Trade Houses Find More Religion

by Lynn Garrett and Jana Reiss with reporting by Daisy Maryles -- Publishers Weekly, 7/17/2006

If there was any doubt that mainstream trade houses view the religion publishing market as a major growth opportunity they were dispelled at last week's International Christian Retail Show. In addition to major exhibits from HarperCollins/Zondervan and Hachette's FaithWords, S&S had a major contingent and the big buzz of the show was the possible acquisition of Multnomah Publishers by Random House.

Multnomah president and publisher Don Jacobson confirmed that he has an agreement to sell, but is likely to keep the buyer secret until the deal is completed, probably at the end of the month. Random Inc. spokesperson Stuart Applebaum, had no comment on the possible deal, though he acknowledged the publisher is committed to expanding in the religious area.

Multnomah had a huge hit five years ago with The Prayer of Jabez, which sold more than eight million copies in 2001. But plans to expand were abandoned after heavy returns. Still, Multnomah has a rich backlist of more than 600 titles.

But while religion publishers are benefiting from the growth of new and multiple retail channels, independent CBA booksellers are struggling in a very competitive marketplace; the show's attendance reflects that. CBA reported attendance down 9% across the board—retailers, exhibitors and others—to 9,133 from 9,986 last year, continuing a trend of decline (CBA drew 10,969 in 2004). CBA president Bill Anderson attributed the lower attendance to the western location, the repeat year in Denver and "the economic realities in our industry." International attendance was also down, to 734 from 851 in 2005, the result, some exhibitors said, of the greater difficulty in getting visas from some countries. Anderson said he expects attendance to rise next year as the show moves to Atlanta (July 8–12), "closer to the bulk of [CBA] membership in the southeast." CBA membership also continues to decline, to 2,144 from 2,206 last year.

The S&S staff at the show included Carolyn Reidy, president of S&S Adult, and Mark Gompertz, executive v-p, publisher of Touchstone/Fireside, in town to meet with Howard Publishing, the religion house acquired by S&S earlier this year (PW, Feb. 20). Gompertz noted that S&S is planning to announce a new "mini-imprint," Touchstone Faith, which will publish some of the books it acquires jointly with Howard.

S&S and Howard are already promoting each other's books in their catalogues: S&S titles like The Joy of Cooking 75th Anniversary Edition and Naomi's Guide to Aging Gratefully will work well in the CBA market and will be in Howard's catalogue. Howard titles like Pinocchio Parenting and Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World are in a separate new S&S Books of Christian Interest catalogue, which was available at ICRS.