Evangelical Christian Publishers Association

Much of the change we are living through in publishing is plain as day to see. The shift from print to digital, like the shift from stores to online purchasing, is evident to all of us, inside the industry and out.

But there’s another aspect of the change that is not nearly as visible and that’s around systems and workflows. Publishing, even in the pre-digital age, was a systems-driven business.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced the winners for the 2012 Christian Book Awards in seven categories, including first-time category for New Author. Presented annually to the finest in Christian publishing since 1978, the Christian Book Awards honor the highest quality titles in Bibles, Bible Reference, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Children, Inspiration, and New Author.

In an effort to encourage both readers new to novelist Beth Wiseman and her established Amish fiction fans to experience the new story, Thomas Nelson is releasing the book on a unique schedule. The first half of the novel will be available digitally first.

Almost everyone in the book business will acknowledge that we are in the midst of the most interesting, challenging and promising period in the industry's history.

Last week, the High Court of Justice in London issued a Consent Order under which Andrew (Amue) Ansell admitted to infringing a large quantity of Christian theological works by displaying them on his websites, including biblecentre.net, and agreed not to post any copyrighted material in the future.

Christian publishers have reported increased sales for the month of March over the same month last year, according to the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). These publishers also are showing an increase in net sales (sales-returns) for the first three months of this year. The month of March saw a gross-sales increase of just more than one percent, and a net sales increase of eight percent for March and two percent for the quarter. This is the first time the ECPA has seen a positive change in net sales in more than a year.

Maybe divine intervention will reverse the profit slide for religious book publishers. But industry experts believe it also would be prudent to consider scaling back on titles, reducing returns, making intelligent use of data, investing in digital opportunities and otherwise adapting business models for future success.

From multimillion-dollar acquisitions to multimillion-dollar best-sellers, powerful women stand at every pivotal, decision-making point in the book publishing process. Book Business’ first annual “50 Top Women in Book Publishing” feature recognizes and honors some of these industry leaders who affect and transform how publishing companies do business, and what—and how—consumers read.

When the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) hosted its annual Publishing University conference in Chicago in early November, publishers, printers and vendors who attended the “Offshoring” session were provided with tips, advice and a few fair warnings about partnering with offshore manufacturers. Jennifer Butenschoen, director of production at Harvest House Publishers, which publishes Bibles, self-help titles and gift books, presented a 90-minute crash course on the topic, during which she offered tips that Book Business readers should find useful in evaluating their own offshore manufacturing strategy. More than 100 million Harvest House books have been sold worldwide since the company’s conception in 1974. Now

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has launched the official Web site for its new retail book event, the Christian Book Expo, at www.ChristianBookExpo.com. The inaugural event will be held March 20-22, 2009, at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas. The new Web site provides a range of information for authors, exhibitors and the media, including an event overview, show schedule, frequently asked questions and exhibitor information. Additional content will be added regularly. According to ECPA Marketing Manager Sheri Toomb, the Christian Book Expo is a consumer, church and ministry event, and will feature exhibits and programming by Christian book publishers.