Book agent Chip MacGregor prompted a lively debate at his blog recently (http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/main/2009/02/a-quick-qanda.html) when he commented on LifeWay Christian Stores' stickering some of the books it sells—such as “emergent church” titles--with “read with discernment” advisories.

Describing the move as “deeply stupid,” he argued that while he may not agree with everything an author says, “these are books, for crying out loud. And the best books are the ones that make us think... to put warning labels on them smacks of the worst aspects of Christian legalism.”

Not everyone agreed with him. “Yes, they could just refuse to sell the books they think are damaging, but they also can make a statement,” went one response. “Some people won't like the statement and they'll quit shopping at LifeWay. Others of us will like the statement and we'll start supporting them. “

What do you think? How far should stores go in exercising care and control over what they offer?

Christian Retail Offers for the week of March 2

Bargain Bibles pop up in all the big promotions, with Parable stores leading the way by offering Thomas Nelson's Chronological Study Bible (New King James version) for $22.49, half off the regular price. The offer is part of Parable's "Rainy Day Sale" emailing that also has Crossway Books & Bibles' popular new ESV Study Bible priced at $39.97, down from $49.99.

Parable's savings include a selection of family friendly DVDs from $6.98 and 20% off spotlighted books such as How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart (Zondervan), priced at $13.59.

Family Christian Stores presents an exclusive line of NIV Thinline Bibles with colored bindings for $19.97 each, reduced from $24.99. Other specials include The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible (Thomas Nelson) for $14.99 instead of $19.99, and The Daily Bible (Harvest House) for $16.49 rather than $21.99. The chain's emailing also offers an in-store coupon for 25% off one full-priced item, 10% off a sale product.

In its Semi-Annual Sale, LifeWay Christian Stores presents the Holman CSB Illustrated Study Bible in black for just $10, down from the regular retail price of $59.99. The offer is one of the many $5 and $10 bargains offered in the 16-page catalog, which also promotes a $10 savings card with purchases of $40 or more.

Meanwhile CLC Bookcenters spotlights The VeggieTales Bible (Zondervan) in its emailing that has an Easter focus. Thomas Nelson's Word of Promise New Testament: Youth Edition Dramatized Audio Bible is reduced from $49.99 to $36.99. The emailing offers a 20% off in-store coupon.

Having gone to Ireland on a missions trip several years back, I fell in love with this beautiful green grass-carpeted country and its people. That's why when I heard about BlueTree, a worship band hailing from Belfast, Ireland, I was excited to hear their upcoming CD, God of This City (Lucid Artist/Lucid Artist) scheduled to release March 3. So, I visited their MySpace page and started sampling their upcoming CD.

I was surprised that I already knew one of their songs, “God of This City.” We sing it at the church I attend. But, I wasn't surprised by the fact the anthemic song debuted already on Chris Tomlin's Hello Love (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG Distribution) CD this past fall. In fact, BlueTree's sound is very much in the vein of Chris Tomlin and other Passion worship movement artists such as Charlie Hall and Matt Redman, except it has a wee bit more of a rock-tech edge.

Apparently after Tomlin heard the song “God of This City” while he was visiting Ireland, a partnership was eventually forged and the song became a vital part of the Passion worship conferences world tour and of course part of Tomlin's most recent CD.

For more information on this up-and-coming group or to sample songs from their new CD, visit their Web site.

 

Christian Retail Offers for the week of Feb.23

Parable stores are offering 20% each off the 34 titles on the finalists list for the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Christian Book Awards, to be announced next month.

Among the releases available at the special price in the six award categories are Crossway Books & Bible's ESV Study Bible, Multiple Blessings by Jon and Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson (Zondervan), and Jerry B. Jenkins' Riven (Tyndale House Publishers).

With fiction in mind, the Parable email also includes an in-store only coupon for a free fiction title with the purchase of three.

Meanwhile, Family Christian Stores is giving away two free berths on The Music Boat cruise scheduled for May 4-8. The promotion offers CDs from artists due to be taking part in the Canaveral, Fla.-Nassau, Bahamas sailing for $9.99 each. Artists include Toby Mac, David Crowder Band and Matthew West.

Disney World has announced its lineup for its annual Christian music concert series Night of Joy, which will be held Sept. 11-12 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

While they may not watch much television, the Duggar family traveled to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival in San Antonio to take in the films and chat with Cameron, star of the surprise pro-marriage hit Fireproof. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, www.duggarfamily.com, have 18 children-eight girls and 10 boys, all having names starting with the letter "J."

Christian market expert and author Mary Manz Simon at the American International Toy Fair:

Although the Bernie Madoff doll and Obamamania playthings attracted media attention, the worldwide economic crisis and confusing safety regulations in the U.S. created a muted background for the 106th annual American International Toy Fair held Feb. 15-18 at Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.

In contrast to recent years, publishers had a reduced presence on the exhibit floor.  Plus, the downsizing of the usual pink blizzard of girl toys and reduced noise pollution of tech made a more subdued and balanced exhibit floor.

Eco sensitivity was the biggest trend with direct application to the Christian retail market.  Most companies have moved beyond the mere use of soy ink, as green concerns have become an integral part of new toy development.  New products using kiln dry, chemical free rubberwood and terms like ‘organic' and ‘natural' were highlighted in all product categories.

In addition, examples of optimized packaging to reduce waste, minimize storage and increase effective shipment were visible in every aisle of the exhibit floor.  Product samples stickered "Made in the USA" hinted at the lingering impact of the massive toy recalls in the past two years.

Another trend with Christian retail industry implications is that children's causism has gone multi-platform.  Even in traditional toy categories, children can activate a code on product labels to access Web sites that allow them to donate money to their charity of choice.  This single example of tech integration into the toy was a continuing theme repeated in many variations.

I observed two other trends of significance to the Christian market:

• To stem the downward shift of toys sales, retailers will need to offer price-value products to serve today's "conscious consumers".  At Toy Fair, vendors suggested tiered pricing, including inexpensive items children can purchase with their own money within a core brand.

• Family fun, a trend which began even before 911, will continue to be a huge force this year as parents re-allocate entertainment money toward home activities.  Tech-driven, classic games, board games, and those which involve physical responses were prominently displayed in New York.

I also observed emergence of an entire new category which might be described as "functional creativity."  For example, children color a cardboard dollhouse or fire station, construct the structure, play with it, then recycle the materials.  This extends the range of consumables and taps into unstructured or imaginative play, also a strong theme at the show.

Mary Manz Simon is a member of the Christian Retailing editorial advisory board, and editorial consultant

Top artist nominees include Chris Tomlin, who is nominated in seven categories; Natalie Grant, newcomer Francesca Battistelli and Casting Crowns, each receiving five nominations; and Brandon Heath, Mary Mary, Laura Story and Michael W. Smith, who each garnered four nominations a piece.

To see the complete list of nominees or to find out details on the upcoming televised broadcast, please visit GMA's Web site.

Book Review:

Collapse of Distinction

Scott McKain (February 2009, Thomas Nelson, $24.99)

In an age when mom & pops are shivering in the shadow of mega-retailers, local cafes are being gobbled up by corporate food

palaces and independent hardware dealers are being hammered by category-killers, Scott McKain's The Collapse of Distinction is an actionable guide to creating the differentiation that is vital to success of any business.

The author deftly takes on the "best practices" mantra featured in Jim Collins' mega-best seller Good To Great, and others. Referring to them as "best practice junkies" McKain writes that many leaders, "become so enthralled with a creative best practice . . . that they often neglect to evaluate whether that approach is appropriate for their situation."

The rush to follow others in their "best practice" leads to sameness and a collapse of distinction, according to McKain.

The book is published by Thomas Nelson and the author makes a clear declaration of his Christian worldview, but other than an appropriately placed Bible reference Collapse should not be considered "religious' by even the most sensitive secular reader. In teaching leaders how to be different, The Collapse of Distinction should be a valuable tool.

- Jim Seybert is an industry consultant and a member of Christian Retailing's editorial advisory board.

Casting Crowns, drummer Andy Williams has announced that he is leaving the group to start a new band, Soul Sister Sally, with his wife, Kelly, who will serve as lead singer. In a Feb. 18 statement at the band's Web site, Andy expressed appreciation to Casting Crowns and its fans:

In December of 2007, my mom suffered a massive stroke. She hung out with us for a few months but then she was ready to go. In June of 2008, she went home to see Jesus. The ministry of Casting Crowns reached out to one of its own during that time. They showed me what we have hopefully shown to you over the past 6 years and that is, the love of Jesus. I am truly thankful and beyond blessed to have been a small part of the Casting Crowns family.

To read the entire entry, go here - http://castingcrowns3.typepad.com/casting_crowns_guys_blog/2009/02/a-word-from-andy.html

If your passion for selling Christian books is being squelched under the weight of business concerns, spend a few minutes with Byron Borger, from Hearts & Minds in Dallastown, Pa.

His store regularly provides book tables for churches and conferences—lots of packing and unpacking of boxes and long hours.

Writing of his experiences serving the Jubilee students' conference held recently in Pittsburgh (http://www.heartsandmindsbooks.com/booknotes/, Feb. 17), he admits to having been overwhelmed by all that still needed to be accomplished with the event due to begin soon.

“This was chaos in the primordial Genesis sense.  I wanted to crawl up under the boxes and cry,” he recalls. Then, “the miracle happened, we pulled it off, God gave our desperate spirits renewed energy and soon we had a great looking, full-service bookstore set up complete with a few good volunteers...”

Given the opportunity to recommend several titles from the platform to attendees, Borger later reflected: “I guess we won't know the impact of these moments of learning for years to come...our prayer, though, is that these days in Pittsburgh--and their reading of books bought in weeks to come--- will help shape the character of tomorrow's leaders, impact the nature of cultural institutions, and sustain authentic and normative reformation of society.”

That's what it's all about.

Meanwhile, the folks at CBA have announced a relaunch for the trade association's Industry Blog http://cbablog.typepad.com/cba/, Feb. 16), dormant since early December.

Among the forthcoming new features promised are success stories from within the Christian retail industry, details on channel-wide exclusives like the recent “Operation Worship” Bibles program and consumer habits information.

Graphic novels have become more popular in recent years, as Hollywood has mined their pages for ideas for blockbuster movies like 300, Sin City and the upcoming Watchmen. Comic books haven't typically intersected much with Christian publishing and are rarely found in bookstores. In recent times, however, more creators and publishers are lining up to provide a wider selection to Christian readers, including Head Press Publishing's Eye Witness series, Vida Entertainment's David and Daniel and a growing selection of Manga offerings from Tyndale and Doubleday.

One new entry is Good & Evil, which released in November from No Greater Joy Ministries and distributed through Anchor, a 336-page full-color depiction of biblical scenes written by Michael Pearl and Marvel Comics artist Danny Bulanadi (Fantastic Four, Micronauts, the Incredible Hulk). The new release is a full-color rendition of an earlier black and white release, which has 100,000 copies in print.

Christian Retailing readers can get an exclusive 23-page full-color preview of Good & Evil by clicking here.

In other graphic novel news, Ted Dekker's Circle Series graphic novels (Black, White, Red), along with two Lost graphic novels, have garnered “positive reviews,” according to Allen Arnold, vice president and publisher, fiction, for Thomas Nelson. Arnold told Christian Retailing the company is releasing two additional graphic novels this summer and including the entire graphic novels of Black, Red and White free in the back of the upcoming 5^th Anniversary editions of Black, Red and White. Dekker's Green (Book Zero in the Circle Series), releases in September.

Recently released sales figures from pop culture researcher Icv2 show that graphic novels sales rose 5% from 2007 to 2008, its slowest growth since 2001 and their growth occurred more in general bookstores than specialty comics shops. It was also reported that Manga sales fell 17% during the year.

Did anyone catch Mars Hill pastor and author Mark Driscoll (Vintage Jesus, Vintage Church) on CNN with comedian/commentator D.L. Hughley? If not, check it out below. What are your thoughts?

Christian Retail offers for the week of Feb. 16

Best-selling NFL coach Tony Dungy's new book leads the way for CLC Christian Bookcenters and Mardel Christian Education & Supply emailings.

Dungy's Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance (Tyndale House Publishers) is offered for $16.99 by CLC as its "Deal of the Week,," while the regular retail price of $24.99 is cut to $19.99 at Mardel.

Mardel also offers the paperback edition of Dungy's New York Times best-selling Quiet Strength for $7.49, half the regular price. The chain stays with the football theme to promote baseball star Josh Hamilton Beyond Belief (FaithWords) for $23.99, and the Facing the Giants DVD for $14.98.

Family Christian Stores focuses on children's resources, announcing Thomas Nelson's "Year of the Worm" promoting "Hermie & Friends" products. The promotion includes the latest episode, Skeeter ans the Mystery of the Lost Mosquito Treasure, reduced from $14.99 to $9.97, while the early Hermie: A Common Caterpillar is available for $7.49.

Family also offers a $10 mail-in rebate on purchases of both the new The VeggieTales Bible and DVD Abe and the Amazing Promise.