Review – Latest Spirituality Titles: 10 to Watch – Summer 2015

Here is a personal selection of my top ten ‘to watch’ Christian titles from the many hundreds published in the current sales period:

BLESSING 

To ‘bless’ someone is spiritually powerful, but what does it actually signify? In this accessible paperback (part of the Faith Going Deeper series), Andrew Davison lays out a comprehensive framework covering the theology and practicalities of Blessing. Superb – I loved it – if with a rather unimaginative jacket!

DEEP CALLS TO DEEP – SPIRITUAL FORMATION IN THE HARD PLACES OF LIFE

Tony Horsfall is a past speaker at CRT, and an accomplished leader of spiritual retreats. This new book of reflections is based on the Jewish Psalms, and of particular help to anyone going through difficult times. It’s also a book for group use, with material and questions designed for this purpose.

DELIGHTED IN GOD: GEORGE MULLER

Roger Steer’s biography of Muller is a classic. Published again as part of CFP’s HistoryMakers series, this book recounts the amazing story of this Victorian Christian who built five large orphanages in Bristol, relying on the scriptural principle of faith to raise the necessary funds.  A ‘must-read’.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD: A THOUSAND YEAR JOURNEY FROM PSALM 23 TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

Magisterial – the only word to describe Kenneth Bailey’s books. Now this very welcome addition. Bailey writes in a unique way looking at scripture through Middle Eastern eyes. He’s one of those few authors who, in whatever they write, are always worth reading. Simply wonderful. I loved it.

HILDA OF WHITBY – A SPIRITUALITY FOR NOW

The North Yorkshire fishing port of Whitby rates as one of my favourite UK places. I’ve long been fascinated by the haunting ruins of its vast cliff-top Abbey. Nearly 1400 years ago, St Hilda, a Celtic nun, established the northern centre of Christianity here. This is Hilda’s inspiring story, expertly told and a pleasure to read.

JESUS WITHOUT BORDERS

I enjoyed this book although it’s terribly American.  However, that’s the point. This is a collection of travel stories as the author journeys from the USA Bible belt to a dozen different countries, looking at Church life and meeting with Christians. The chapter on his visit to England will make you smile!

POPE FRANCIS: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY

Jorge Bergoglio or Pope Francis has been in office for two years. The only authorised biography to date, this book fleshes out the man and his ministry in a series of revealing conversations. Written by two journalists, it provides a clear and comprehensive picture of this most unconventional of Popes.

THE THIRD TARGET

Written by a New York Times best-selling author, and in the style of Spooks and Homeland, this novel pushes all the buttons for a gripping read. Highly topical; ISIS, Al Qaeda, Israel, America and Syria are all in the story. There is not that much fiction on our shelves that appeals to men, but this is one such novel that can be recommended with confidence.

THE THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE MAN

2015 marks the 70^th anniversary of TTTE. Who doesn’t love these stories and who cannot recite the names of most of the engines? Yet we know a lot less about Thomas’s creator, Reverend W Awdry. Here Brian Sibley, the best-selling biographer of C.S. Lewis, unlocks Awdry; train enthusiast, storyteller, family man, eccentric, pacifist and pastor.

WHERE IS GOD AT WORK?

Has the Church given the world of work short shrift over the years? This book explores the importance, indeed the imperative, of taking your faith to work with you. The author, an ordained C of E priest, is also a tax specialist in a major corporation. He reflects on the challenges and opportunities provided to Christians by their working environment. Innovative and practical.

Metadata for these titles:	Author	ISBN
Blessing (Faith Going Deeper)	Andrew Davison	978-1-84825-642-2
Deep Calls to Deep	Tony Horsfall	978-1-84101-731-0
George Muller: Delighted in God	Roger Steer	978-1-84550-120-4
Hilda of Whitby: A Spirituality for Now	Ray Simpson	978-1-84101-728-0
Jesus without Borders	Chad Gibbs	978-0-310-32554-3
Pope Francis: The Authorised Biography	Rubin / Ambrogetti	978-1-444-75251-9
The Good Shepherd: from Psalm 23 to NT	Kenneth Bailey	978-0-281-07350-4
The Third Target	Joel C. Rosenberg	978-1-4964-0531-9
The Thomas the Tank Engine Man	Brian Sibley	978-0-7459-7027-1
Where is God at Work?	William Morris	978-0-85721-628-1

This article was written in March for publication in Together Magazine (May to June 2015).

These titles can be purchased via any good Bookshop or from clcbookshops.com

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Book Trade – Stock, stock and yet more stock

Working on Together magazine and through my involvement with CLC Wholesale, I see a huge variety of product. In fact, far too much product in my opinion. Publishers and distributors are continuing to push out new titles into a fundamentally changed sales environment and a shrinking physical market. This cannot continue. The economics don’t add up. Internet retail copes poorly with new product as recent debates over ‘Discoverability’ show. In my view, the jury remains undecided on whether the Internet will ever fully replace the ‘lost’ B&M sales from the many, many shops that have closed in recent years.

And yet still the titles keep coming. Suppliers have yet to react intelligently to such a radically changed marketplace. I doubt anyone can continue to keep publishing at current levels into an already saturated market. I fear further fallouts. Mergers could follow. Self-publishing is already making inroads into the traditional model and publishing is feeling the cold draught of reality. I applaud publishing start-ups, like Edinburgh’s Muddy Pearl, that are probably nimble enough to make it, but they too face an uncertain future.

There is way too much mediocre product, much of it destined to remain unread – a major challenge for authors as well as for publishers. Put simply, way too much is being published and a market correction is surely due. Publically quoted Lion Hudson PLC has taken a large stock write-down for two years running; £924,000 in 2013 and £550,000 in 2012 (Source: annual company accounts). Many other publishers have similar challenges providing for high levels of dead or slow-moving stock. Quite whether all are as strong as a PLC to cope financially with such savage action is a moot point. Over the longer term, publishers will profit from the shift to digital as they will benefit significantly from higher sales but with far lower stock management costs.

This summer, we caught a glimpse of what happens when a tectonic shift takes place. The Kingsway–DC Cook distribution upheaval has left a drastically altered landscape, especially for many USA houses. The reality has dawned that the UK no longer has the distribution capacity required to handle the vast amount of Christian product looking for a home. Not all of those suppliers originally with KW/DCC will be racked here again. Some are still looking; others have withdrawn from the UK. Distribution is not for the faint-hearted. It costs. Lots. Especially if you are intent on the deep stocking of all lines listed. Something has to give as the financials are becoming harder and harder to get right. New product is replaced by even newer product in an ongoing frenetic cycle – and then promptly forgotten. Ask yourself, how many of the recent titles you have been shown have ‘made it’ and are still earning their keep? In my view, the only way for retail to survive is to become ever more selective – to the severe frustration of publishers (and authors) who nurse the fervent belief that every one of their titles is both ‘key’ and ‘core’ to your business.

Where does this leave the Christian retailer? Those who survive will be those shops that choose stock wisely, prudently and are selective in the extreme. The game has completely changed.  For publishers to succeed, the key issue is ‘discoverability’ whereas for the retailer the absolute priority is ‘selectivity’. On what are you spending your money? No longer can it be about stocking anything and everything. To do so is impossible given such a huge product range and the relative size of most UK stores; insane given the investment needed in stock that could be here today and gone tomorrow; and unnecessary in a digital world which demands physical retail to be distinctive and unique if it is ever to make it through to the end of this decade.

I contend that selectivity and discoverability really do lie at the heart of this debate. You and I have the power to move the market if we truly believe in a product. The art is finding the book that really moves you to want to handsell it to as many friends, family, colleagues and customers as is humanly possible. When did a title last grab you like that? What was it? How good did it make you feel when it started to move off the shelves? My colleague, Chris Magee did just this with ‘The Circle Maker‘ (Zondervan). Its message touched him deeply, so he sent one copy to many of the retailers that CLC works with – and it remains one of their top sellers. Without such action, many books will sink without trace.

Most of us came into this trade to make a difference to people’s lives. Recommending – suggesting – handselling a title that has absolutely got to you is just the most fulfilling aspect of what we do. Hype and PR have no place in this trade and yet seemingly it’s all around us. Do we truly believe all the claims that we make for much of the product that we promote? Is it not high time we looked again at the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the sale as well as our need to shift stock? In a few short years, we seem to have gone full-circle. There was a time when our shops were expected to stock in both width and depth. No longer; the new trading reality allows us to be ourselves and stock what we wish to sell, what we believe in and not those titles which have no place in our shops, as their claims are often far too spurious and their content questionable. It’s time for a rethink right across the trade on this matter.

Moving from the negative to the positive, I’d like to highlight a couple of areas that certainly warrant our attention – Children’s books and Bibles. I’ve written previously about the continuing growth in the sale of children’s titles, especially for the younger age group (pre-school and picture books are up 5.5% in five years according to new Nielsen figures). However, the one area that merits serious profile is Bibles. Sales continue to rise year-on-year. The appetite for Bibles seems to grow and grow. The range of styles and colours has never been as wide. Pink Bibles sell! This is the area that we do know about. It’s our specialism and no one can compete with us in our knowledge of the Bible market. Even the reinvigorated Waterstones doesn’t really cover this section that well.

Christian retailers know Bibles better than anyone (or at least I hope we do). Translations, bindings and fonts are what we do. It’s truly a skill to manage a good Bible department – and it pays off. This is the one area on which we must concentrate effort – through high stock investment, in-depth staff training and knowledgeable customer engagement. I’ve always enjoyed selling Bibles; that passion has never gone away. This is the one genre that makes this trade special – very special – distributing the very word of God is not given to everyone but you and I get to do it as part of our day job – wow!

Here are four stand-out Bibles that have impressed me this autumn. This is a personal selection (no publisher was involved in this choice!) but I would be proud to promote and handsell all of these Bibles to any customer (or friend) I might come across!

1. The NLT Wayfinding Bible (Tyndale House)

This is quite superb and is probably my favourite newcomer this year – a very clever use of colour and graphics enabling the reader to find their way through the complexity of the Bible by navigating via three clear ‘routes’. Love it.

2. The NIV Journalling Bible (Hodder Faith)

Of the various covers available, the black cloth hardback is my favourite. Journals sell well in all shops and spiritual journalling is increasingly popular. This Bible has a lot of journalling space. It feels great and is a welcome addition to the range – but I’d use a soft pencil rather than ink when writing in it.

3. The NIV Every Day with Jesus Bible (CWR)

I loved the imaginative marketing campaign on www.onebible.co.uk Check it out. Selwyn Hughes’s hugely popular notes, allied to the Anglicised NIV 2011 text and presented in a chronological one year reading edition make this a ‘must-have’ stock item.

4. The ERV Youth Bible (Authentic)

At last – the text and notes in this perennial youth market best-seller have been completely reworked. It’s good – very good – and for a while at least, the price looks unbeatable. Impressive, and it’s good to add such a fine looking Bible to the shop youth section.

This article was written in late October for Together Magazine (December 2013 to January 2014)

Book Trade – What Future for the Christian Book Trade?

As I write, the fallout from the Kingsway – D. C. Cook distribution decision remains unclear. What is clear is that we are facing yet further consolidation within the distribution sector. Change is unsettling and disturbing and we should say a prayer for all those affected by it.

I benefitted much from reading Steve Mitchell’s (m.d. Authentic Media UK) closely argued seven-page monograph, What Future for the Christian Book Trade?, published as the lead article in the quarterly journal, Faith in Business (available online, £2).

I greatly admire Steve’s ability to look forward, assess future direction and consider those aspects of this trade that many of us would prefer to leave well alone – in short, to cause us to think. Melanie Carroll described the piece as ‘honest and insightful, and as such not without elements of controversy and pain for all elements of the trade’. Steve wrote it as ‘an academic article aimed at church and business leaders explaining the issues facing the Christian book trade’. 

I was particularly encouraged by Steve’s statement – cited twice in the text – that ‘the majority of books are still sold in a physical form from physical retailers’.  I was struck by his examination of the ‘disloyal consumer’ and the stark observation that ‘publishing is likely to see the cold wind that has blown through the retail world enter its domain’.

Yet the essence of the Gospel remains unchanged. Tom Wright in his New Testament for Everyone translates Romans 16:25-26 as,

‘Now to Him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel, the proclamation of Jesus the Messiah, in accordance with the unveiling of the mystery kept hidden for long ages but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings, according to the command of the eternal God, for the obedience of faith among all the nations‘.

Quite a task – and still this remains our mandate.

There remains compelling content for us to distribute, albeit in what are now differing and changed formats. What has been described as the historic Guttenburg to Google Revolution is playing out in our own lifetime. Parchments were then turned into printed books and these are morphing in shape and feel into digital content. Quite what all this means for us as a trade is still being worked through but I found Steve’s article to be an eloquent resume of these hugely important issues and highly commend it.

Seek first the Kingdom and …

Increasingly I have come to accept that spiritual insight stands worldly wisdom on its head.

The Bible says ‘God chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and the weak things of the world to shame the strong’. How we hate this. It’s not very cool and gets little recognition from the secular movers and shakers. For our part, we chase after professionalism and eschew the amateur. We love to be seen as wise, hating to be foolish. I was brought up short by the sheer impact of this statement in Henri Nouwen’s book, In the Name of Jesus,

‘My own thinking about Christian leadership had been affected by the desire to be relevant, the desire for popularity, and the desire for power. Too often I looked at being relevant, popular and powerful as ingredients of an effective ministry. The truth, however, is that these are not vocations, but temptations’.

These truths are as important for us in business as they are within the Church. As a trade, we should be even more profoundly aware of them. All our business plans and strategies are of little significance in the light of the deeper principles of the Kingdom: ‘Seek first His Kingdom and all these things will be added to you‘. Other ministries and practices which we judge, sometimes harshly, as ineffectual may be, in the economy of God, quite the opposite. If they result in the spiritual turnaround of just one person, they will have been worthwhile.

In my experience, we tend unconsciously to turn this verse around and to do our adding up before any seeking of the Kingdom. Business culture and worldly practice rears its ugly head and takes us in another direction entirely and we think that our ways are the best ways – they are not. The wisdom of Scripture should be rediscovered for the way that we do business. I have a small plaque hanging in my office recording the words of a captain in one of the Roman legions, discovered in the Libyan Desert; ‘I have learnt and pondered this truth: there are in life but two things to be sought, love and power, and no-one has both’. 

All of this is far easier said than done, particularly in the inevitable pressures of the moment. We probably accept it in our hearts but our heads overrule the idea as naive, one which is unworkable in the day-to-day. In the end, God is left out and we then wonder why we flounder! Brennan Manning wrote in his book, A Glimpse of Jesus:

‘The glory of Christ lies in this … He has called forth disciples to come after him … they are ‘marginal’ people, not part of the scene, irrelevant to ‘the action’. In their ministry of quiet presence they do not need to win or compete. The world ignores them – but they are building the Kingdom of God on earth’.

Someone said to me recently: ‘We are where we are to do the work God has called us to do’. In this trade, this is so true. Calling is critical. It clarifies both purpose and direction.

Just how many Christian trade outlets are there?

This is the one question guaranteed to be discussed whenever book trade people get together. It’s a question with no simple answer because it depends on what you actually mean by ‘outlet’. It’s also compounded by issues of theology, inclusion (who’s in, who’s out) product type and definition.

The most accurate place to go for answers, however, is the UK Christian Bookshops Directory. This has been a labour of love over several years for webmaster, Phil Groom; to whom this trade is deeply indebted for what is a magnificent and free resource. I thought it would be fun to delve into the detail and pull out some of the facts from this archive.

The UKCBD County Index lists 462 Christian trade outlets including London (as at 30^th June 2013).

The largest concentration of trade outlets is Yorkshire with 29 listed, followed by London 27, Kent 20, Devon 14, Glamorgan 14, Hampshire 13, Surrey 12, Sussex 12, Cambridgeshire 11, Somerset 11, West Midlands, 11 Dorset 10 and Lancashire with 10.

In terms of the UK regions; Scotland (including Highlands & Islands) has 43 outlets, Northern Ireland 25, Wales 37, Islands (CI, IOW, IOM) 5, Northern England 86, Central England 91, East Anglia 32, South West 42, South & South East 74 and London with 27.

Christian trade outlets exist in hospitals and café’s, in abbeys and cathedrals, in city missions and conference centres and in traditional denominational settings. One internet retailer is listed: Christian Bits, Haslemere and there are a number of chain booksellers on the list: Quench, St Andrews, Pauline Books & Media, Faith Mission Bookshops, CLC Bookshops and the Blythswood group.

One question is what proportion of these shops operate from church and cathedral premises rather than from the high street or market stalls. 42 of the shops listed here are within church premises, some of which are full-feature shops such as Origin, Woking, but some of which are probably more akin to large bookstalls. This raises the hoary old query of ‘when is a trade account really a trade account’.

The Cathedral and Church Shops Association has 120 members. However, only 29 Cathedral shops are listed on UKCBD, some of which are no doubt far more focused on souvenirs and gifts than on books, once again highlighting the debate in terms of what type of outlets should be included in our definition?  Part of the problem is the perceived (and perhaps actual) decline of the traditional High street Christian bookshop. Reports of such closures are seemingly constant and rumours circulate on a fairly regular basis of shops that are about to close.

The periodic Bookseller Association numbers bear out the brutal fact that bookshops are indeed closing at a rather alarming rate. However, what strikes one in reading though this data is that there is a great deal of creativity out there when it comes to making Christian resources available. Long may this be the case. Perhaps trying to categorise outlets in some way or other is counter-productive. Rather, maybe we should simply celebrate diversity and variety, recognising that so many areas actually do have Christian materials available, often in the most surprising of places.

In closing, let me hypothesise, using the data, in terms of the probable numbers of High street Christian resource centres. The best estimate seems to be around 300 shops trading as part of the traditional high street. Of these, possibly around 200 to 225 are doing the type of business which could ensure a sustainable future. Massive challenges face these shops, most obviously the internet and digital content, but not least the matter of demography as many of these owner/operators come up to their retirement without necessarily having any succession plan in place.

In terms of visibility, the trade no longer has a fully obvious High Street presence across the country. Christian resources are not as widely available as they once were. Sadly, there are entire cities now without any Christian on-street presence.  In my view and given this situation, digital activity on the part of Christian online retailers such as Eden Interactive or Christian Bits is to be welcomed if we are to continue to reach out to this nation with quality Christian material. The irony could be that Christian resources are actually more accessible now given the ubiquity of the internet, but that’s a debate for another time.

This article was written in early July for Together Magazine (August – September 2013)

Book Trade – Reconnecting with the Local Church

In a previous post, I touched briefly on the tricky matter of church / retailer engagement. We return to it here to examine this important topic in more depth.

Many shops are struggling to communicate with their church leaders and ministers. An earlier church / retail compact has seemingly broken down as leaders shop around – usually online – driven by ‘best price’ owing to their Churches’ own financial constraints. Retail managers struggle to venture outside of their own premises due to low staffing levels or sometimes, unwillingness. And yet, somehow, retailers must be in touch with their core customer base – the Churches. 

Earlier this year, I oversaw a fairly small-scale Christian retailer survey, attempting to draw out the very real concerns that cause such difficulty in the area of contact with their local congregations. Here in order of priority are the main barriers given by retailers for failing to engage with their local church communities and ministers.

The number 1 reason cited in the survey was the Managers’ own lack of time and the overall busyness of their shop, followed closely by:

• Low levels of staff cover and an over-reliance on volunteers
• Lack of interest and support for the bookshop by their local churches
• Ministers opting to order online for reasons of convenience and price
• Stock limitations due to differences in theology across the denominations
• Churches going direct to suppliers owing to better terms on offer
• Ministers and leaders themselves too busy to visit their local shop
• A fear of the unknown – the concern of how best to approach a church leader

Do any of these reasons resonate with you? If so, how can you manage this aspect of trade more positively? One thing is certain; we must not sit back, throw up our hands in despair or give up. Other retailers’ experience shows that, whilst it is clearly hard work, it is still possible to build good business links with local churches.

35 years ago, when I first started in bookselling, support for their local Christian bookshop by the surrounding churches was unquestioned. It was a given. The churches themselves saw the bookshop as the partner in their own local mission. Support was therefore an imperative. The success of my then small community shop in rural Gloucestershire was largely down to the custom generated by their weekly bookstalls and regular bulk sales.

I was hugely favoured from the beginning by that indomitable champion of the Church Bookstall, Beryl Goodland at the local Baptist Church in Gorsley.  Lion Publishing was just getting underway and Beryl was at the heart of the book scene at that time. I’m quite sure that without her dogged support for me personally and for the shop, it would not have enjoyed the kick-start that it did. This then-large congregation was the closest I think I ever got to working with a mega-church! Beryl was the best advocate anyone could have had for selling books via the Church. I realise now just how fortunate we were to have had such impressive support.

This point underlines the importance of having a ‘Champion’ on board in each church for your shop, and in most cases it’s usually not the minister. One key is to seek out and identify those champions in each congregation and start to work with them. Keep close to them, make them feel special and ensure you look after them well.

Church support for the local bookshop is no longer as clear cut as it once was. Churches themselves are struggling and having to shop around for best value. Ministers and leaders are pushed for time and can no longer provide the link and support that is the lifeblood of the local shop. Bookshop staff have themselves lost out by not always realising just how much the scene has changed – and they have largely failed to change with it. Many of us appear to have lost the art, desire and capability to get out into the community to network and connect with churches. Times have indeed changed and the church / shop compact as described above is no longer in place … or is it?

Some would argue that the link is most certainly still there but that it’s just different. Partly it’s down to education – on both sides. Churches need to be helped to understand and value their local resource centre and shops need to understand the new market reality and the very real pressures on church leaders. Partly it’s down to societal change; 30 years ago the internet did not exist and mail order was a poor second option to the shop. Churches themselves valued books and resources in a way that they perhaps do not now. Leaders would recommend books during their sermons and from the pulpit, far more often than appears to be the case nowadays. Are Christians reading as much anyway and how do churches decide what is best for them to study in a time of so many competing voices? Many congregations now have access to the technology and the wherewithal to produce their own materials, thus bypassing both publishers and booksellers. This change has particularly impacted and disrupted the daily reading notes and home group study market.

Rather than bemoaning the situation, retailers have to change. We simply must become more proactive in making contact with local ministries. New ways of engaging with local congregations must be found in order to introduce resources into their spiritual lives. It remains a truism that personal recommendation continues to be the single best way of selling a book to a customer – and in this case to a whole church.

Happily, there are a number of exciting initiatives taking place around the country that do just that. It takes effort, time and, I suspect, will demand ever more change to the way the shop is both staffed and operated.

Nigel Cope of the Christian Book Centre in Preston, quoted in the preview issue of Together magazine, estimated that around 12% of his business now came from outside of the shop. His one single piece of advice was “Don’t wait for people to come into your shop, go out and find them and serve them where they are“. Nationally, CLC Bookshops are more and more committed to running external events and have ramped up their own activity in this area recently.

I recently spent time with Bob and Sandie Clark at the Christian Resource Centre in Eastbourne, runners up in this year’s ‘Small Independent Retailer of the Year’ award. In the two years the Clarks have been involved, the business has been turned around and turnover is slowly on the rise, largely due to a stated policy of spending time with ministers outside of the shop. Bob, an experienced and seasoned publisher’s representative, is specifically tasked with building up these external relationships – and clearly has the skill-set to do this extremely well.

CRC is part of Churches Together in Eastbourne but when the Clarkes commenced in 2011, there were active relationships with just two churches. Bob diarises each Thursday for networking with church leaders, fitting in five to six visits during the day. Using his earlier repping model, he views his role as relating, as well as selling, to churches.

The Book Box Scheme is CRC’s main promotional thrust. This scheme is based on one pioneered by Pam Brittle at Choice Words, Newton Abbot. Book boxes are supplied lidded and the selected product is all provided on a see-safe basis. Some boxes are brought back to CRC by the church for resupply; others, Bob will replenish himself on a subsequent visit. CRC now have around 18 churches in the scheme – and it’s growing – with the goal to reach 50 boxes by this Christmas.

They also operate the Big Church Read introducing one title per month to each of their partner churches. These schemes work via a Church Champion and not through the minister or leader, although permission is always sought first. Making the contacts and building relationships takes up a good deal of Bob’s time and he says that it still remains a challenge and a struggle to get support from the local church community.

So what are the main keys to success in engaging with churches?

(1) Tenacity, patience and perseverance – plus a solid and workable game plan!

(2) Finding a local ‘resource champion’ in each congregation to work with you. Make sure you get the minister’s agreement first but accept that it may not make sense to work solely with the minister as he may wish to delegate the role to someone you both trust.

(3) Network – network – network. If necessary, alter the way you operate the shop in order to find the time to do so. For example, would shutting the shop for one day or one morning or an afternoon a week or month bring more benefit to your trade than simply staying open on an otherwise dead day?

(4) Research your locality thoroughly and recommend relevant resources to your constituency in a positive, pleasant and non-demanding way.

(5) Help your local ministers to keep up to date with what’s new and what’s selling in the wider overall context. So many leaders are notoriously out of date in their own reading and book / resource knowledge.

(6) And please … do not use the lack of time or staff as an excuse to do nothing. That way you may be sleep-walking to disaster. Find a way. Be creative. The local churches do not owe you a living – you still have to work for it!

We’d love to hear from you on this subject. Send in your own thoughts and the practical ways in which you have sought to address this area of your work. We’ll then share your wisdom with others through the pages of Together. May God bless you in all aspects of your shop’s ministry.

This article was written in mid May 2013 for Together Magazine (June – July 2013)

Book Trade – Photo Report from the CLC UK Conference 2013

Around 60 CLC workers from the UK bookshops and Alresford wholesale warehouse came together in mid May for three days of spiritual refreshment and ministry planning. 

Conference was addressed by Carlos Cunha of CLC Portugal; an inspirational and passionate retailer switched on to social media and in connecting with his local community.

#Holymoments CLC met against a backdrop of serious economic pressures but when the pressure is on, reliance of God becomes more apparent. There was a wonderful sense of the Spirit of God in the place, the presence of God was so evident and prayer permeated the conference. This tone was set by each of the speakers and there was a real sense of unity and missional purpose.

#Faithstories A strong feature of the conference were the international reports from Portugal, Austria, Spain, Canada, the Caribbean, Bolivia, Colombia, Indonesia, the Philippines, PNG, Swaziland, Liberia, Kenya, the UK … and more; Challenging and inspirational when you hear how others struggle, often against extraordinary odds to get the message out. In particular, Sierra Leone where the CLC shop reopened after many years of conflict and, Liberia with a return to Monrovia after 15 years of war.

The main speaker was former CLC and WEC missionary, Patrick McElligott, author of ‘On Giants’ Shoulders’ His ministry was practical, funny, powerful but winsome. He called for ‘a sustaining vision in our work, to look up and see the Glory of God and not to look down and see the problem’.  William Mackenzie of CFP closed the conference with the text; ‘Underneath are the everlasting arms‘ (Deut 33), reminding us all that this was true ‘whatever our circumstances’.

As I left, I mulled over in my mind; just what drives CLC? I’ve concluded that it’s a blend of faith, prayer, committed people, a mission purpose plus a love for God and a clear calling. To be at this conference was a humbling experience.

CLC’s is an important ministry which is facing the reality of change courageously and creatively. It recognises that its ministry is in no way finished as its takes steps to shift its focus from simply selling books to distributing life changing content around the world.

Christian Book Trade – CLC Bookshop, London: a photo update

Today I visited the CLC Bookshop in Ave Maria Lane, London, adjacent to St Paul’s Cathedral and just off Ludgate Hill. The shop moved here from much bigger premises on Holborn Viaduct in August 2011.

CLC London is now the largest Evangelical bookshop in England and is run by CLC, an interdenominational Christian charity, now operating in 58 countries with 180+ bookshops around the world. CLC began its work in Colchester in 1941 and its London presence has been in this area of the capital since the first shop opened on Ludgate Hill in 1946, just after World War 2 ended.

The nearest tube station is St Paul’s (Central Line) and from there it’s literally a five minute walk through Paternoster Square across to the shop. Pater Noster (Latin) means ‘Our Father’. The Square lies near the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest part of the City of London.

This area – originally Paternoster Row – resonates with the history of publishing houses and booksellers as, in the 1940’s; this was the centre of the British publishing trade. In December 1940, the entire area was devastated during the London Blitz – but miraculously St Paul’s Cathedral was saved. An estimated 5 million printed books were lost in the ferocious fires caused by the bombing.

Emerging from Paternoster Square into Ave Maria Lane (I love the name of this street given the theological predisposition of CLC!), the first building you see is a well-lit and well-signed modern bookshop  – but leaving no-one in any doubt that this is a ‘Christian bookshop’.

I still mourn the closure of the Scripture Union / Wesley Own shop in London’s West End at Wigmore Street. As the book market changes and the European recession continues to bite, bookselling in our towns and cities is changing markedly and the world of Christian bookselling is no different.

I applaud the efforts of Manager Petra Nemansky and the CLC team who are doing such a sterling job in increasingly difficult times. I hope that the shop will go from strength to strength as the very last thing that London needs is the demise of yet another well located Christian bookshop.

Please pray for the important ministry of this shop, only a stone’s throw away from the buildings of the London Stock Exchange and if you’re in London, especially if you are anywhere near St Paul’s Cathedral, please do visit the shop – you will not be disappointed.

 

Christian Book Trade – It’s time to change the mood music

Last week the UK came out of recession and into growth, albeit at just 1%. The naysayers feel that we may well slip back again but hey, for the moment even the media is upbeat about the economy.

For me, this underlined how important the mood music is to how we feel about our lives. For as long as I can remember, the Christian book trade has always ‘been getting worse’! We seem to believe that things are ‘not as good as last year’ or ‘sales are not what they used to be’. Now it’s possible that this could all be true but it could also be that we are creating (and believing) our own negative PR and adding to our own gloom. No-one likes to be around gloomy people – or patronise gloomy retailers. Or for that matter read gloomy blogs!

It really is time to change the mood music in this trade. Someone else said last week, ‘This is the new normal, get used to it’. Change is here to stay; trade structures and loyalties are shifting before our very eyes and the way people shop has already altered – just look at the recent Argos announcement.

I’ve toyed with the idea of starting a new Facebook group dedicated to the sharing of useful retail tips – and maybe I will do just that. Somehow we must ramp up our effectiveness for the sake of the business and the ministry. There are some things out there that we simply cannot change but we do not have to cower as victims. The Gospel demands that we live our lives with joy, optimism and hope; how much more so when we are in this particular trade.

So how to move on?  Well, we have to accept that, for starters, it’s not all bad. This has definitely become the day of the Indy bookshop, no question. Chains no longer work for all the reasons we know so well. There are many new, vibrant entrants to the trade. This is bringing in new – and hopefully younger – blood, and better ideas with different ways of doing things.

Actually, despite appearances sometimes to the contrary, publishers and suppliers still need the whole retail piece to make their own numbers work. I would hazard a guess that for most product originators, retail still represents c. 55% (maybe more) of their turnover. The balance of power within the industry has substantially altered in recent years; retailers’ are better off, suppliers less so (I know to some of you it doesn’t always feel that way). There is still way too much product out there so retailers can and should use their buying power to favour some suppliers over others – and therefore certain product lines over others. You just cannot buy or stock everything you are offered!

What action can retailers take – practically – to avoid falling sales? Let me sketch out some of the more obvious ways here. Feel free to offer your own as a comment and let’s start a conversation.

Here are my top two observations and recommendations which I believe can quickly impact your sales for the better. You may have to readjust your timetable and your shop to carry these out:

1.  Re-engage with your local churches and church leaders – but make friends with them first. Even the best of shops can do better in this area. What prevents you from getting out there?
2. Increase the amount of space given to Children’s books – ramp up your range – stats prove that this is the ONE area in publishing that continues to thrive despite the ongoing shift to digital.

Try these other top tips: 

3. Become known locally for doing great deals – be flexible – match online prices if you have to. Join the fight-back against the online competition. Badger suppliers into helping with margin. Take a lower margin if you really have to as ‘less margin is better than no margin’.
4. Stats prove that it’s wise to trade upmarket with card and gift – avoid tat, embrace quality.
5. Make more use of staff and personal recommendations when speaking with customers.
6. Keep stock looking fresh. Return stock wherever possible; mark-down stock, dump old stock. Take extreme care with stock levels. Buy wisely. Buy tight. Make sure stock works for YOU.
7. Engage in positive PR – let your customers know what’s new and what’s happening.  Use social media – Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – and make yourself heard in your own locality. Build community. Build links. Do visits. Share ideas. Above all, realise that you are not alone in this trade. Use the Facebook CABP group and get help and advice from others online.
8. Keep up with digital developments – sign up to KOBO, HIVE and others as yet unknown!
9. Stay positive and avoid the ‘numbers’ game (bigger, better, more). Be proud of your own calling and work.
10.  Pray constantly – on your own, with your trustees, with your staff and with your customers.

Maybe together – and ever so slowly – we can change the mood music? Together we should strive to build a vibrant trade sector where we feel proud to be known as Christian retailers. Eschew any perceived downward spiral and stay positive. Don’t despair. Don’t lose heart.

If you really have had enough of the trade, then perhaps you should call it a day because life is too short to be gloomy!

Christian Book Trade – I remain fully persuaded …

After all these years, I remain fully persuaded of the potent impact of Christian writing and spiritual content, influencing lives for the better around the world. both in print and digitally.

The message of hope remains key. The delivery mechanism doesn’t really matter. In some parts of the world print remains dominant. In others, digital is in the ascendancy.

The outcome for the Gospel is what’s important, which is why content is key.

One of the keys to this ministry that we have not always recognised is the work of the Holy Spirit in using content to supernaturally touch people’s lives.

I am more aware than ever now of that aspect of our work. It is God who does the work, not us – although He is pleased to use us too.

‘These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name’.  The Gospel of John 20:30