This year's Christian Booksellers Association's International (June 26—July 1) opened in an Atlanta literally overflowing with religion. Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor of the huge Potter's House church in Dallas (which claims 28,000 members) and bestselling author of The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord and other books, held his first-ever Mega Fest convocation June 23—27. Drawing more than 130,000 attendees, Mega Fest generated lots of excitement, as well as crowding and long lines for taxis and food for CBAers gathering for pre-convention meetings and events.

Christian publishers at the show were basking in the glow of hot-selling titles and unprecedented media attention. Among those featured at Mega Fest was Joyce Meyer, author of more than 50 books and a popular Christian TV personality. Her current publisher, the four-year-old Warner Faith imprint, took advantage of the overlapping events to announce a 56% increase in revenue so far this year, attributing much of that growth to its acquisition last year of Meyer and her backlist. Warner Faith noted it sold 1.4 million copies of Meyer's books over the past year.

Other publishers with reason to be happy included Zondervan, publisher of The Purpose-Driven Life (17 million and counting)—which won ECPA's Kip Jordan Book of the Year Award (voted by retailers as the book they most enjoyed selling) for the second year in a row—and Thomas Nelson, which had a strong gain in earnings in fiscal 2004. Two-year-old Integrity Publishers, headed by former Nelson exec Byron Williamson, has shipped more than 500,000 copies of Max Lucado's It's Not About Me and more than 400,000 copies of Pat Robertson's The Ten Offenses.

The picture for Christian booksellers is less encouraging. This past January, CBA released figures showing that 271 "unique Christian stores" had closed in 2003, and though figures are not yet available for this year, everyone's guess is that store attrition has not yet leveled off. While Christian publishers are enjoying record sales through multiplying sales channels, Christian booksellers are staggering under the weight of increased competition. "As more people want to buy these books, more people want to sell them," said CBA president Bill Anderson, who told PW that the number of member stores stands at 2,407, down from last July's 2,431 but up from January's count of 2,370. However, CBA counts multiple outlets of chains, and when asked how many of the member stores were indies, Anderson estimated 1,600. (The conventional wisdom puts the total number of Christian stores nationwide at about 3,000, though most industry experts put the number of "viable" independent stores at no more than 1,000.)

This year, CBA reported 3,816 "professional attendees" (total attendees minus youth and exhibitors) at International, compared to 3,071 last year. There were 207 exhibiting publishers (209 last year), but 100 fewer booth spaces, according to Anderson, though much of the loss appears to have been among music exhibitors, who were a much less dominating presence on the show floor than in years past. Exhibitors once again significantly downsized staff at the show, bringing 973 fewer people than in 2003, a year that had already seen a reduction by 1,000 of attending staff.

Publishers who spoke with PW noted good traffic and were pleased with the show overall. Larry Carpenter, president of distributor FaithWorks, said, "We've been nonstop the whole show"; Nelson Books publisher Jonathan Merkh said, "It's been a busy show for us." Most publishers also had a positive response to the earlier dates for this year's show. Anderson said that while dates for 2005 are firm (July 10—14), he is working on moving up the show after that.

Reacting to complaints about the length of the show, CBA announced that instead of requiring exhibitors to set up on Saturday and wait until Monday (honoring CBA's decision not to schedule any work-related activities on the Sabbath), next year they will be allowed to set up on Sunday. Jennifer Lynch, marketing manager for Paraclete Press, was one of many publishers who praised the change, noting that the Sunday setup will save money and lower the hassle factor. Anderson said CBA was not planning to shorten the length of the show, but he pointed to another change, the "soft close."

Publishers will be permitted to leave their booths by 5:30 (instead of 6 p.m.). Those with booth visitors will be allowed to stay, but no one will be allowed onto the floor after 5:30. "We'll also have a late opening on Monday—they don't have to be at the booth until 10 a.m., but they can see folks by appointment only from 8 to 10 a.m.," Lynch said.

The next two conventions will return to Denver for the first time since 1995.