At the 12th annual Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit, held in suburban Chicago May 27—30, the mood was upbeat. The show—which primarily serves Catholic and Episcopal booksellers—has been able to piggyback on a Chicago BEA for much of its history, but the move of that convention this year to L.A. seems not to have affected the smaller show. According to RBTE president Bob Byrns, this year's exhibit was sold out in early April, with 152 companies registering, 72 of them publishers. Overall attendance topped 825, with 194 stores and 293 buyers.
Michelle Rapkin, director of the Religion Publishing Group at Doubleday, was pressed into service writing orders at the booth. "I have not been to this show in eight years, and I had forgotten what a book-loving crowd this is," she said. Many publishers reported that floor traffic was no better and no worse than in previous years. "Traffic has been average; I don't think it's exceptional, but it's fine," observed Mike Leach, publisher of Orbis Books. "It doesn't take a lot of orders to cover our expenses. The show doesn't cost that much, and the core market for the mainstream religious books is right here. We couldn't do without the RBTE." There were some sizeable orders, with the largest one reported to PW being a $70,000 purchase of Liguori products by a major Catholic distributor.
Publishers reported different responses to current economic conditions. Paraclete Press expects its profits to remain flat this year, while Orbis reported healthy profits fueled by several $25 hardcover frontlist titles that have sold more than 10,000 copies each. The general mood was optimistic, with several publishers and retailers noting that the past couple of months have been much stronger than the lean winter season. (This might reflect the fact that April and May are heavy gift-buying months in liturgical stores, with First Communions and other spring events.) "Sales are flat but rising," said Elizabeth Wirls, manager of the Episcopal Bookshop in Memphis. "We've been very careful in our buying and have trimmed costs, and we've had a good year."
News and Changes
At the show, Paraclete unveiled the Paraclete Fiction Award, which will recognize an outstanding novel with Christian themes by a previously unpublished writer. The contest will begin next year, with the winner snagging a $2,000 advance and a contract from Paraclete.
The Catholic Book Publishers Association launched its CatholicsRead program, which was inspired by the successful One Book, One Chicago initiative and will be up and running in the fall. The program will encourage Catholics across the country to read three books of the Bible each year, with choices tied to the liturgical cycle. The association's 85 member publishers can then submit titles related to those biblical books or on themes associated with them (like suffering for the Book of Job, one of the three choices for next year). The books will be promoted on the Web site (www.catholicsread.org), at bookstores and in direct mailings to parishes. "We want there to be a community aspect to reading," said Mike Raffio, a CBPA board member.
Paulist Press announced a new direction for its trade-oriented spirituality imprint, HiddenSpring. Jan-Erik Guerth, founder and director of HiddenSpring, will not be returning after this year. HiddenSpring's new path may be more Catholic and less catholic: managing editor Paul McMahon said that the decision reflects a desire to "continue with a Catholic emphasis for the general trade," a strategy that seems to have been most effective for Catholic houses. Some of the imprint's strongest titles, he explained, are those with clear Catholic roots (Francis of Assisi; The Age of the Cloister), while more universal spirituality books have not fared as well. (One such title, Sacred Water, has had returns as dismal as 60%.) HiddenSpring will continue as its own imprint, but editorial duties will be shared by the existing Paulist editors.
Another change was confirmed at the show. According to Peter Dwyer, director of Liturgical Press and cofounder of RBTE, Cistercian Publications and Liturgical are working on a marketing alliance, the details of which may be announced as soon as the fall.
Episcopal Furor
This spring, Church Publishing, the publishing division of the Episcopal Church, attracted the ire of booksellers when it announced a 4% handling fee in addition to shipping charges. At the show, the good news was that Church Publishing rescinded its proposed surcharge, but the bad news was that it simultaneously announced a product price increase that it planned to implement June 10, but has delayed until July 1. Nancy Marshall, president of the Episcopal Booksellers Association and owner of Episcopal Bookstore in Seattle, said that the standoff is the culmination of a long history of conflicts between the church publisher and Episcopal retailers. "They're not book people," she said, noting that the publishing division is staffed by financial types who oversee other programs of the church. "They know nothing about the publishing industry, and they're trying to learn."
Other publishers may pick up the slack if Church Publishing's pricing strategies continue to prove unpopular. Although the company holds exclusive rights to the hymnal and other church resources, its bread-and-butter product, the Book of Common Prayer, is in the public domain. Hargis Thomas, director of sales and marketing for Bibles at Oxford, reported that at least one retailer has switched loyalties for her BCP orders: a Florida store owner mistook the New York house for Church Publishing and gave Oxford booth staff a piece of her mind about discounts. Once convinced she was griping at the wrong company, she "promptly came back and placed her order from us," said Thomas. He reported that Oxford has worked hard for years to cultivate relationships with Episcopal booksellers and has seen that pay off this year in "steady growth in our sales of prayer books."
Almost all publishers said that BEA's move was not a problem, noting that the liturgical stores that frequent RBTE don't often have a reason to attend the larger show. Publishers who exhibited at both shows, including Doubleday, Harper San Francisco, Baker and Continuum, sent staff members to each.
