Low Canadian Dollar Exceeded 2016 Forecast
When the value of the Canadian dollar against its U.S. counterpart started dropping noticeably in the first quarter of 2016, economists predicted some recovery to happen before or after Christmas. We now know that didn’t happen.
In an industry where list prices are determined by conversion rates, it’s easy to say that a better dollar might kickstart better sales. That’s true in many cases, particularly some higher price books (i.e. $17.99 and $18.99US paperback titles) and also some lower priced items (i.e. some $3.99US things that work at $4.99CAD but start to look overpriced at $5.50CAD). But it also true that some of the most significant bankruptcies and closures in Canada happened when our dollar was high.
Remember, a low U.S. dollar would immediately devalue much of your existing inventory, especially things purchased in the last 15-16 months.
Be careful what you wish for. A slow movement back to something like a 1.2500 conversion rate would be nice. But don’t skimp on inventory waiting for something which might not happen.
Instead, shop for deals and packages which qualify you for extra discount points. Consider discounting some product yourself in-store, rather than waiting for a distributor flyer. And seriously consider empowering your sales associates to have some power to barter. Yes, I know that’s scary! But we do it in our store with one employee and have yet to regret it.
The idea is to keep customers coming and keep them satisfied!
42: The Right Guy in the Right Place at the Right Time
I’m not a sports guy. If you read my other blog, you’ll know that it’s usually a full year goes by before something sports related appears in the Wednesday Link List.
But in 2013, reading Seven Men and the Secrets of their Greatness by Eric Metaxas, I found myself captivated by the chapter on Jackie Robinson; to the point that it was the only chapter in the book I read twice. For any other non-sports readers here, Wikipedia explains that Robinson was,
…an American professional baseball second baseman who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers, by signing Robinson, heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
This was a gamble that simply had to work. Before even completing the review of Metaxas’ book, I wrote this brief synopsis of that chapter:
The essence of Metaxas’ take on Robinson is that without his strong faith in Jesus Christ, and the shared faith of the manager who signed him — first to a farm team, and then as the first African-American in Major League Baseball — the story would not have happened as swiftly as it did. Both parties knew that if they failed, there might not be another opportunity for another few years or even a decade. Why the faith element was so important is something I’ll save for the review, if I don’t decide it’s a spoiler. Suffice it say that whoever was going to break the professional baseball color barrier needed to be a special person.
My friend Jeff Snow however is a rabid baseball aficionado. He’s also a pastor and youth and young adults worker whose writing has appeared at Thinking Out Loud in the series we ran twice on the impact of divorce on teens. So when Thomas Nelson released 42 Faith: The Rest of the Jackie Robinson Story by Ed Henry a few weeks ago, Jeff was at the front of the line to buy a copy. I asked him if he could share his impressions.
I finished 42 Faith last week. I really enjoyed it. First, some minor quibbles: It tries a little too hard to find faith where there isn’t really strong evidence from the situation, and the book meanders a bit. Also, the author interjects himself into the story; a chapter may start with him describing how he met a 90 year old former teammate of Robinson over breakfast to discuss Robinson.
The interesting thing for me as someone who has read widely about Robinson is that he uses sources that up to this point have not been touched on much, including correspondence filed in the Library of Congress and an unpublished manuscript Robinson wrote in the sixties that was supposed to be part of a series of book for young people where he talked about the importance of faith in detail.
Another positive part is that most of the evidence the author uses to back up his contentions are first person quotes from either Robinson or Branch Rickey, the other main character in the story.
The author’s contention is that, along with other considerations, that faith in God played a large role in motivating first Rickey in wanting to sign Robinson as the first African-American player in the major leagues, and in motivating Robinson to see this opportunity as divinely guided and as an opportunity to do what God put him on earth to do.
It’s hard to say how someone who has no clue about this story would enjoy the book. The meandering might throw them off. But I think anyone who has an interest in baseball, in the civil rights movement and social justice, or who enjoys inspiring true stories, would enjoy it.
Karen Kingsbury Receives Honorary Doctorate from Liberty U
On Friday, May 12th as part of the Baccalaureate Ceremony, an honorary Doctor of Letters degree was conferred on Christian fiction author Karen Kingsbury by Liberty University in Virginia, the school founded by Jerry Falwell. (See this link for a 45-second video) This degree, according to Wikipedia, “in some countries, may be considered to be beyond the Ph.D. and equal to the Doctor of Science.”
Karen is an Adjunct Professor at the school, and four of her five sons are Liberty alumni. For the full introduction by David Nasser and acceptance by Karen to the school and graduating class, go to 31:31 in the video below and watch to 37:20.
Liberty News reported that at the same ceremony:
Five individuals received honorary doctorates during the service. Wallace and Eleanor Turnbull were presented with honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees for their missional work in Haiti and their many years of work with Haitian Liberty students through the Turnbull Foundation. New York Times best-selling author Karen Kingsbury received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree not only for her prolific works, which have been adapted for television and film, but for how she has impacted the Liberty student body as a parent of Liberty students and as an adjunct professor, teaching master classes on English, writing, publishing, and research. Campus pastor and Senior Vice President of Spiritual Development David Nasser received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree and was recognized for his years of successful ministry and for leading Liberty’s student body in missions and service. [James] Robison was also presented an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.
As We Celebrate Canada 150, A Look at Religious Freedom Here
A few months ago we suggested stores consider doing a display feature of Canadian authors to tie in with Canada 150 celebrations. A recent comment alerted us to a book written specifically for the occasion. A follow up with the author resulted us receiving the press release below which we’re passing on as submitted with a few adjustments for times and dates.
CANADA 150 BOOK TACKLES RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND THE CHURCH IN CANADA
Word Alive Press recently announced the release of its newest title in the Great Canadian Author series, Under Siege: Religious Freedom and the Church in Canada at 150 (1867-2017).
In his first book, author Don Hutchinson draws on over three decades of church leadership, constitutional law and public policy experience to offer valuable insight into the Christian Church and into today’s Canada.
Hutchinson’s storyteller style delivers a book designed for everyone interested in the challenges and opportunities of religious freedom in Canada.
Hutchinson studied history and politics at Queen’s University and law at the University of British Columbia. Following fifteen years in leadership with The Salvation Army, he consulted with World Vision Canada and others before serving seven and a half years with The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, including as Vice-President, General Legal Counsel and Director of the Centre for Faith and Public Life in Ottawa, where he made several appearances before parliamentary committees and the Supreme Court of Canada.
This book informs and inspires. Canadians who embrace Christianity as a personal faith, a community faith and a faith not to be kept to ourselves will appreciate Hutchinson’s perspective that, “we need to be prepared in our relationship with Christ, and the nation in which we live, to stand publicly in our faith as witnesses to Him whom we live for. One key to that preparation is engaging fully our commitment to Christ, His Church, and His Word (the Bible). Another is being accurately aware of how Canadian courts are defining what the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms refers to as the ‘fundamental freedom’ of freedom of religion.” (Under Siege, page 45)
Many Christians sense that an advancing secularism is trying to force upon Canadians a culture in which faith is meant to be private. Under Siege presents historic, legal and theological grounds for faith not to be hidden away in private stained-glass closets but instead, for the benefit of Canadian society, shared with confidence in an increasingly contested public square.
National Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Convivium.ca, Father Raymond J. de Souza writes, “Religious freedom has returned to the global agenda in the 21st century, ‘under siege’ from both religious and secular extremists. Don Hutchinson is uniquely situated to tell the story, and it’s a story that urgently needs to be told.”
Brian C. Stiller, global ambassador for the World Evangelical Alliance, adds, “Don Hutchinson in Under Siege walks us through the critical issues of freedom of religion in a country where one might naively assume its record is stellar. His message is that there is always the need for vigilance. In a time when the secular assumption that faith will soon ebb away carries with it a belief there is no need to protect its freedom, this book advises the opposite. A timely and wise warning.”
A public book launch took place on May 3rd at Cardus in Ottawa…
304 page paperback – ISBN 9781486614523 – $22.99 in Canada
Distribution for retailers by Word Alive/Anchor Distributors
For more information visit: www.donhutchinson.ca
55 Years of Tyndale House Publishing
We originally ran this in May 2012, so if we’re doing the math correctly, this is Tyndale’s 55th Anniversary year. Here it is with minor updates.
As the story goes, Ken Taylor wrote Living Letters on a commuter train to read to his kids in their nightly family Bible story time. Armed with yellow lined paper and a copy of the NRSV, he restated the text in words they could relate to.
And a whole lot of other people related to those words, too. When nobody was interested in a publishing deal, Ken formed Tyndale House Publishers which turns 50 — now 55 in 2017 — this year. An endorsement from Billy Graham of Living Letters and later Living Gospels and later Living Psalms and Proverbs followed.
I have a threefold relationship with the company that’s identified in my internal systems simply as TYN.
- I’m a longtime consumer. We share the same values and I respect their product integrity. Readers of my two other blogs will note that when I need a go-to translation for a scripture, my preference is NLT. My take-to-church Bible is also a large print NLT.
- I’m a blogger. Tyndale, Nelson and Zondervan have been most generous with print review copies, and though I haven’t done much with Tyndale product in the past year, I appreciate the opportunity that exists.
- I’m a retailer. At this point, I’m prepared to say; “Two out of three ain’t bad.” I don’t let the politics of retail cloud my admiration for the company’s products, though I really do wish a lot of things were different right now.
So congratulations to Mark Taylor and the rest of the gang at Tyndale. I most sincerely wish you all God’s best in the years to come.
The picture above is from a photo history of the company. Click this link and then click the small boxes under the timeline.
When this first ran I left the “wish a lot of things were different” phrase hanging. That’s not really fair. So 5 years later, here are the things I was thinking about at the time that never made it into the finished article:
- We’re 50% full-service Christian bookstore and 50% Christian book outlet. I wish Tyndale played the remainder game. Our Baker, Nelson, Zondervan, Cook remainders serve to introduce us and our customers to many authors and products we wouldn’t otherwise carry. Many become permanent part of our inventory later on at full price.
- Some of TYN’s nicest Bible cover concepts are [personal opinion to follow] squandered on leather editions of One Year Bible product. I’ve had more than one woman tell me she wants “that one” and then has to be let down when told that it’s scrambled text. I know the OYB brand is a big deal for the company but it doesn’t fare well in my store.
- Again, covers. They do some really cool things but as soon as they’ve arrived they’re discontinued.
- The Canadian distributor’s inventory can be rather thin at times. I love their service when things are in-stock. Not so cool when things backorder.
- I also love special buying opportunities in terms of both SuperSaver pricing (for the customer) or higher discounts (for me). Don’t really see much of this. Sometimes we need to really bend our own pricing to help a small church with a big need. We do get small concessions on discount at times, but are turned down on others. And while “Suck it up; times are tough for everybody;’ may not be the exact word-for-word quotation, it was a sentiment for which I was totally unprepared. [2017 Update: We bought some SDI Bible product recently. We had to take the bad with the good, of course. To me, missing pages in a Bible is a deal-breaker. When you write off what can’t be sold, I’m not sure you’re really ahead.]
Christmas Novels Were Actually Series Starters
I always thought Christmas novels were one-off, stand-alone things that writers threw together as an “extra” title for those who wanted seasonal reading. In other words, the literary equivalent of the musician who books 30 hours of studio time to hastily record some Christmas carols to appease the diehard fans. Are we cynical? Perhaps toward some Christmas CDs.
Recently however, we saw that the book A Baxter Family Christmas by Karen Kingsbury was actually kicking off a series, and now Wanda Brunstetter’s latest, The Farmer’s Market Mishap is actually a sequel to The Lopsided Christmas Cake.
So if, like me you’ve boxed up those titles and placed them in the sea of forgetfulness, never to remember them anymore (a sideways reference to the hymn My Sins are Gone) or at least until late October, you might have customers asking you to dig them up for you so they might read the books in order. (Actually, I had a heads-up with the Baxter Family title, and it’s faster just to order the Christmas Cake book off-season than to try to unpack all those cartons.)
Wanda’s* book releases early June, while Karen’s* Love Story is also scheduled for the same week. Obviously a conspiracy, wouldn’t you say?
*Yes, I’m on a first-name basis with them.
Mainstream Bookstore Notes “Thousandfold” Increase in Bible Sales Over 15 Years
The Saturday print edition of The Toronto Star profiled Squibb’s Stationers in Weston Village noting “it’s Toronto’s self-proclaimed oldest bookstore.” The article by reporter Jackie Hong coincided with the stores 90th anniversary.
Toward the end of the article…
Besides building friendships with customers, [co-owner Suri] Weinberg-Linsky said she’s been able to see trends come and go over the years, many of them unexpected — fountain pens have become a hot commodity again, no one buys ledgers anymore and Harry Potter’s popularity still shows no signs of slowing down — but the most perplexing relates to the explosion of sales for one book in particular.
“In the last 15 or so years, Bible sales have increased probably a thousandfold,” Weinberg-Linsky said. “We don’t go one day without selling at least one Bible . . . Honestly, I wouldn’t even be able to tell you why.”
From our perspective this is interesting on several fronts. First it confirms our observation, supported by anecdotal evidence, that stores like Chapters in Canada and Barnes and Noble in the U.S. are increasingly becoming the default Christian bookstores, especially as such stores close in many markets. B&N has always had a good handle on what “Religion – Christianity” books to stock, but Chapters was always hit-and-miss until about two years ago when their core inventory in this category seemed to undergo positive transformation.
Second however, it raises concerns that, much like shopping online, the customer is not afforded the benefit of experienced sales help in what is a very personal purchase. Most mainstream store associates can’t articulate the nuances of differences between the NLT, ESV or CEB translations, let alone describe the features in various devotional or study editions. Of course this places the onus on us to make sure that even casual part-time staff are well trained in this area. I’m happy that Squibb’s is seeing these sales, but I hope that each Bible is a ‘good fit’ for the intended recipient. Christian bookstores also need to encourage first-time Bible buyers to get in touch by email if there’s anything about their Bible they’re not understanding, and also see if they are connected to a local church or home fellowship.
Finally, on a more positive note, the experience of Squibb’s in Toronto shows that the Bible is very much in demand. In my own small-town store, we easily have about 800 units of Bible product representing at least 550 SKUs. It would be really tempting — especially with shelf space at a premium — to sit back and rest on our existing inventory, but we are always topping up products which make connections with customers. Currently, that includes the value lines of NLT, NIV and Message Bibles and just about anything that’s giant print.
Love the Smell of Books?
Author agent Steve Laube had this on his blog this morning. There’s also a link to a full sized version which you can get by clicking on the image itself below. If you want to go deeper, there’s a full discussion at CompoundChem.com.
Top Ten Books – Part Seven – Thomas Nelson
Let us know if there’s a publisher you’d really like to see here.
Thomas Nelson Top Ten at Spring Arbor – accessed 5/1/17 *
- Jesus Always – Sarah Young
- Magnolia Story – Chip Gaines
- Is This the End? – David Jeremiah
- When God Doesn’t Fix It – Laura Story
- Jesus Calling – Sarah Young **
- I, Isaac Take Thee, Rebekah – Ravi Zacharias
- With – Skye Jethani
- How’s Your Soul? – Judah Smith
- Uninvited – Lysa TerKeurst
- Twelve Extraordinary Women – John MacArthur
When you flip the list over to Ingram demand instead, you get:
- Jesus Always – Sarah Young
- Magnolia Story – Chip Gaines
- Attitude 101 – John Maxwell
- Don’t Settle For Safe – Sarah Jakes Roberts
- 42 Faith: The Rest of the Jackie Robinson Story – Ed Henry
*Regular price trade books. Some titles are hardcover in the U.S. but available in ITPE in Canada. Because of the rolling data system Ingram uses, I’m not sure if accessing the data following a weekend may have skewed results. We can check again on Tuesday.
**We didn’t list the various editions of this book that followed from that point.
Thomas Nelson Top Ten trade titles at CBD – accessed 5/1/17 *
- Jesus Calling – Sarah Young (53%)
- Uninvited – Lysa TerKeurst
- Jesus Always – Sarah Young
- Is This The End? – David Jeremiah
- You’ll Think of Me – Robin Lee Hatcher
- This Life I Live – Rory Feek
- Let the Journey Begin – Max Lucado
- Magnolia Story – Chip Gaines
- Strong’s Concordance Large Print Edition
- The Gospel According to Paul – John MacArthur
- Jesus Among Other Gods – Ravi Zacharias
*Excluding discount product, study guides, mass markets, audio products and Bibles. For CBD we had to change the threshold to 50% to make the list make sense. Even then, we were making an exception for #1, which really did belong at the top of the list. So eleven titles are listed.
Hendrickson Publishing Acquisition of Rose Publishing
The press release cited below is actually dated February 17th, but the thing I find interesting about this story is that Rose/Legacy Publishing is located in Carson, California, which if I remember correctly is on the border between Los Angeles County and Orange County, and Hendrickson is at the opposite end of the country in the Greater Boston Area. Will Rose eventually be relocated to the east coast? Guess we’ll have to stay tuned.
I like both companies. Even in a small(er) store like ours, the re-order rate on the Legacy kids devotionals, the Rose pamphlets and the June Hunt booklet series is high. And Hendrickson always offers good value titles.
Gretchen Goldsmith, President and CEO of Rose Publishing, announced that she has sold her ownership of the company to Hendrickson Publishers. Effective immediately, this significant and exciting change allows Hendrickson Publishers to play a role in shepherding the continued legacy of Rose Publishing forward into the future.
Goldsmith and John Ribeiro, Executive Vice President and CFO of Rose Publishing, will continue to be involved with the company in various capacities, and look forward to working with the team at Hendrickson Publishers to ensure their products continue to thrive. Goldsmith chose Hendrickson Publishers due to their commitment to the message of the Gospel, their integrity as a publisher, their promotion of basic easy-to-understand Christian material, and their love for Rose Publishing’s products.
“Rose Publishing and Hendrickson Publishers are complementary organizations with similar goals and values,” says Goldsmith. “I anticipate this relationship will strengthen the mission of each as we move forward with shared vision for the future.”
“She is a true visionary,” says Ray Hendrickson, President and CEO of Hendrickson Publishers, of Goldsmith. “Her cumulative wisdom and understanding of the Christian publishing market will serve us well as we transition, and we look forward to learning much from her and the Rose Publishing team.”
The Rose Publishing name, brand, and mission will continue under the leadership and vision of Paul Hendrickson, General Manager at Hendrickson Publishers. (This includes the two additional imprints Aspire Press and RoseKidz.) He does not anticipate that production of current Rose Publishing, Aspire Press, or RoseKidz products will slow down during this transition.
For those who don’t know, the Hendrickson family also has a little business on the side called Christian Book Distributors. If you’ve never heard of it, keep reading, because sometimes their advertising pops up on this free WordPress blog. (And on my store’s blog as well, which is a more serious issue!)
C.C.I.C. Serves Scarborough’s Large Chinese Market
It had been an extremely long time since I last dropped in on C.C.I.C. Bookroom and the visit yesterday wasn’t planned. But something about the block looked familiar and behold; there was the store.
Their ministry is to the Chinese community in Scarborough and Markham. Bookshelves like the ones pictured below abound and frankly, I had no idea what I was looking at. There is a very small English book section. I had heard that the next generation of youth attending ethnic churches were English speakers so I asked if that translated (no pun intended) into younger people buying the English titles, but was told sales on those are quite slow. Some sections of the store however — greeting cards, children’s music and videos, etc. — are English by default, though I wish I’d snapped a picture of a bilingual piece of giftware.
Store owners and managers would do well to visit stores like this one and Tyrannus Books in Thornhill simply for (a) the educational value of seeing another type of Christian store and (b) the encouragement that comes through the reminder we’re part of something bigger; that Christianity stretches around the world. Stores like this also frequently find themselves stuck with slow-moving English inventory and if you arrive on a day that the manager is in the store; they might be willing to sell you some product. It may not be a bargain purchase, but you’ll be helping a ministry to one of many ethnicities we have in Canada.
C.C.I.C is located at 3880 Midland Avenue in Scarborough. 416 297 6540 ccicebookstore.net
