The head of the world's biggest Christian publishing company has announced the funeral of the traditional book, though he has not set a date.

Thomas Nelson CEO Michael Hyatt said that though it will not happen immediately or all at once, the death of the traditional printed page is "inevitable."

In his "Why traditional books will eventually die" blog at www.michaelhyatt.com/fromwhereisit, Hyatt cites inefficiencies in book manufacturing, distribution and buying as contributing factors and spotlights Amazon's new Kindle electronic reader as a major step along the digital pathway.

Publishers, printers and booksellers "need to come up with a game plan for how they will respond," Hyatt commented. "Most of us have a plan, but we need to move faster. I don't think we have much time. The clock is ticking."

Writing in an earlier post about the Kindle, Hyatt said that his company had more than 650 titles available for download to the new device, with 53 and 57 titles available respectively from Zondervan and Tyndale House Publishers, the next two largest Christian publishers.

Read the full report in the Jan. 7 issue of Christian Retailing.

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