Christian bookstores' Bible departments could be more immune to the threat from digital publishing than other categories.

For while consumers appreciate being able to access God's Word on smartphones and e-readers, they still give high value to being able to hold the Scriptures in their hands. Indeed, electronic versions of the Bible can lead to more print sales.

That's the view of Bible publishers reflecting on how the digital book trend is impacting their world for a Christian Retailing report.

"Bibles are tangible, iconic artifacts and will co-exist as print and digital products," said Paul Franklyn, associate publisher for the new Common English Bible, due out electronically ahead of the July-August print debut from Abingdon Press. "Retail stores are the setting where an artifact can be touched and held."

Darcy Cohan, director of publicity for HarperOne, agreed. Although e-Bibles were an important and growing part of revenues for the company, "people who buy digital Bibles will likely also buy a print edition," she said. Print sales go up as a result. "The Bible as object matters a great deal to the people who buy them."

At Crossway, Marketing Manager Andrew Tebbe attributed continued growth for the English Standard Version in part to increased brand recognition boosted by a Web site allowing free digital downloads of the translation.

"Stores need to realize that while digital use of the Bible is growing, digital-only users of the Bible are still a relative minority, with many Christians using a combination of print and digital resources," he said.

Read the full report in the July issue of Christian Retailing.

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