Reflection – Enjoy Today ….

Like so many of us, I’m guilty of living way too much in the future – planning, thinking, dreaming, hurrying – and today somehow can seem far less significant. This attitude can be like; let’s just get through today as, in our heads, it’s already past, and move urgently onto the next thing!

Living like this means I have almost certainly missed some of the key events in the life of our family, something I now regret. Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, ‘Yesterday has gone, tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today’. 

This is what the Bible has to say in James 4:

‘Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’.

It’s ‘WHO’ you are today that counts. It’s ‘WHAT’ you do today that matters.

Do enjoy TODAY.

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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)

Photography – The Life of Christ, Wintershall Estate, Surrey, UK

A photo record of the annual open-air passion play of the Life of Christ held at the Wintershall Estate near Guildford in Surrey.

‘More than a play, it’s an experience not to be missed’.  Having now seen the 3-act play twice, I totally agree.

The play was written and adapted from the Bible by Peter Hutley, owner of the Wintershall Estate.

ACT 1 – The Nativity and Childhood of Jesus

ACT 2 – The Ministry of Jesus

ACT 3 – The Passion and Ascension of Christ

CWR has produced a DVD, ‘Jesus -The Wounded Healer’, suitable for Church study groups at Lent and shot on location at the Wintershall Estate, courtesy of Peter Hutley.

Review – The Sacred Texts Collection: British Library, London

Earlier in February, I treated myself to a few hours in the British Library – situated next door to the beautifully restored St Pancras International Station – taking in the magnificent treasures of the permanent Sacred Texts Exhibition. That afternoon I tweeted:

Spent 20 glorious minutes gazing at stunning MSS of Lindisfarne Gospels. Face pressed to glass, just a few cm away. Moving, exquisite.

There are 78 Sacred Texts and Illustrated Manuscripts from all around the world, representative of every religion, on display in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery (alongside original Beatles lyrics and the actual Magna Carta).  Best of all public access to the collection is completely free of charge!

For the sake of time and in line with personal preferences I spent much of the time concentrating on some of the most important texts of the Christian Faith. What follows is a snapshot of those treasures and the MSS that I most enjoyed.

Before that let me ask you this question: Have you ever wondered about the origin of paper and where in the world moveable type printing was first used? In which case, where best to start than with the Dawn of Printing display in the gallery?

The East – paper was invented in China in 100AD. We have Buddhism to thank for the arrival of printing in the 7^th century. The world’s earliest recognisable book dates to China in 868AD. Moveable type printing was first used in a Buddhist text from Korea in 1377.

The West – In 1455, 180 copies of Johannes Gutenberg’s Bible were the first ever Bibles printed with moveable type. This was much later than that in Korea but Gutenberg’s method was far more suited commercially.

 

Included in the BL’s collection of Christian texts, these top 10 treasures stand out:

Codex Sinaiticus, 350AD – The Codex Sinaiticus is a treasure beyond price. Produced in the middle of the 4^th century, the Codex is one of the two earliest Christian Bibles. (The other is the Codex Vaticanus in Rome.) It contains the complete Greek New Testament, plus parts of the Old Testament.

Codex Alexandrinus, 5^th Century – Codex Alexandrinus is one of the three earliest and most important manuscripts of the entire Bible in Greek, the others being Codex Sinaiticus, also in the British Library, and Codex Vaticanus in Rome.

Lindisfarne Gospels, 698AD – This 7^th century masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon art is originally from Holy Island in Northern England and the earliest surviving of the Latin Gospels. This book is truly gorgeous; a crinkly, illustrated MSS with jagged edges, about ¾ the size of a standard Pulpit Bible. The text is exquisitely handwritten but in uniform Latin lettering. There is a smaller Anglo-Saxon translation which was added between the Latin lines in 970AD by Aldred.

To be within a ‘nose’ of these Gospels – separated only by thin glass – is a thrilling and ethereal experience. These Gospels were written ‘For God and St Cuthbert’ by just one artist, Eadfrith who was the Bishop of Lindisfarne from 698 – 721AD. This is one of my all-time favourite books. 

St Cuthbert Gospel, 698AD – The St Cuthbert Gospel, a 7th century manuscript, is the earliest surviving intact European book and one of the world’s most significant treasures. It retains its exquisite original fine-tooled red leather binding and survives intact. This is the starting point for books as we know them today, an exceptional example of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship. This handwritten Gospel is a Latin copy of John’s Gospel. It was placed in St Cuthbert’s coffin in 698AD on Lindisfarne and later found when the Saint’s coffin was opened in Durham Cathedral in 1104.

STOP PRESS (April 2012) – The St Cuthbert Gospel has now been saved for the nation (at a cost of £9m) and is now on open display in the BL Galley. It’s quite small and beautifully hand-scripted in Latin. Well worth seeing if you can.

Holkham Bible Picture Book, 1325 – 1350 This celebrated picture-book tells the Biblical story in Norman French, with the help of copious illustrations of everyday 14th-century England.

Sherborne Missal, 1400 – 1407 This early 15th-century manuscript is probably the largest and most lavishly decorated English medieval service book to survive from the Middle Ages. It came from the Benedictine Abbey in Dorset and weighs a whopping 3 stones!

Gutenberg Bible, 1455 – Probably the most famous Bible in the world and the earliest full-scale work printed in Europe using movable type. 

Tyndale New Testament in English, 1526 – Tyndale’s New Testament was the first to be printed in English. The BL has one of only two copies of this earliest English translation of the Bible. It was regarded as a heretical text and Tyndale was strangled and burnt at the stake for his efforts in 1536. This was the Bible that Anne Boleyn, wife of King Henry VIII read, so eventually even members of the Royal Household accepted the text. 

Geneva Bible, 1560 – The first Bible version divided into verses, produced by English Protestant exiles in Calvinist Geneva during the reign of Queen Mary Tudor. This was a much smaller Bible printed in legible Roman type.

King James Bible, 1611 – The King James, or Authorised, Version of the Bible remains the most widely published text in the English language. King James convened the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 to produce a suitable version for England and this Bible duly appeared in 1611. The 400th anniversary of the KJV was celebrated last year in 2011.

Book Trade – is News Corp a ‘Fit and Proper’ entity to be a Bible publisher?

Last evening, a bombshell exploded in the worldwide book trade with the announcement by HarperCollins in New York of their proposed purchase of Thomas Nelson USA (Publisher of Billy Graham, Max Lucado and the New King James Bible).

This is astonishing. News Corporation already owns Zondervan (the Publisher of the New International Version, on licence from Biblica USA) and HarperCollins (the Publisher of the Good News Bible).

I, for one, am not hugely keen on the news that an ethically discredited NewsCorp may shortly own two major USA Christian publishers; Zondervan & Thomas Nelson; thus – incredibly – making Rupert Murdoch the largest Christian publisher in the world, in control of many of the major English translations of the Bible!

I believe, in the light of the phone-hacking scandal here in the UK, that NewsCorp is not a ‘fit and proper’ entity to control such a major percentage of English Bible translations. To me, this is extremely worrying.

As John Duncan said on Facebook today;

 ‘By my reckoning this now makes HC owners of the companies that produce the NKJV, a large percentage of the KJV (both Nelson and HC), the NCV, the NIV (US editions), the GNB, the ESV (UK editions), and some NRSV – rather a lot of bibles, really’.

Christianity Today reported in September 2010 that:

 ‘The American Bible Society says there are 32 translations on the North American market, while Christian Book Distributors offers over 50. BibleGateway.com offers 23 English versions’.

Whilst this is true, CBA USA figures indicate that the list of best selling Bibles by unit sales in 2010 is actually a much smaller group of translations;

1. New International Version
2. King James Version
3. New King James Version
4. New Living Translation
5. English Standard Version
6. Holman Christian Standard Bible
7. The Message

Make no mistake; News Corp may soon control the majority of the bestselling English translations of the Bible. In this list, the only independent translations are The New Living Translation (Tyndale), the Holman Christian Standard Bible (Broadman and Holman) and The Message (NavPress).

I have known and worked with good people in all of the companies mentioned above and I have no wish to cause offence but this seems to be a rather perilous and serious state of affairs. Thomas Nelson is a privately owned USA company – maybe the owners will see sense and reconsider the sale.

2 Corinthians 2:17 states; ‘Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God’.

These are salutory and hard words indeed for all of us working in this industry.

Meditation – some words from Psalm 94

PSALM 94:12-19 (part NIV, part Message)

The words below were read in Church last Sunday.

I have been meditating on them since – they are quietly stunning.

‘Blessed is the person you discipline O Lord

the person you teach from your law

You provide a circle of quiet within the clamour of evil

For the Lord will not reject his people

He will never forsake His inheritance

… when I said, my foot is slipping

your love O Lord supported me

When anxiety was great within me

your consolation brought joy to my soul

.. the Lord has become my fortress

And my God the rock in whom I take refuge’.