Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s summit looks at how e-books are impacting consumers

While e-books are currently only a tiny slice of the reading pie, the category’s rapid growth and its implications for business were a major focus for Christian publishing executives in Nashville, May 3-5.

Around 150 people representing more than 50 publishers heard how sales of digital books have exploded in the last year and impacted consumer habits, at the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s (ECPA) Executive Leadership Summit.

Speakers threw out Webkinz toys and showed clips from movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Juno to illustrate changes in cultural attitudes and the use of technology, during the three-day event. Hosted by B&H Publishing Group, the program went ahead unaffected by the flooding that devastated parts of the city.

Of 1 million books brought out last year, only 250,000 came from traditional publishers, said Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publisher services for R.R. Bowker, presenting details of research on e-book readers. Although e-books account for just under 3% of all book sales, they signal a 
“significant change” in moving to a consumer-driven model of business, he added.

Digital sales were not growing the book market but “simply cannibalizing print,” Gallagher said, adding that 45% of e-book readers said they were buying less hardcovers than they used to and 42% were buying fewer paperbacks. Additionally, e-book purchase prices averaged $6.25 less than print editions.

In his keynote address, “Gutenberg Church in a Google World,” Leonard Sweet, author and professor of evangelism at Drew University, said that Christian publishers needed to learn how to integrate visual communication into their content because of “the shift from word to image.”

In a presentation on digital piracy, Brian F. O’Leary, founder and principal of consultants Magellan Media, reported on a study that had found a spike in sales from some titles after its unauthorized files were made available online, though he said that further research was needed to understand the link between the two.

The strongest warning on the impact of the digital revolution came from Michael Drew, founder of publicity firm Promote A Book, who said in his presentation: “If publishers don’t change the way they do business, they will not exist in five years.” He predicted that within five years, 80% of all books would be sold electronically.

In one of three case-study presentations on innovation by ECPA member companies, Aaron Linne, executive producer of digital marketing of B&H Publishing Group, told how the company had made its Holman Christian Standard Bible available to Xbox gamers through its Bible Navigator X.

Summit sessions also looked at digital rights management and the impact of Google’s efforts to put all available books online.

The digital publishing emphasis was welcomed by attendees. “Things are changing and we need to understand this as a group because no single company has all the answers,” said Baker Publishing Group President Dwight Baker. Though digital sales were small, “it’s a rapidly changing and highly confusing area so we need wisdom and people coming in to explain some” of the issues, he added.

In his welcoming address, ECPA President Mark Kuyper said that extreme shifts were coming, but publishers’ focus needed to remain on good content. “As much as we get excited about new technology, we are far more excited about the impact the words can have on someone’s life,” he said.

Awareness campaign to drive traffic, encouragement for Christian retailers

A nationwide effort to drive traffic to Christian retail stores will take place Oct. 23 when retailers and suppliers unite for Christian Store Day.

The initiative was announced by CBA Executive Director Curtis Riskey who visited the ECPA summit to meet with publishers. The October effort is intended “to raise awareness and drive traffic to Christian retail,” Riskey said, replicating the success of Record Store Days that have seen “great success” in drawing consumers to music retailers.

More details of the event—to feature special promotions and in-store happenings, as part of a week-long campaign—will be announced at the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis.

During his summit session interview with ECPA President and CEO Mark Kuyper, Riskey said that Christian Store Day aimed to build on the successful Christian retail channel exclusives that CBA had developed with suppliers, which had averaged sales of more than 100,000 units of products special to Christian stores.

Urging greater cooperation between retailers and publishers, Riskey said: “We are not the only channel. We realize that you have many choices to make in terms of distribution. However, we have customers that are unique that do look to us for certain kinds of things. We have to figure out—how are we going to leverage that?”

Discussing changes and challenges in the industry with Kuyper, Riskey said that Christian stores needed to do a better job of connecting with local churches and to become centers of their local community. He estimated that there were between 2,500 and 2,800 viable Christian stores―including independents, chains and church-based operations. While some stores had closed in recent times, others were seeing double-digit increases, Riskey added.

Later in the summit, two Christian publishing leaders offered words of encouragement to Christian retailers in the face of the challenges the specialty stores have been presented by digital publishing and diverse sales channels.

Thomas Nelson CEO Michael Hyatt said that he saw “renewed opportunity” for stores that focused more on becoming a central place for their local community. “If it’s about trying to deliver the good to the consumer, there are more efficient models of doing it,” he said in an open conversation with David C. Cook President and CEO Cris Doornbos.

But “we could see the renewal of local retail,” Hyatt said, observing that some young adults were rejecting large, chain businesses, preferring to go to local retailers instead. “There’s lot of opportunity,” Hyatt said. “Retail is not dead, unless it wants to be dead.”

Hyatt’s comments came as he discussed industry issues with Doornbos in a session that saw him pass the chairmanship of the ECPA—which he has held for four years—to the Cook leader.

Doornbos said that while he believed that the future would be tough for chains, “retail has a really good future.” Independents could be leaders in their local community, but sometimes got “swallowed up” by the administrative and business side of their stores, he observed.

“It also seems to me that those retailers who have been successful over the years have really good relationships with their local churches,” Doornbos added. “I think there’s lots of opportunities for local retail to do well, to stay healthy. It’s still difficult, but if you can draw them back, people will come.”

Retail promotions for Book of the Year winners

A concerted retailer push has been coordinated to help promote sales of the winners of the ECPA’s 2010 Christian Book Awards, announced on the eve of the Nashville summit.

Berean Christian Stores, LifeWay Christian Stores and Family Christian Stores were to feature the six winners in seven categories at their Web sites, while Munce Group was to highlight them in its More To Life online magazine. The top titles are also to be promoted on independents’ Web sites operated by Innovative and there will be some in-store promotions.

Borders, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com planned to reference the winners, too.

Christian Book of the Year was Richard Stearns’ The Hole in Our Gospel (Thomas Nelson), which also took the Christian Life category.

Other winners: Bible Reference and Study: The New Moody Atlas of the Bible by Barry J. Beitzel (Moody Publishers); Fiction: Watch Over Me by Christa Parrish (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); Children and Youth: B4UD8-Before You Date by Hayley and Michael DiMarco (Revell/Baker Publishing Group); and Inspiration and Gift: Grace Notes by Philip Yancey (Zondervan).

For the second time in three years that a non-print Bible won an award, Glo by Immersion Digital, distributed by Zondervan, was voted best in the Bible category. In 2008, Thomas Nelson’s The Word of Promise New Testament Audio Bible was declared Book of the Year.