Christian Retailing

Relevant to publish fewer books, launch new online initiatives Print Email
Monday, 10 July 2006 08:00 PM America/New_York

Beginning January 2007, Relevant Media Group will sharply decrease the presence of Relevant Books, instead focusing resources on its digital media, magazines and client services. Relevant Books' 20 releases in 2006 will be cut to no more than two in 2007, according to company founder Cameron Strang.

“We're incredibly proud of the lineup of books we're producing this year, and we feel it's our best lineup yet,” founder Cameron Strang said. “In no way is the decision to step back our book publishing because of negative trends in that area. We simply looked five years down the road and saw a different company than we are today. We want to stay on the cutting edge of consumer interest and media technology, so we took steps to poise us for substantial future impact.”

Relevant Books' full current catalog will remain in print and continue to be available through Strang Communications to retail.

“With more than 350,000 monthly unique visitors at RelevantMagazine.com-and growing 10% each month-our online content is quickly becoming our most popular vehicle for reaching spiritually focused twentysomethings,” said Strang, founder. “As technology changes and allows more dynamic ways to interact with our audience, it just makes sense to focus our energy where we can have the greatest impact.”

This fall, Relevant.tv, which draws more than 150,000 monthly viewers, will include a weekly show, Flavor of the Week, as well as a video podcast. Additional online initiatives include a “Video Slice of the Day,” a visual version of the popular online slices on the front page of the Web site and increasing RelevantMagazine.com's number of newsletters from three to nine.

Relevant's weekly audio podcast, launched last fall, has grown to more than 15,000 listeners each week and earns a consistent Top 5 ranking in the Religion & Spirituality category on iTunes.

Relevant magazine, with a circulation of 80,000, will see a major overhaul of the format and style in early 2007. This fall will see the expansion of the Relevant Leader, the exclusive publication of the company's Relevant Network ministry resource division. For the first time, stand-alone Relevant Leader subscriptions will be made available. Radiant magazine, launched this spring for 18- to 34-year-old women, now has a circulation of 20,000.