It may have been the year of the golden tiger on the Chinese calendar, but for the Christian products industry, 2010 was the year of digital books. 

That is the assessment of Christian Retailing editors as they look back on the past 12 months, spotlighting major trends and events in a review of the year for the January 2011 edition of the magazine.

The rise of the format dominated discussions not only for publishers, but also many retailers wondering what the growth in e-book sales will mean for them in the long run.

While digital sales saw triple-digit percentage increases, many consoled themselves by pointing out that total unit sales were—for the time being—still relatively small. Some also found some comfort in the notion that as the big, mainstream book chains bore the brunt of the print-to-pixel move, indie and niche book-selling might find a new level of consumer appeal.

Digital publishing initiatives were spotlighted in four of the seven areas assessed, from the end of Zondervan's Symtio initiative to give brick-and-mortar retailers a piece of the digital market through to the same publisher and B&H Publishing Group, among others, experimenting by giving away free digital titles in hopes of seeing a spike in print sales as a result.

The year-in-focus report looks back on developments in Bibles, books, children's products, music, gifts and niche markets.        

Read the complete report in the January 2011 issue of Christian Retailing.

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