With the economy continuing to struggle, Christian publishers are warily optimistic about the upcoming holiday season.

Verne Kenney, Zondervan's executive vice president of sales, said the company "had a solid first quarter," but was "experiencing softer sales in the first couple weeks of October." Though these were "very challenging economic times," the company was "optimistic about the upcoming holiday season," he said.

At David C. Cook, senior vice president of sales and marketing for global operations C. Ryan Dunham said the company was not cutting print runs for the fourth quarter, although the company went through a restructuring several months ago.

"We are well-positioned for the future and have no plans to downsize or cut staff as a reaction to the economy," Dunham said. "Is this holiday season going to be as strong as we all would like? Probably not. However, I still choose to believe that our products will perform well."

Tyndale House Publishers Chief Operating Officer Jeff Johnson told Christian Retailing that although the company does not typically release many products during the year's last quarter, it expected "a softer holiday season."

David Lewis, director of sales and marketing for Baker Publishing Group, told Christian Retailing: "We are very optimistic about the sales potential of our new releases and backlist titles."

Read the full report in the Dec. 8 issue of Christian Retailing.

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