Sacred Presents All Year Round
Cindy Crosby -- 7/10/00
Christian publishers find increased profits from a vast array of gift books
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Note Bene |
At a time when many evangelical Christian publishing houses and retailers are bemoaning the diminished share of bookstore shelf space for books in relation to sidelines, gifts and music, both publishers and retailers are finding success with a hybrid--the gift book--that is experiencing steady growth. The quality and visual appeal of inspirational gift books keep getting better, retailers say, as publishers become more savvy about finding new markets and capitalizing on holiday themes, art, name authors and unique formats.
It's a vast, multifaceted category. Defining what is a gift book can be a little like nailing Jell-O to a wall. As one retailer put it, "Any book can be a gift book." Retail categorization reflects this diversity. Tim Way, senior merchandiser of books and Bibles at iBelieve.com, said his Web site breaks gift books into 23 categories. Added-value gift books-- such as Barbour's The Bible Promise Book, packaged with a praise and worship CD, and Peter Pauper Press's Charming Petites series, which come with gold-charm bookmarks attached--blur the lines even more. Many gift books aren't even merchandised with other books. Instead, they are often paired with framed art on slat wall, displayed in holiday gift sections or propped up next to related licensed giftware.
 | Artwork is the draw for these titles from
Baker, Tyndale, and Nelson. |
Despite their hard-to-define status, retailers and publishers in the inspirational market agree the category is growing. Jack Countryman, executive v-p of J. Countryman, one of the hottest CBA gift book publishers, reports that he has a projected sales budget of $20 million for this fiscal year and sold approximately 4 million books in 1999. Howard Publishing, with its two popular series, Heartlifters and Hugs, did 65% of its total volume in gift books this year, up from 35% last year, according to v-p Gary Myers.
Growth for the category reflects the buying power of female customers aged 25 and up who want to purchase a gift for a friend or family member but are indecisive about what to buy. "Gift books are a great impulse item," said Dave McShea, merchandiser of books, Bibles and software for the Parable Group, which has 330 independent member-stores. And as Lemstone book-buyer Jeremy Potter observed, "Handing a friend a 250-page novel is a riskier gift idea than giving them a nice decorative book for their coffee table." Potter told PW that in the first five months of this year, Lemstone, which has 70 nationwide mall-based franchises that are heavily focused on gifts, did 14% of its book sales in gift books, with books as a total category accounting for about 25% of its business. "Last year during the same period, gift books were about 11% of book sales," Potter said, adding that J. Countryman gift books account for a whopping 45% of Lemstone's total gift book sales. Mark Scott, president of LifeWay, whose 90 stores make it the second largest Christian chain, also noted increased sales in gift books.
From CBA to ABA
CBA stores are far from being the only outlets for Christian gift books, however. CBA publishers say evangelical Christians are also shopping for gift books in general-interest chain bookstores, warehouse clubs and discounters, as well as online, and publishers believe they are picking up "seeker" customers through these channels, too. "There are a lot of people out there with a hunger for God," said Mark Gilroy, v-p and associate publisher at Honor Books. He estimates that 65% to 70% of Honor's gift books are sold outside traditional CBA channels. Jack Countryman told PW that only about 35% of his company's books are sold through Christian bookstores, with the rest channeled through general venues such as Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and general bookstores. Baker Book House sales and marketing director Dave Lewis estimates that 40% of its gift books are sold to mass merchandisers and 10% to general-interest chains and independents, while the remaining half are sold in the CBA market.
 | Popular gifts for men
from Honor and Word. |
At Zondervan, where gift books account for 15% of sales volume, an estimated 60% of those sales are to the general market, including mass merchandisers, and 40% to CBA retailers. "There is a general hunger in society for inspiration and spirituality, and an increased emphasis on family values and relationships," noted Caroline Blauwkamp, senior v-p and publisher for Zondervan Gifts. The phenomenal Left Behind series has given Tyndale House an entrée into the general market for its gift books, The Art of God by Ric Ergenbright (1999) and Beyond Words by Ron Dicianni (1998). That has included placements in Sam's Club, general bookstores, Wal-Mart and Kmart, said Everett O'Bryan, director of trade sales at Tyndale. Tyndale expects to do $600,000 in gift books by the end of fiscal year 1999-2000.
Waldenbooks spokesperson Linda Caine said she expects CBA inspirational gift books to be a growth area for the 900-store chain as publishers "soften" the look of their product lines to make them more mainstream. Gift books for teens appeal to Waldenbooks' customers, she said, and CBA publishers are offering more gift books for this market. She prefers an impulse price point of less than $15, and d s well with gift books from Nelson, J. Countryman and Zondervan. General independent book buyer Lyn Dulkinys at Anderson's in Naperville, Ill., said she is interested in carrying more from CBA publishers and expanding the store's market reach by carrying additional religious/inspirational gift books. The store has successfully sold J. Countryman gift books from a J. Countryman wooden spinner rack and also d s well with gift books by Emilie Barnes from Harvest House.
Baker Book House has netted rewards with a strategy of buying endcap space at Books-A-Million, Borders and Barnes & Noble for its inspirational gift books, such as the perennial bestselling Helen Steiner Rice titles. Lewis and Baker emphasized the importance of having an assortment of books of the same trim size and at the same price point.
Other promising alternative venues for books include QVC, where WaterBrook Press v-p Doug Gabbert said interest has been high in A Southern-Style Christmas, edited by Lucinda Secrest McDowell (Sept.), from its recently acquired Harold Shaw imprint. Another sales channel--book clubs--has been lucrative for Honor Books, which moved more than 70,000 copies of The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by C. Michael Dudash (1999), through one Crossings Christmas catalogue advertising placement last year, according to Honor's Gilroy. A new family gift edition releases this September. An exploding sales channel for at least one CBA publisher is traditional gift stores. Julie McKinney, v-p of marketing at Harvest House, said her company has gone from having no gift store accounts five years ago, to an astonishing 17,000 accounts, by reaching them through reps in gift marts. Harvest House v-p of editorial Carolyn McCready said customers are often looking for a gift book that reflects their lifestyle, so Harvest House often partners with artists who license their art to companies that make complementary products. Countryman also said his company is branching out into the gift store market, and he anticipates strong sales.
Crossing over can go the other way, too. General trade publishers who want a slice of the CBA retail pie have gotten into CBA bookstores by developing a targeted group of gift books for that customer base, rather than just offering one or two religious titles. In January of 1999, Peter Pauper Press launched its line of Charming Petites: 80-page, 3¼-in.-by-4-in. hardcover gift books with a 24K gold-plated charm on a ribbon bookmark. Retailing at $4.95, the Charming Petites series seeks to complement the company's Inspire Books line. "To break into the CBA market, you have to invest time and effort into a dedicated line of products, or you won't be able to cross over," said president Laurence Beilenson. Growth has been slow, but Beilenson said he is committed to the concept--Peter Pauper will have a booth at the CBA International convention this year for the first time. He also noted that the inspirational line is selling at Barnes & Noble "to an extent we didn't expect."
The Look of the Book
 | Inspirational offerings from
J. Countryman and Peter Pauper (l.) |
Appealing art, specific themes and familiar authors all propel sales of inspirational gift books. When J. Countryman paired the gift book format with bestselling author Max Lucado in Grace for the Moment (Mar.),it moved more than 100,000 copies in three months. Bob Munce, president of the 503-member Munce Marketing Group, said gift book collections by a single author such as Max Lucado and Helen Steiner Rice "fly off the shelves." Munce member stores are also finding that holiday-themed gift books are experiencing steady growth, and friendship, graduation and series books are selling well.
Tying gift books to the framed art images that sell well in CBA stores has been a winner for Baker Book House, according to Lewis. In this tradition, Baker hopes to capitalize on the popularity of Mill Pond Press's framed nature art by Carl Brenders in its fall release Song of Creation (Aug.). Potter at Lemstone said he expects Baker's The Image of Christ (Aug.) featuring the artwork of Morgan Weistling to be hot because of the success of his framed wall art in their stores; Parable will also feature it in their advertising this fall. Artwork by C. Michael Dudash is also key in the sales of Honor Books' The Quiet Little Woman, which has sold 300,000 copies in less than a year, according to Jason Anzalone, Honor marketing manager.
The biggest art/gift book success story in the CBA marketplace is well-known artist Thomas Kinkade, who has been publishing for the past two years in the CBA arena exclusively with Thomas Nelson. Publisher Rolf Zettersten said the company has sold more than a million units of its Kinkade titles, and although some CBA retailers have complained that Kinkade product is "over-saturated," Zettersten believes the market "has not even peaked."
iBelieve.com's Way said he is planning on heavily promoting Advent this year--the site will feature Crossway Books' high-end gift title The Advent Book by Jack and Kathy Stockman, which releases in September. The oversized book features a different decorated pop-out door on each page with art by Jack Stockman. "It's a unique heirloom we expect families to use every year," said Crossway's v-p of sales and marketing Randy Jahns.
Men's Books Spike Sales
At last! A gift for the man who has everything. According to CBA publishers and CBA and general market retailers, women customers are voting with their discretionary dollars for sports-themed inspirational gift books as presents for the men in their lives. Cha-ching!
Mimi Fonseca, book buyer at the three Seattle-area Evangel bookstores, is excited about Honor Books' Heart of a Champion series, which launches in July with Passion for the Game by Steve Riach. Fonseca plans to advertise it and other illustrated golf-themed books--such as Broadman & Holman's The Master's Touch by Ted Sprague, with paintings by Larry Dyke (Aug.), and Harvest Houses's Where the Grass is Always Greener compiled Terry Glaspey with paintings by Donny Finley (June)--in the store's consumer catalogues.
"Sports books are working very well--this country is sports nuts," said Jack Countryman. J. Countryman's Spirit of a Champion will launch as a brand at CBA Expo in January 2001, with all of its previously published sports books--In His Grip by Jim Sheard and Wally Armstrong (1997); Hooked For Life by Jimmy Houston (1999); The Driving Force by Mike Hembree (Jan.) and Finishing the Course by Jim Sheard and Wally Armstrong (May)--coming under that umbrella, along with calendars and future sports titles.
A Space of Their Own
For publishers, the challenge is not just getting their gift books into a store, it's also getting them merchandised well. Barb Porter, manager of The Galilean, a mall store in suburban Houston that d s about $1 million a year in sales, said almost all of her gift book sales are generated from titles displayed face-out. When faced out, her best gift books turn an average of 10 times per month, and about 30 times per month during the Christmas season.
Craig Stoll, book buyer for the privately owned Mardel chain, dealt with his gift book display problems in a radical way when he completely overhauled his inspirational gift book section this spring to give selected titles more space. Mardel's 15 Christian superstores dropped a third of their gift book titles, either returning them or moving them into a new category slot elsewhere. Stoll now focuses on the best titles, faces them out, and carries them in depth. He expects this reorganization will result in growth for the category. Scott at LifeWay said he predicts growth in the chain's gift books will be slower than it should be because of display restrictions. The challenge for publishers will be to find a way to help retailers face out their gift book product in a limited amount of space or to provide display units that take up a minimum of sales floor area.
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