Sales Results In for Christian Publishers, Retailers

by Heidi Schlumpf, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 11/8/2006

While pols and pundits are busy analyzing the numbers from yesterday's midterm elections, Christian book publishers and retailers have their own data to mine for trends, projections and predictions. The annual Christian Retail Trends Report from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) will be officially released this week and is currently available for download at the association's web site (www.ecpa.org).

Although the details of the report—which uses data collected from 1,000 Christian retail outlets across the country—are confidential, ECPA told RBL the forecast is generally sunny. "Religious books continue to be one of the strongest categories across the board, and Christian books, in general, is still a very strong category," said Michael Covington, ECPA's director of information and education. "We also are seeing an increase in breadth, in expanding beyond the most well-known categories."

Covington noted that other reports showing that sales have dropped may have only represented bigger publishing houses, which, without a blockbuster like The Prayer of Jabez or The Purpose-Driven Life, could inaccurately indicate a downturn. And since October was softer in general for all retail, any flattening of numbers for that month would be the result of a general decrease in consumer confidence, not a decline specifically in Christian publishing, he said.

This is the second year that ECPA has teamed with Simba Information to gather data from STATS (Sales Tracking Analysis Trends Summary), which provides detailed breakdowns by categories of books, Bibles, and related products. Next year the data will come from Pubtrack, which will offer even more comprehensive information as well as the opportunity for peer-to-peer communication.

Available to publishers who sell to the Christian market, the report is for sale in two formats: $695 for the print version or $595 for the PDF. Christian retailers receive a special rate of $149 for either version. ECPA members who purchase the report also will have the opportunity to participate in an e-seminar with industry veteran Jim Seybert. "Listening by the Numbers: The Story Behind the 2005-06 Christian Retail Trends Report" will be online from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 11. To register, go to www.ecpa.org.