Booksellers breakdown

2009 Books Issue | Technological innovations plus economic uncertainty equal transitions in Christian book market | Warren Cole Smith

Associated Press/Photo by Ed Andrieski

Economy-watchers expect overall U.S. retail sales for the first half of 2009 to be about 10 percent below sales for the first six months of 2008. The Christian book publishing industry will probably not be hit as hard, but jitters nonetheless abound. Mark Kuyper, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), says, "People are guarding their wallets," yet he notes that Christian authors have "more ways than ever before to reach people."

The economic decline and the growth of electronic book devices such as Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader are causing the Christian retail industry to reexamine its business model. The largest trade show in the Christian world, the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), run by the Christian Booksellers Association, will open on July 12 in Denver to significantly lower numbers—of both vendors and attendees. The decline is part of a long-term trend in ICRS attendance. The ECPA this year pioneered a competing show in March, the Christian Book Expo Dallas 2009, aimed more at the consumer. It was so poorly attended that it will either be significantly re-tooled or scrapped for 2010.