Hot Trends and Topics at CBA Advance
by Staff, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 2/1/2006
One product trend on the show floor was the proliferation of high-quality gift Bibles with soft Italian leather covers, often imprinted with designs and varying color tones. These Bibles were all the rage at the Crossway booth, and also at Zondervan, which went an additional step with its "Bible in a Bag" product. This small two-tone NIV Bible, marketed for young women and girls, comes in an easily portable pink tote. "There's such a trend in carrying bags," said Zondervan president Doug Lockhart. "We've tested this with consumers and the feedback has been very strong to have a coordinating case that matches their Bible." Lockhart also touted the Archaeological Study Bible (Mar.), a four-color rendition of the NIV that offers copious sidebars and explanatory notes on archaeological findings and sites. Zondervan will hold a retailer drawing as a promotion for the study Bible, with the top prize being a trip to the Holy Land.
Integrity Publishers was in the midst of an aggressive media campaign for Saddam's Secrets: An Insider Exposes Plans to Destroy Israel, Hide WMDs and Control the Arab World by former two-star Iraqi general Georges Sada, who was a top advisor to Saddam despite being a Christian. The week of Advance Sada made appearances on Fox & Friends, Hannity & Colmes, Fox radio and MSNBC. Upcoming appearances include Fox News Live, The 700 Club and possibly Nightline. The book ranked as high as 21 on Amazon.com this past weekend.
Strang Communications was celebrating the rise of Jerusalem Countdown, the latest apocalyptic ruminations from John Hagee for its FrontLine imprint, to number 37 on the USA Today list. Reflecting its diversification into categories other than religion, Thomas Nelson has seen sales of more than 250,000 for Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover over the past four years. A segment featuring Ramsey will air again on this year's Superbowl Sunday program.Children's product was much in evidence at the show, from both Christian houses and general-market companies. Golden Books exhibited at its first CBA midwinter show, having made its debut in this market at the association's International Christian Retailers Show in Denver last July. "We really see an opportunity in the CBA," said sales rep Jeff Atwood. "We have an existing backlist that is appropriate for the inspirational market." The strategy seems to be paying off: Atwood reports that of the six titles that Golden Books launched into the CBA last summer, five have hit the CBA children's bestseller list. Atwood was also representing Little Simon Inspirations, the children's religion division of Simon & Schuster, which has a special deal with heavyweight author Max Lucado to blurb on every book cover in the line. "Little Simon is also bringing unique formats to the CBA, like touch-and-feel, die cuts, and the like," said Atwood. "They've looked at formats that have worked in the mainstream and adapted them for biblical content."
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