A book examining the biblical underpinnings of The Da Vinci Code and the release of the second title in the Biblezine line helped to drive sales up 17.2%, to $49 million, at Thomas Nelson for the first quarter ended June 30. Net income jumped to $1.9 million from $1.1 million. Nelson chairman Sam Moore said the two bestselling titles in the period were Darrell L. Bock's Breaking the Da Vinci Code and Refuel, a full-text version of the New Testament in magazine format.
The success of Refuel,combined with strong backlist sales, helped make Bibles the fastest-growing division at Nelson in the quarter, Moore said. Nelson president Michael Hyatt noted that while Nelson sold eight million Bibles in fiscal 2004, there is "lots of room for growth" in the segment. The company's third Biblezine, Becoming, was released in mid-June and there are plans for more titles, Hyatt said.
The fastest-growing market channel in the quarter was general bookstores, which had a 26% sales increase. International sales rose 23%; sales through mass merchandisers and direct mail both rose 14%; and sales to the CBA market increased 7%. Hyatt noted that Nelson's lines are drawing increased interest from supermarkets.
Executives didn't give a detailed financial forecast for fiscal 2005 other than to say they expect a good year. Hyatt said Nelson will face difficult comparisons in the second quarter, but should do well in the second half of the fiscal year. Moore said that after two years of focusing on improving profits, Nelson is now looking to speed top-line growth. Moore added he is "hopeful" strong sales gains will continue throughout the year, though he said it was unlikely Nelson could sustain the 17% sales gain achieved in the first quarter.
Will End WND Deal
One of the first agreements Nelson entered into to broaden its list beyond religion won't be renewed. Nelson and WND are ending their two-year-old license that produced Michael Savage's bestsellers and a number of conservative and libertarian titles.
Nelson and WorldNetDaily won't continue their marketing and naming agreement after 2004. But Nelson will continue its book program and expects to announce a new name soon. The WorldNetDaily site will begin publishing its own books under the WND Books name after the contract expires. Nelson will continue to hold all rights to the backlist.
"We just didn't feel it brought that much value for what we had to pay," said Nelson's David Dunham, who is publisher of the WND Books imprint. "We're not going to break stride at all; the only thing that's going to change is the name." The original agreement had Nelson paying WorldNetDaily to help acquire authors and promote books on the site. In return, WorldNetDaily editor and CEO Joseph Farah sat on the imprint's editorial board, and the imprint put out a number of books by WorldNetDaily columnists.
Shortly after the quarter closed, Nelson announced the appointment of Mark Schoenwald to the new post of chief sales officer. Schoenwald will oversee Nelson's sales efforts through all trade channels and report to Hyatt. He was most recently president of New Creative Enterprises, a supplier of gift, garden and home décor products.
