The industry’s pace of change quickens as digital content technologies advance, print-on-demand becomes more prevalent, and declining readership and reaching today’s consumers continue to pose significant challenges.

By James Sturdivant

Mark Kuyper, executive director of the Evangelical Book Publishers Association, agrees. “Most of our potential audience does not know what exists,” he says.

He cites the success of Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” as an emblem of what can happen with the right synergy of marketing, networking and media buzz. “If it were possible to get the word out as was done through Rick Warren’s network of churches … there is a large number of people who are interested, they just need to know it’s there. That book has sold over 30 million copies. That’s just phenomenal. It lets you know the potential.”