DISQUS

Mary DeMuth · 1 year ago

I don't think they're leaving the CBA; it's core to their sales. They're re-evaluating whether it's fiscally wise to continue to go to trade shows.

Michael S. Hyatt · 1 year ago

Hi. I'm the CEO of Thomas Nelson. Mary is correct. We are not leaving CBA. Even though it is the trade association for Christian retailers, we have a supplier membership. It is twice as big as the next largest channel.

We are the only publisher in America who has hosted its own conference, "Open House" for the sole purpose of making the best Christian retailers better. We paid all of their expenses. We tried to give without expecting anything in return. We had no show room. We didn’t ask for orders. We simply tried to inspire and educate, believing that if we invested in these retailers it would be good for them, good for the channel, and good for us.

You may want to take a look at the Q & A I did about our decision. You can find it here: http://www.michaelhyatt.com/fromwhereisit/trade...

Marcus · 1 year ago

Mary, I guess I was too subtle. I'm more poet than journalist. Anyway, I changed the title to emphasize that it was supposed to be a question--the answer to which is no. And I changed a few other things in the post to--adding a second hypothetical question.

Michael, thanks for dropping by--especially in clarifying what it means to have a supplier's membership. Sorry if I was less than clear. In my excitement to post about this, I rushed it. I have a lot of respect for what you all are doing at Nelson, from getting rid of imprints last year to this decision.

Kevin D. Hendricks · 1 year ago

Geez, sounds like Ted Dekker needs to get out more. ;-)

Marcus · 1 year ago

Kevin, you make me laugh. On the other hand, as someone who spends 2 hours writing alone each morning, I can imagine that a full-time writing career would be awfully lonesome.

Ted Gossard · 1 year ago

Marcus,
Interesting.

Hey, I have a pic of L.L.'s hands over on my blog from Saturday's post, and about our time together.

Ted Gossard's last blog post..prayer for the week

Sue Dent · 9 months ago

The issue IMO has never been is Thomas Nelson leaving CBA. As their top Bible/book seller, they ARE CBA. Why would they break an affiliation whose readers made them what they are?

I just wish CBA affiliated publishers would go back to calling the work they produce CBA Christian Fiction instead of trying to win readers from a market their restrictions and guidelines prevent them from appealing to.

They don't represent all that Christian readers want to read. That has been their defining difference. But it's also why their affiliated Christian bookstores are doing so poorly. Their market isn't big enough to support all the fiction they're throwing at them. The guidelines and restrictions, put in place to protect their core market readers, keep their work from appealing to the general market of Christian readers for the most part.

I therefore find it interesting when Thomas Nelson and all the other CBA and ECPA affiliated publishers speak of selling to the secular market. I'm not sure I understand what that means. :O

goodwordediting · 9 months ago

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goodwordediting · 9 months ago

Sue, that's a really interesting idea that the CBA market doesn't have the demand for the volume of fiction currently being published by the CBA presses. I like Nelson a lot. As I do many of the presses. My favorites being IVP and NavPress. I also like Paraclete and Eardmans. At any rate, Andy Crouch has got me thinking that the days of parallel culture may be drawing to an end.


Still, I wish I were going to Dallas for the book fair in two weeks.

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Sue Dent · 9 months ago

". . .that's a really interesting idea that the CBA market doesn't have the demand for the volume of fiction currently being published by the CBA presses."

Well, I wish I could say it was my idea but it wasn't. It's the reson being given for affiliated publishers pulling their targeted fiction out of affiliated Christian bookstores and placing it in un-affiliated stores or rather, the bigger booksellers. And they're not placing these books it in the Christian section where they clearly belong but rather on the shelves with mainstream books. :O

How confusing is that?

If you like work produced by Nelson, NavPress Eerdman and Praclete and all the other CBA/ECPA publishers, then it's a shame you can't go to CBE. However, if the fiction affiliated houses put out is not your cup of tea, there really won't be much to miss.

And I'm not sure I'd call CBA or ECPA a parallel market. I see them as a niche market of the much larger general market. Sort of like Harlequinn is a niche market to the broader general romance market.

goodwordediting · 9 months ago

Huh. You leave good comments, Sue. As an aspiring fiction writer, I'm encouraged by the idea of CBA or ECPA fiction appearing alongside secular fiction. In my mind, that gets it out the christian ghetto. But it does put more burden on the consumers to find the new books from their favorite press. But then, the press's website should be a good point of contact for those folks.
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Patricia Hickman · 8 months ago

I'm interested in the fact that some of you allude to Christian fic fans looking for their favorite publishers. In my experience, they tend to look for their favorite authors. But most Christian authors would like to see their books spine-out our face-out in the mainstream aisle, alpha by author--salt and light.