Book Publishing News 06/23/17

Do You Have the Swagger of a Buffalo?

During our trip out West to Yellowstone I was struck by how confident bison are. They graze near roads, relax next to fire hydrants, and seem unconcerned with how they disrupt traffic. When you’re big and strong you can act with confidence. May God give you His peace, protection, and strength to move with confidence against the disruptive forces in your life. ~ EJ

Christian Fiction Keeps Its Allure

Despite some challenges, the category keeps drawing in publishers—and readers

“Publishing Christian fiction can pay, and pay big, but it’s harder than ever to succeed in the category, publishers say. Many companies have abandoned Christian fiction in recent years and others have cut title output, which can make it seem as though the market is contracting. While Christian fiction seems to be healthy and even growing slightly, just three publishers now take almost half the market,” write Lynn Garrett of Publishers Weekly. “And just a few authors—such as Karen Kingsbury (Brush of Wings) and Wm. Paul Young (The Shack)—tend to dominate sales. In 2017, the prolific Kingsbury has two new titles coming, and, with a just-released movie version of The Shack, Young is doing a booming backlist business. Read the full article.

Record Few Americans Believe Bible Is Literal Word of God

Story Highlights

  • 24% believe Bible is literal word of God, the lowest in Gallup’s 40-year trend
  • View of Bible as secular stories and history at 26%, up from 21% in 2014
  • The largest segment, 47%, still think Bible is inspired word of God

“Fewer than one in four Americans (24%) now believe the Bible is “the actual word of God, and is to be taken literally, word for word,” similar to the 26% who view it as “a book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” This is the first time in Gallup’s four-decade trend that biblical literalism has not surpassed biblical skepticism. Meanwhile, about half of Americans — a proportion largely unchanged over the years — fall in the middle, saying the Bible is the inspired word of God but that not all of it should be taken literally.” Read the full story.

Is Mass Market Dying, Or Just Evolving—Again?

“Shelf space for mass market books has indeed continued to shrink in the mass merchandise accounts,” said Jennifer Long, associate publisher at Pocket Books. “This has had little impact on top-tier authors, as they are still given shelf space; however, it does present a challenge for lesser known authors.”

“In steady decline for years, the format is either enduring an incredibly slow death or has begun to right itself in the market,” writes Rachel Deah of Publishers Weekly. “Although the reports of mass market’s death have been greatly exaggerated, the format has been struggling. According to NPD BookScan, which tracks roughly 80% of print sales, mass market titles accounted for 13% of total print units sold in 2013; that figure dropped to 9% last year.” Read the full article.