City-based Simon & Schuster acquired Howard Publishing in February 2006 and changed its name to Howard Books.

Dobson’s wife, Shirley—who serves as National Day of Prayer chairman—also stepped down in February from the Focus board of directors. Focus officials said the Dobsons’ decision follows a transition plan begun six years ago, when James Dobson stepped down as president in order to lessen his administrative burden. Executive leadership was handed to Don Hodel in 2003, and then to Jim Daly in 2005.

Besides continuing to host the “Focus on the Family” radio broadcast, Dobson, 72, will also continue to write the organization’s newsletter, sent to 1.6 million people monthly. Dobson’s books include The New Strong-Willed Child and Bringing Up Boys (both Tyndale House Publishers).

Last fall, Focus eliminated more than 200 staff positions, its largest employee cutback ever, the Associated Press reported.

The makers of the surprise hit Fireproof (Provident-Integrity Distribution) are in “a season of prayer” regarding the follow-up to the top independent movie release of 2008, although they expect to have a budget five times larger than the pro-marriage drama.

A keynote speaker during the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention, Fireproof Director Alex Kendrick said the yet-unnamed film would have an expected budget of $2.5 million.

“Our next movie will be a bigger budget, (and) God willing, better quality (film),” Kendrick, who co-produced Fireproof with his brother, Stephen, said during an NRB session. “We’re taking what we learned from the three previous movies and applying it to the next one. ... We think we know (the plot of the next movie), but we’re still in a season of prayer. And we’re not going to proceed until we know.”

Monique Sondag, a publicist for Fireproof, said the plot and details for the next Sherwood Pictures movie by the Kendricks will be revealed later this year.

Boosted by grass-roots support and bulk ticket purchases from churchgoers as well as some Christian retailers, Fireproof made $33.3 million at the box office, despite a modest $500,000 budget. The movie, which stars Kirk Cameron as a firefighter who turns to God to save his marriage, has been a top-selling DVD at Christian retail since it was released on video Jan. 27.

Additionally, The Love Dare (B&H Books/B&H Publishing Group), a focal point of Fireproof and written by the Kendrick brothers, has spent more than 20 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and has nearly 2.2 million copies in print.

Fireproof’’s predecessor Facing the Giants—also co-produced by the Kendricks—was created by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., with an all-volunteer cast and $100,000 budget. The film took in $10 million in theaters and remains a top-selling DVD. It has since been subtitled into 13 languages and dubbed into seven languages, and has sold well in Christian stores.

Sherwood Pictures’ first film, Flywheel, has sold more than 100,000 DVD copies.

Besides Kendrick, other Christian authors who spoke at NRB—held Feb. 7-10 in Nashville—included Anne Graham Lotz, Shaunti Feldhahn, John MacArthur, Kerry Shook and Charles Stanley.

The event drew several publishing houses, including Crossway Books & Bibles, Tyndale House Publishers, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. Tyndale House Corporate Publicist Mavis Sanders said the convention had “a lot of ministry value” and was “a great place” to promote new titles such as Tony Dungy’s Uncommon.

Organizers estimated total attendance was down about 5% from the 2008 convention, which drew about 6,000 people and 300 vendors. NRB Vice President of Communications David Keith told Christian Retailing that attendance was “slightly soft … but we’re very pleased in light of the economy.”