Personality editions popular with serious Bible students

Bibles featuring well-known personalities are more than just about big names, as the subcategory is a strong segment for publishers and retailers. Publishers have produced editions featuring Bible-study content from a who’s who of Christian leaders such as Charles Ryrie, C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, Charles Stanley and Joel Osteen.  

Personality, specialty or name Bibles are “a significant category,” said Bob Sanford, vice president and associate publisher of Thomas Nelson’s Bible group. He estimated that approximately half of Nelson’s overall Bible sales are from the category.

 ‘LONG-STANDING BEST-SELLERS’

Since the 1970s, Nelson has published at least 17 personality Bibles, including John MacArthur’s The MacArthur Study Bible, The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, Max Lucado’s The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible, John Maxwell’s The Maxwell Leadership Bible, Jack Hayford’s New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, Richard Lee’s The American Patriot’s Bible and T.D. Jakes’ Holy Bible, Woman Thou Art Loosed! Edition. With combined sales of Nelson’s name Bibles at almost 5 million copies, they are among the publisher’s “long-standing best-sellers,” Sanford said.

Suppliers’ support helps store staff overcome ‘fear factor’ in selling God’s Word

Now more than ever, Christian retailers need to be at the top of their game when it comes to helping shoppers choose the right Bible.The cornerstone product remains the area where Christian stores should be able to outshine other channels and cement their place in consumers’ minds as the specialist place for God’s Word.

Additionally, the Bible department is widely seen as one reading category more immune to being impacted by digital publishing because most shoppers still want a physical copy of the Scriptures, even if they have an e-version for convenience.

But the rising opportunity in Bibles comes when it may never have been more challenging for stores to take advantage of it—as reduced staffing levels leave less time for frontliners to keep on top of new products and releases, and the number of SKUs continues to grow.

A growing subcategory adds edgy content to trendy design

Teen Bibles may not top best-seller lists or command huge endcap displays like adult editions, but the subcategory is a strong area for publishers and retailers. The segment has come far since The Way, the first teen/young adult Bible, published by Tyndale House Publishers in 1972, which used the Living Bible paraphrase and black-and-white photos of 16- to 30-year-olds throughout the text.

The grouping now offers a variety of trendy features and formats—including graphics, colors, compact-size and magazine-like versions as well as metal, manga-style and Italian Duo-Tone designs—all aiming to be visually appealing and teen-friendly to encourage young adults to read the Scriptures.

STRONG CATEGORY

“Today’s teens are dealing with some issues that most generations didn’t have to deal with until they were much older,” Zondervan Senior Vice President and Publisher for Bibles Chip Brown told Christian Retailing. “We try to provide Bibles that will help teens spiritually navigate and thrive in this incredible period of their lives.”

Industry leaders and insiders get personal on trends and issues

It has probably never been truer for the Christian products industry that change is here to stay.

From the accelerating digital-publishing revolution and its impact to ongoing shifts in retail, new consumer habits and business practices are emerging. Christian retailers and suppliers must look to the future, preparing for its challenges and opportunities.

We talked to a broad range of industry leaders and insiders to get their personal and professional take on some of the big issues and questions.