Christian Retailing

Barbour names new president, VP Print Email
Written by Taylor Berglund   
Friday, 12 January 2018 03:30 PM America/New_York

Burns MaryBarbour Publishing CEO Timothy Martins announced that Mary Burns has been promoted to the position of president and chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1, 2018.

Martins, who served as Barbour’s president for over 20 years, will remain active with the company as CEO and serving on the company’s board of directors. Burns, a 23-year veteran of Barbour Publishing, has served as vice president of marketing for the majority of that time. The executive team will now report directly to Burns. Together they’ll be responsible for executing Barbour’s strategy and managing the business.

Martins commented on Barbour's future under Burns' leadership.

“I'm ecstatic about the possibilities for the company and its owners under Mary's leadership and look forward to watching her very capable team reach new heights in the months and years to come,” Martins said.

Burns cast a sunny vision for the company's future.

“I’m excited to take on the leadership role of president," Burns said. "With our recent transition to an ESOP, there are endless opportunities for Barbour to grow and continue our success in book publishing. It will be my pleasure to guide our motivated and dedicated team in accomplishing the goals we have set for the future.”

Burns also announced the promotion of Shalyn Sattler to the position of vice president of marketing. Sattler, who joined the Barbour team in 2005, has served as director of marketing in recent years. With this promotion, she will now be responsible for providing team leadership and strategy for all of the company’s marketing activities.

Sattler said she was pleased to receive this promotion.

“I’m incredibly honored to accept this new position with the company that has become my family over the past 12 years,” Sattler said. “Book marketing has drastically changed since I first began my career, but I’m energized by the challenge of continually finding new and better ways of connecting readers with our uplifting products.”

 
Harlequin ends Heartsong Presents fiction line Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Wednesday, 03 December 2014 05:09 PM America/New_York

Change comes after HarperCollins acquires the romance publisher

Harlequin-LettersFromTheEnemyHarlequin announced the ending of the Heartsong Presents line it acquired in January 2012 from Barbour Publishing. Harlequin Enterprises changed hands in 2014 with HarperCollins completing purchase of the company in August.

Steve Laube, literary agent and owner of The Steve Laube Agency, said that Heartsong Presents, which was founded by Barbour in 1993, has been “primarily a ‘direct-to-consumer’ book club which published romance titles with a specifically Christian message.”

Laube said that Heartsong will continue publishing the books already slated for release through June 2015, and that Kathy Davis, editor of the line, will be leaving the company at the end of January.

Laube pointed out that many best-selling Christian novelists either got their start at Heartsong or published with them on a regular basis. Some of those authors are Tracie Peterson, Wanda E. Brunstetter and Colleen Coble. —Johnson

 
Author Jerry Jenkins closes Christian Writers Guild Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Wednesday, 03 December 2014 04:57 PM America/New_York

JerryJenkinsFormer guild president steps up to fill the void with new nonprofit to train writers following CWG closure

The Christian Writers Guild (CWG) dissolved in November after 50 years in business. Author Jerry B. Jenkins has owned and operated CWG for 14 years, and in 2013, launched a custom publishing house bearing the guild’s name, Christian Writers Guild Publishing.

Aiming to “train tomorrow’s Christian professional writers,” CWG had more than 1,000 members worldwide, according to its Facebook page. The guild ran an email correspondence course and assigned each student a seasoned professional to mentor them throughout the program. CWG also operated the Writing for the Soul conference.

Several months prior to the dissolution, Jenkins and Sheets began exploring the idea that the educational model of the guild was better suited to nonprofit environment, considering the economy.

“I’m a bit melancholy, but I have a heart full of wonderful memories too,” Jenkins said in a posting to CWG’s site after the closure decision was made. “It’s been a great ride. I’ve been blessed to be able to give back to an industry that has been so good to me, and it’s been a privilege to help train thousands of writers and try to restock the pool of Christian authors.”

With a belief in “finishing well,” Jenkins promised CWG members that they would receive all of the benefits that came with membership.

Dave Sheets, former CWG president, and Rebeca Seitz, CEO of Spirit of Naples, a nonprofit developer of Christian content creators, formed the nonprofit BelieversTrust to “fill the void” left after CWG’s closure.

Believers Trust is part of TheBelieversGroup, which also includes BelieversMedia, which will provide publishing services. Seitz will run BelieversTrust from Naples, Florida, and Sheets will run BelieversMedia from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Julie Boynton, former marketing coordinator for CWG, also joined the staff of BelieversTrust.

Believers Trust also formed a strategic alliance with Word Weavers International, an 18-year-old writers organization founded and led by author Eva Marie Everson.

All critiques offered by BelieversTrust will be provided by Word Weavers-trained teachers. The Word Weavers critique method, co-created by Everson, is known for its effectiveness and clarity.

Everson also wrote the BelieversTrust “How to Write a Novel” course and will teach its first class this month. —Johnson

 
California store chain Majesty Bible and Gift reconfigures Print Email
Written by Deonne Lindsey   
Tuesday, 04 November 2014 05:05 PM America/New_York

Veteran Christian retailer moves away from church bookstore competitors, adds Scripture House location

Majesty Bible and Gifts’ California chain is reconfiguring its stores. Hary Daud and his wife, Hae Hi Daud, who have owned and operated Majesty for more than 20 years, planned to open a new store in Visalia in early November, but also opted to close their Sacramento-area location.

The new Visalia store in the San Joaquin Valley, located at 226 E. Caldwell Ave., was previously a Christian bookstore called Scripture House before the Dauds added it to their stores in Fresno and Turlock. It will close for a week of renovations, then reopen under the new name but with the same staff and management.

A number of factors such as economic considerations and travel distance led to the Dauds’ decision to close the Sacramento store, which was three and a half hours away from the main location in Fresno.

“It’s much easier to work from within [your current market] to do marketing,” he said. Everything from the radio station the store worked with for promotions to Majesty’s customer list was completely different, given the significant distance, and that made managing the operation more complicated.

Daud also cites the growth of competitors in the marketplace.

“Sacramento just has too many church-owned bookstores already meeting people’s needs for another store to do well in that market,” he reported.

While Daud had explored other cities, Visalia made good sense. With Majesty’s largest store in Fresno, the Turlock store to the north and the new Visalia store to the south, there are distinct customer bases that also will benefit from having sister stores in the area.

“It happens many times that we will explore an option and somehow the door is closed,” Daud said. “But the Lord’s timing and direction is always better than ours. We just do the part we are gifted.”

Daud also sees his wife as a good sounding board for such big decisions.

“My wife is very grounded and realistic, so very few ideas pass my wife,” he said. “But when she was on board, that was a good indicator to me that opening another store made sense.”

Although the couple felt a distinct calling to take on a new retail location, they didn’t take the addition lightly. They took the time to ask the Lord to supply everything from finances and space to the right team to help run the new store.

“Closing down one store and opening another has been challenging, but we’re so excited about what’s going on,” said Daud who first got interested in the business after he saw that his own ministry needs were not being met through a local Christian store.

When his pastor asked him to teach Sunday school, he decided he would serve though he had never taught children.

“I went to a bookstore looking for books to help me be a teacher, but I wasn’t able to find much or get much help,” he said. “So the next prayer I prayed was ‘Lord, let me be the one who can help people like me,’ and I started the store. I was in the Army prior to that and had degrees in mathematics and economics. My Dad had been in retail, so I had learned something by watching him.”

As for finding success in business, Daud says there’s “no one silver bullet.” In large part, however, he attributes the success he has had to his Majesty team.

“A lot depends on your supporting cast—in my case, my wife and my family and my staff,” he said. “You cannot waver. You have to be all in, as does your supporting cast. We are also focused on what we do—this is all we do. It’s also a great help to build a staff who share your vision. If not for my wife, my family and my store family, I couldn’t still be doing this.” —Deonne Lindsey

 
CBA previews ICRS Orlando, hints at future show cities Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Tuesday, 04 November 2014 05:01 PM America/New_York

Buyers and exhibitors will benefit from reduced registration and booth-space rates at 2015 convention

OCConventionCenter-WestCBA previewed the 2015 International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, for more than a dozen companies this fall. The Christian retail association promised lower expenses and programming changes for the June 28-July 1, 2015, convention and also hinted at possible locations for future shows.

CBA will institute programming changes at this year’s ICRS, beginning with a general session Sunday afternoon before worship services and the Sunday evening concert. Monday and Tuesday general sessions and training will have exclusive hours, and exclusive exhibit-floor hours have been designed around those sessions. The Monday kickoff session begins at 8 a.m. with a keynote presentation followed by breakout sessions before the exhibit floor opens at 10 a.m.

ICRS “trendshops” will continue for fiction and film. The Children’s Product Trends session will feature a new research and presentation format, CBA announced. In addition, there will be more formal and informal time for networking.

International guests will benefit from additional special programming in 2015. In partnership with Media Associates International and the Magazine Training Institute, ICRS will feature specialized training and consulting for international publishing and magazine development and operations.

Show attendees also will receive free buyer registration without having to room in the CBA hotel block, although competitive room rates will be offered there. Booth space rates also have been reduced.

In addition to regular exhibit booths, the 2015 ICRS will feature special areas for authors/artists and international licensing and rights sales. Hospitality suites will be available outside the exhibit floor, and new space configurations allow meeting rooms within exhibiting areas on the show floor.

For 2016 and beyond, CBA continues to work with Arrowhead Conferences and Events to finalize new locations. Arrowhead’s Jill Jordan told ICRS-preview attendees that cities under consideration will enable CBA to offer lower prices for all attendees and exhibitors.

Possible 2016 show locations include Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; Austin, Texas; Cincinnati; and Phoenix. The 2016 location will be announced this fall with the 2017 site announced soon after. —Johnson