Though publishing is "at a clear inflection point," Christian publishers are in a better position than their secular counterparts "because they know who their audience is," said Girkins, the president and CEO of the company for three years, who left in March when her contract was not renewed.

Replaced by Scott Macdonald—who had joined the company in December to oversee its online community service, The City—Girkins declined interview requests on her departure. But she spoke to Doug Ross—former president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association—for his column in the June issue of the U.K. magazine Christian Marketplace.

Coming to Zondervan from a high-tech business background, Girkins said that she had felt called to bring an "outsider influence" to the Grand Rapids, Mich., company.

Girkins told Ross that most Christian publishers "have strong relationships with Christian groups of people and enjoy tight partnerships. The connectivity Christian publishers have goes beyond the bookstore and this is a huge advantage."

Publishers needed to recognize that the Internet and e-books would become "the primary distribution channel in the very near future," she said. At the same time, there was a future for Christian retail stores "because they know the customer and the product better" than general retailers like Wal-Mart or Barnes & Noble, "or they should."

Girkins declined to talk about the reasons for her leaving Zondervan, where she had enjoyed "the best job in the whole world." A silver lining in her departure had been "being able to spend four weeks with her (mother who was terminally ill) before she died ... a precious time I would not have had otherwise," the article said.

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