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.

Standard to return to children’s books, while Crossway to unveil new name ‘to strengthen outreach’

Standard Publishing will announce a return to children’s books, while Crossway Books & Bibles will unveil a new name and image at the July 12-15 show in Denver.

“For many years, Standard was well-known for their children’s books,” Bob Wallace, marketing director, told Christian Retailing. “The past couple of years, we took a break. Now we’re back in.”

Wallace said the return to children’s books came at the urging of new Standard President Larry Carpenter, who brought trade experience from his previous position with Thomas Nelson as vice president of marketing.

Standard will begin the new push with the revised “Baby Blessings” line, releasing seven newly revised and updated titles in September—followed by more new titles in the future. The Ohio-based publisher will also premiere new 380-page giant coloring books priced at $4.99 and up.

Additionally, Standard will debut at ICRS its 2010 Vacation Bible School program, “Hero Headquarters,” which plays off the comic book superheroes trend—but instead focuses on nameless heroes found in the Bible.

“It’s a great theme because it takes five Bible stories of unnamed heroes and how God used them in one day to make a difference,” Wallace said. “The big focus is that so many times you hear about the big things people do, but these are stories about people who do everyday things to make a difference.”

Meanwhile, Crossway Books & Bibles’ new corporate identity will include a new logo, advertising brand and Web site. Doing business to date as Crossway Books & Bibles and Good News for its evangelistic tracts, the company will change its name to Crossway. The move is to avoid confusion and capitalize on a really good year for the company, said Geoff Dennis, executive vice president, sales and marketing.

“This last year across the industry, most publishers were down about 20%, (but) Crossway has seen about a 35% increase,” he told Christian Retailing. “We feel like we’re positioned in the right way at the right time to strengthen our outreach.”

Much of the company’s growth has come from the ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible, which was previewed at last year’s ICRS in Orlando, Fla. Dennis said the company intends to again showcase the Bible at the Denver show, which took the top honors of Christian Book of the Year and Bible of the Year at the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s Christian Book Awards earlier this year.

To date, the ESV Study Bible has sold more than 225,000 copies and two additional print runs are scheduled. “Our goal is to provide resources that will build the body of Christ, not necessarily be the biggest blockbuster book in the marketplace,” Dennis said. “The customer base we’re serving—the young, restless and reformed group—they have a real hunger for content.”

But organizers believe exhibitor attendance ‘will be strong’ for CBA’s annual summer convention

Blaming the recession, some suppliers are skipping or scaling back their presence at CBA’s annual summer show this month. But retailer trade association officials say vendor participation “will be strong” for the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS)—which will mark CBA’s 60th anniversary in Denver, July 12-15.

“I believe exhibitor attendance will be strong,” CBA President Bill Anderson told Christian Retailing. “Most every supplier who was at ICRS 2008 will be exhibiting in Denver. Unfortunately, some companies have gone out of business this past year. But we also have 38 new companies exhibiting.

“Some exhibitors have downsized, while others have actually increased in size,” he added. “The fact is all of our suppliers are going through these same tough economic times. Yet they place high value on ICRS and are there—259 companies strong and more talking about contracting.”

In comparison, last year’s ICRS in Orlando, Fla., drew 353 exhibitors—including 66 first-time suppliers—occupying 992 booth spaces.

Besides Thomas Nelson, which will again skip ICRS just like last year, WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group has chosen not to attend the world’s largest Christian product industry convention.

“Our decision followed a close review of our overall promotion plans, while making the best use of our marketing dollars in our evolving marketplace,” Melissa Sturgis, publicity manager for WaterBrook Multnomah, told Christian Retailing. “We did have a presence at Christian Book Expo (CBE) this year. For 2010, we will re-evaluate our attendance at ICRS, but no final decision has been made at this time.”

Industry insiders have speculated that CBA’s main trade show could be impacted by publishers’ investment in the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s inaugural, consumer-oriented CBE—which yielded a disappointing turnout in Dallas in March.

Colorado-based Grizzly Adams Productions (GAP) decided not to exhibit at ICRS. “We primarily dropped out this year to conserve cash as it has been difficult to raise money for new show productions,” David Balsiger, vice president and senior producer for GAP, told Christian Retailing. “We expect to return next year as an ICRS exhibitor. We are optimistic that the economy will be better next year.”

Kirk Walker—a first-time exhibitor at last year’s ICRS and co-owner of Shadrach, Meshach & ABeanToGO, a coffee company in Goodrich, Mich., that caters to Christian retailers and church bookstores—said the economy contributed to his decision to “stay home” and focus on local markets. “We could not see spending the enormous amount of money it takes to go to the show,” he said.

Meanwhile, NavPress will streamline its presence at ICRS. “NavPress is as committed as ever to the retail trade industry,” said Jessica Chappell, trade marketing director for the Colorado-based company.

“However, the current economic climate has required us to re-evaluate our presence at trade shows. We will have reduced booth space. Staff presence will remain steady (for) sales, marketing and author/public relations.

“ICRS has been a great event that has continued to bring all areas of our industry together,” added Chappell, noting that NavPress will partner with CBA to launch a special edition of The Message Solo at the show. “While our industry is facing some tough challenges right now, this is the time for us to work together, and we are looking forward to our time in Denver.”

John Whitaker, vice president of Anchor Distributors, said the company will maintain the same amount of booth space as last year.

“But we are working to greatly reduce the cost of our booth structure and set up,” he told Christian Retailing. “With the reduction of one day of exhibit time, we’ll spend less on manpower. … This convention is invaluable to us in making and maintaining many relationships that have been built over many years.”

Bob Whitaker Jr.—vice president of Whitaker House, Anchor’s sister company—agreed. “I can’t emphasize enough how important this convention is to our company,” he said. “One area where we’re expanding is in the number of featured authors attending. We will have 12 authors at ICRS who will be signing copies of their books. … ICRS is the most productive atmosphere for connecting retailers with our authors, and their hearts and inspiration for writing.”

After hosting a retailer event at last year’s ICRS, Washington-based Book Brew Coffee plans to expand its products and services.

The company will increase the number of personnel at the show “as we’ve received an increase in demand and interest,” said Joshua Williams, Book Brew’s events manager who also serves as manager of The Salt Shaker Christian Bookstore in Enumclaw, Wash., an hour south of Seattle.

“This year we will offer free freshly brewed coffee samples, new product showcasing and new special pricing options to attendees,” he added. “We are very excited about this year’s ICRS.”

Thomas Nelson launches versions of Scriptures, while thousands download free TNIV and ESV

Bible publishers are ramping up their efforts to spread the word about new Bibles and promotional strategies by using new technology.

To launch The Expanded Bible in August, its new Bible version, Thomas Nelson has offered a free PDF of the entire New Testament on its Web site. Since early May when the promotion began, the publisher has reported that more than 2,000 copies have been downloaded.

In April, Zondervan ran a promotion offering a free download of Today’s New International Version (TNIV) on Amazon.com and saw more than 19,000 downloads in May. Compatible with Amazon’s Kindle book reader, the digital TNIV has risen to No. 36 on the Amazon Kindle charts, followed at No. 37 by Crossway Books & Bibles’ English Standard Version Bible—also a free download. More than 4,000 free copies of Baker Publishing Group’s God’s Word Translation were downloaded on Kindle.

Crossway has also promoted its ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible with a special price of $9.99 in the Kindle store, garnering sales of nearly a thousand. The publisher has also given away the ESV translation, which hit No. 1 on the Amazon Kindle list with downloads from more than 48,000 users.

“The ESV and ESV Study Bible exemplifies Crossway’s desire to make our content available in the channels that people desire to access our content, including most electronic forms,” Geoff Dennis, executive vice president, sales and marketing, told Christian Retailing.

Customers purchasing a copy of the ESV Bible were also given access to the online edition. Out of the nearly 225,000 copies the Bible sold, more than 65,000 users have registered for and used the online version, Dennis said.

Meanwhile, Thomas Nelson’s The American Patriot’s Bible—which released in May with its own Web page that included a sneak preview, video, news and online referrals—has been the source of some controversy. The special-interest Bible—which incorporates articles of American history and national landmarks—was criticized in an online editorial written by Gregory Boyd, author of The Myth of a Christian Nation (Zondervan).

Writing at the Christianity Today Web site, Boyd said he was “appalled” by the new Bible because of “selective, idealized” American history being given “divine authority by weaving it into the biblical narrative.”

“Every special-interest Bible imposes a certain agenda to some degree that colors the Word, but The Patriot’s Bible takes this ‘coloring to a whole new level,” he wrote. “The text of the Bible is merely used as an excuse to further the patriotic agenda of the commentators.”

Nelson responded to the review with an editorial by the Bible’s editor, Richard G. Lee, who said that The Patriot’s Bible’s “clear purpose is to present the ‘strong cord’ of the Bible’s influence that runs through the fabric of our nation’s past and present.”

“Our great nation has not used the Bible to form some system of ‘nationalism’ and ‘superior isolationism,’ but rather our founding fathers learned from its teaching the principles, values and ethics of law, government and proper social order,” Lee added.

Despite the criticism, the Bible was “doing extremely well,” according to Wayne Hastings, senior vice president and publisher of Thomas Nelson’s Bible Group.

Challenge from another Christian products industry business leads to Danteck re-branding

Electronics supplier Danteck Group Inc., has renamed its popular WowBible, launched last year, following the threat of legal action from another Christian products industry business.

The Streamwood, Ill.-based company is now calling its line the NowBible, with new models and additional versions to be unveiled at the International Christian Retail Show in Denver, this month.

“It is important for our retailers and distributors to know that our product is changing in name only,” said Len Williams, Danteck’s vice president of marketing. He declined to name the company that had challenged the WowBible name, which Danteck had been seeking to register as a trademark.

“We had some legal consultations concerning our name and did not feel that there would be a problem with anything that was in existence,” Williams told Christian Retailing. “It was a little bit of a surprise when (the challenge) came about.”

However Danteck had decided not to put time and money into pursuing the trademark and instead would re-brand as the NowBible. “I am reminded of Galatians, which says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering ... and against such there is no law,” Williams said.

Danteck has sold around 9,000 copies of its electronic Bible since the September 2008 introduction. The model, which retails for $170, has seen an “incredible response” from retailers, Williams said.

The first King James and New King James versions are now to be followed by models available in The New American Standard Version, the New Living Translation, the New International Version, Today’s New International Version and The Bible Experience. Williams said that while the name change had been a setback, “we feel that our product is new and unique enough and good enough that it will overcome that.”

Regional chain head hopes to announce new owner before too long

Berean Christian Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, with management at the Cincinnati-based regional chain expressing confidence that the business would continue under a new owner.

Announcing the June 9 move, Berean President Bill Simmons told Christian Retailing he expected a purchase would be completed by the end of July, ensuring that the company would be “adequately capitalized well into the future.”

Details of one bid were included in the papers filled with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati, Simmons said, with an auction possible if other interest in a purchase was forthcoming.

Court documents in the Chapter 11 proceedings included a list of Berean’s top 25 unsecured creditors. Totaling almost $6.5 million, the list was headed by Thomas Nelson ($824,000) and rounded out by Union Gospel Press ($74,000).

Simmons said the chain filed for bankruptcy protection after months-long discussions with vendors had failed to secure an agreement for continued operations.

“It’s not the perfect outcome, but we believe that it is the best outcome we can hope for in the situation that we find ourselves in,” he said.

The legal moves mark a big change of fortunes for the chain, that just three years ago started a new chapter in a long history. With backing from private equity from JMH Capital, Berean management bought out the then-16-strong chain—which dates back to 1934—from Standex International Corporation.

The new owners embarked on some rapid expansion, taking on a number of longtime independent stores—among them former CBA chairman Chris Childers’ Macon Christian Store in Macon, Ga.; Wayne Pence’s The Living Water Christian Bookstore in Kokomo, Ind.; and Ward and Anita Wells’ Wellspring Christian Bookstore in Louisville, Ky.

Within a couple of years, Berean had grown to 26 stores but cut that number by a third earlier this year, to18. The closures included the three former stores of Childers, Pence and Wells. Another store in Temecula, Calif., is in the process of being sold.

Simmons said Berean’s troubles began last fall when it presented a restructuring plan to its lenders, whose requirements prompted Berean to take “pre-emptive action” and pay off all bank debts. That impaired Berean’s ability to pay its suppliers.

Since then the company had pursued “multiple avenues” and been in regular discussions with its 160 vendors, Simmons said. “We had an incredibly high level of cooperation from most of the key vendors in our industry,” he said, but it had “not been possible to get everyone on board” with a plan for going forward.

Though Berean had been affected by the economy “it’s not that there hasn’t been positive cash flow.” Berean’s growth had been leveraged on debt that became “a foundation of sand as the economy fell and the lending markets changed,” he said. “I don’t know (if) that was a mistake. There are millions of people who have learned the same lessons across the country.” But there was “certainly a cautionary tale” in what had happened, he added.

Distributors, retailers ‘lose out’ on sales to unfair competition

Nigeria

The Christian retail channel in Nigeria continues to be negatively impacted by e-mail scams that have targeted U.S. evangelical bookstores in recent years, according to a leading member of the industry in the African country.

Sylvester Ejeh—owner of Edysyl, a bookstore, distributor and publishing house in Nigeria—told Christian Retailing “the majority of Nigerians suffer image problems overseas because of few that are involved in scams.”

“Sometimes merely introducing myself as a Nigerian turns off prospects,” said Ejeh, Christian Trade Association International’s (CTAI) vice chairman.

“Most of the time we are not given the opportunity to prove ourselves because (we are marked) as fraudsters. But I can tell you that most of us are genuine businessmen and businesswomen who have the fear of God and are ready to be ... good (Christian product) distributors and representatives.”

Melissa Mitchell, director of loss prevention for LifeWay Christian Stores, told Christian Retailing the Christian retail channel currently does not have a system in place to report Nigerian scams—which have featured bogus e-mails from there requesting help with Bibles from Christian bookstores in the U.S. The scam artists typically use fraudulent credit cards to pay for the Bibles, so the retailers end up responsible for replacing the funds.

CBA addressed the issue with a workshop on loss prevention during the International Christian Retail Show in 2006.

“It is difficult to know who their target will be at anytime,” said Ejeh, who buys products from all around the world. “No particular industry is free from it.”

CTAI President Jim Powell added: “Christian publishers in America were the major victims only a few years ago, but they’ve learned from the experience.”

He told Christian Retailing that a typical Christian store in Nigeria “can purchase through a local wholesaler most of the products it requires.”

“Of course, Nigerians and everyone purchase through the Internet,” said Powell, noting that scams have also come from Indonesia. “But for a retail store in America to become an important supplier to an individual or store in Nigeria defies economic sense.

Powell added that American Christian retailers are not the only victims of the scams. “Christian distributors and retailers in the country (where) the product are shipped to also lose out from lost sales and unfair competition,” he said.

Ejeh encouraged Christian stores to be vigilant regarding Nigerian scams. “The Christian retail network (must) insist on a particular mode of payment that cannot be reversed,” said Ejeh, who noted that prospective buyers from his country can be verified through CBA Nigeria.