Word Praize

Insight into Amazon

Ever wonder how Amazon works from the publisher's end? Smackberry, an anonymous content manager at Thomas Nelson give some insight in her post, Amazon is Your Friend...Really!

TD Jakes Wins Fiction Award

NAACP names Image Award nominees
TD Jakes' novel, WOMEN THOU ARE LOOSED, won for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Works. Other nominees include: "Birth of a Nation" by Aaron McGruder, Reginald Hudlin, "Drive Me Crazy" by Eric Jerome Dickey, "Ida B" by Karen E. Quinones Miller and "Now Is the Time To Open Your Heart" by Alice Walker.

Crunching the Numbers

In the March 14 Publisher's Weekly article, "The Numbers Game", Jana Riess explored the effects of automated tracking of booksales by Bookscan (ABA) and STATS (CBA). Though the STATS numbers are used mostly by CBA publishers, the large sales in Wal-Mart and other untracked chains leave a lot of room for guessing. Still the ability to track a trend or author's sales in one click is bound to affect decisions on all sides. How do numbers (Amazon ranks, best seller's lists) affect your book buying?

Christian Fiction Carnival

New voices are emerging in Christian fiction.

Take a ride on Pat Loomis' monthly carnival ride to visit blogs that range from post-modern writers to revolutionary evangelical editors. Chris Well, author of Forgiving Solomon Long, even draws parallels between CCM (contemporary Christian music) and fiction.

Take a ride on the words and see what you think.

Joining the Brand Wagon?

Brands sell. Or so we're often told. People no longer buy soda or soap, they purchase Pepsi (Coke if you're in Atlanta) and Lever.

Books are no exception.

In the recent article,"Parable Spreads the Word," Publisher's Weekly tells the tale of The Parable Group, a marketing consortium (what is that exactly?) for 223 Indie Christian stores is moving into franchising with you guessed it--a national brand.

Jim Kregel, president of Kregel Inc. and owner of three Kregel Bookstores in the Grand Rapids, Mich., area, said that franchising is the current trend. "If you go on a trip and pull over for a meal, and you see Pat's Diner or the Olive Garden, you're going to choose the Olive Garden. You know the level of service and the product you're getting." Kregel's stores will adopt a hybrid store name by May of this year, with signage reading "Kregel: Parable Christian Stores."

Some stores though, aren't so optimistic. At least six stores have jumped to rival "marketing consortium" Munce Marketing group which has 596 stores and hopes to add 250 to 300 more in the next three years, especially Hispanic and African-American stores.

With all the talk of the struggles of Christian booksellers, the store-in-a-box concept is probably inevitable. Still, it'll be interesting to see if some Indie stores survive without branding. Will multicultural markets be the life preserver they're looking for? Only time will tell.

Forensics and Faith

Is CSI your cup or tea? When crime shows come on, are you missing without a trace? Check Brandilyn Collins' new blog on forensics and faith. Check it out.

Word Praize Class

So God gave you  this masterpiece, right? You wrote it (and realized in the process that it was less than divine). Still, people are going to flock to the streets to buy ithe thing, right?

Uh . . . maybe.

Beyond the Bookshelf: A Writer's Marketing Plan

This week, Good Girl Book Club founder and 
Christian book promoter, Marina Woods will be teaching a course on how to  develop a marketing plan before, during or after your book hits the  stands. There will be specific strategies for partnering financially with your publisher (or yourself, if you're self-published), how to get most out of online marketing, which online communications (email, websites, chats,  etc) result in the most feedback for GGBC authors and why ongoing  promotion is vital to your book's shelf life and reprint success.

No matter where you are on your publishing journey, this class if for you.  Participants will also receive a discount on GGBC advertising for a 
limited time.

Click here to sign up.

Christian Fiction at the Library?

In recent years, the term "Christian fiction" has become somewhat vague. Did that only mean books published by CBA houses? Books with Christian themes? It's all a fairly new concept (Check your high school classics list. There are a lot of Christian writers there). Sometimes, even the librarians aren't sure what's what. Here's some thoughts by a public librarian. (It's an old post, but still fairly timely). Here's a taste:

The evangelical publishers produce a wide range of titles. These include thrillers . . . mysteries . . . dramatized scriptures, and political axe-grinders . . . While these are undeniably Christian Fiction, in general, libraries that label Christian Fiction include these but do not include books by Catholic authors or titles from the major secular publishing houses. Are we to say that authors and their works are not Christian because they write about crime-fighting priests at Notre Dame, for example?

Interesting, huh? I wonder if Flannery O'Connor would be greatly concerned? I doubt it, but it's something to think about. Read the rest here.

Grace-Based Fiction

Mick Silva, whose blog focuses on the recent shifts in Christian fiction, looks at some of the comments in a recent PW article about African American fiction.  Sounds like there is definitely an outcry in the multicultural market for more realistic stories of the Christian experience. Grace-based fiction, maybe? Surf over and take and read.

John Kremer on Christian Books

In a post today on his book marketing blog, John Kremer addressed the following question about Christian books:

I continue to notice there is not much information being posted or resources being provided for authors who write Christian literature. It seems to be an isolated area of publishing--sort of in it's own world.

Even in book clubs, there is not much of a genre' for Christian literature and people don't respond to emails and other related subject matter. Seems they overlook these authors and focus on novels, short stories, and fiction more. Doesn't seem fair.

Read the rest here.