Christian Book Expo is “a major disappointment”

[The Night Owl]

Christian Book Expo is “a major disappointment”
By Marjorie Kehe | 03.25.09

“Stacks of unsold books and glum publishers stood for three days inside the cavernous Dallas Convention Center this past weekend at the Christian Book Expo,” reports book trade journal Publishers Weekly. The event, which organizers had hoped would draw 15,000 to 20,000 consumer attendees instead attracted only about 1,500.

The Christian Book Expo was a first-of-its-kind event. According to PW it was “designed to connect publishers and authors directly with readers in the evangelical Christian market.” The intention was to increase awareness about the work of 238 Christian writers.

The event was two years in the planning – conceived long before the recent economic downturn.

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http://features.csmonitor.com/books/...isappointment/

[linda22003]

"The Christian Book Expo was a first-of-its-kind event."

And with that result, likely the last.

[megimoo]

http://features.csmonitor.com/books/...isappointment/

It happens all the time so don't gloat too much. The best seller has always been the bible and a few other popular authors.

[linda22003]

The Bible's out of copyright. This was meant to make a profit for more current authors and their publishers.

[The Night Owl]

It happens all the time so don't gloat too much. The best seller has always been the bible and a few other popular authors.

I don't know... I hate to give your side hints (just kidding) but I think the problem with the Christian Book Expo was the limited scope. An expo featuring writers from a wide array of Christian denominations would have been much more of a draw than what was offered... which was an expo of evangelical writers. How dreary. Then again, asking evangelicals to share a tent with Catholics may be asking too much.

[megimoo]

I don't know... I hate to give your side hints (just kidding) but I think the problem with the Christian Book Expo was the limited scope. An expo featuring writers from a wide array of Christian denominations would have been much more of a draw than what was offered... which was an expo of evangelical writers. How dreary. Then again, asking evangelicals to share a tent with Catholics may be asking too much.

What would a 'bird' like you know of either ?

[noonwitch]

I don't know... I hate to give your side hints (just kidding) but I think the problem with the Christian Book Expo was the limited scope. An expo featuring writers from a wide array of Christian denominations would have been much more of a draw than what was offered... which was an expo of evangelical writers. How dreary. Then again, asking evangelicals to share a tent with Catholics may be asking too much.

My church has a bookstore, and they sell a variety of books by different authors-even though it's a liberal church, the store sells books by TD Jakes and Joel Osteen, who are not exactly liberals, and they sell all the Unity publications and the trendy, new age books of the day. But they carry very little serious theology. They'll order it for you.

Family Bookstores, formerly Zondervan's Book Stores, sell a very limited selection of books, all of which are pretty much evangelical books.

It would be nice to find a store where I could buy books by Aquinas, More, Bonhoeffer, and TD Jakes. Oh, yeah, there is. It's called Borders.

[The Night Owl]

My church has a bookstore, and they sell a variety of books by different authors-even though it's a liberal church, the store sells books by TD Jakes and Joel Osteen, who are not exactly liberals, and they sell all the Unity publications and the trendy, new age books of the day. But they carry very little serious theology. They'll order it for you.

Family Bookstores, formerly Zondervan's Book Stores, sell a very limited selection of books, all of which are pretty much evangelical books.

It would be nice to find a store where I could buy books by Aquinas, More, Bonhoeffer, and TD Jakes. Oh, yeah, there is. It's called Borders.

Those Zondervan stores are all over the place. I don't know how they turn a profit.

[Gingersnap]

This Expo probably suffered from being behind the curve in Christian consumer behavior. Although there is still a perception that Christians are less likely to use the Internet or prefer face-time encounters in meat space more than most, I don't think that's necessarily true for things like this.

Accessing publishers and outlets on the Internet is way more convenient and pleasant than wandering around some cavernous expo hall.

[FlaGator]

I don't know... I hate to give your side hints (just kidding) but I think the problem with the Christian Book Expo was the limited scope. An expo featuring writers from a wide array of Christian denominations would have been much more of a draw than what was offered... which was an expo of evangelical writers. How dreary. Then again, asking evangelicals to share a tent with Catholics may be asking too much.

And Christian books still far outsell atheist books....