Tweet This
When LifeWay Christian Resources announced it was closing all 170 bookstores late last month, following the 2017 closing of all Family Christian’s 240 stores, you’d be forgiven if you assumed it was the end of days for Christian bookselling. Each at the time of their closing was the nation’s largest Christian bookstore chain.
The reports of a retail apocalypse for Christian bookstores, a phrase borrowed straight from the Bible, is more “fake news,” but the kind that could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, believes Greg Squires, the owner of The Parable Group, a data-driven marketing agency that supports Christian retailers, publishers and ministries.
“There is a broad perception among Christian pastors, church leaders and faith-based consumers that bookstores are gone,” he shares. “Even among Christian publishers there is a lack of depth and understanding about how meaningful the interactions are in a Christian bookstore.”
Nobody disputes the fact that bookstores in general, along with Christian bookstores in particular, have been impacted by Amazon and the changes in the way people buy and consume books.
“Christian publishing has been equally impacted by these changes, compounded by the loss of a large number of brick-and-mortar Christian retail bookstores,” says Stan Jantz, president and CEO of Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).
Demand for faith-based books is growing
Yet Christian and faith-based books are a bright spot in the overall publishing industry. In 2016 the Association of American Publishers (AAP) reported that books with religious and inspirational themes from both religious and trade publishers were among the best-selling books.
“Religious presses, imprints that focus on religion, spirituality and faith, grew 6.9% to $1.13 billion from 2015 to 2016,” the association announced.
“Books that emphasized values, simple living or had inspirational messages like the Magnolia Story, Present Over Perfect, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Uninvited were among the most popular in 2016,” reported Tina Jordan, APA’s vice president of trade publishing.
That growth continued from 2017 to 2018, with religious presses accruing 4.5% revenue growth and in January this year, the latest AAP StatShot reports religious presses led the field with an 8.1% increase in sales, compared to the industry’s drop of -3.2%.
“Christian publishers are growing, with some experiencing years of significant growth,” confirms Jantz. Among the leaders in the field are Baker Publishing, Harper Collins Christian Publishing (which owns Zondervan and Thomas Nelson among others), Faithwords (a division of Hachette Book Group), Tyndale House, Crossway, InterVarsity, David C. Cooke and Harvest House. Plus many Christian denominations operate a publishing arm.
These publishers are finding traction among the next generation of readers with authors like Rachel Hollis, Sarah Young, Bob Groff and Lysa TerKeurst, who “show,” rather than “tell” how faith can help people navigate in an increasingly secular culture.
“These authors are prominent on both Christian and general market bestseller lists,” shares Jantz.
What caused LifeWay’s failure
All told over 400 Christian bookstores shuttered in the past three years, including LifeWay and Family Christian, leaving some 2,000 or so stores still in operation. But what did LifeWay in was more than the impact of Amazon or the lack of interest in shopping at a Christian bookstore.
LifeWay, as the bookselling arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, shifted from selling a broad range of faith-based books to ones that largely promoted Southern Baptist perspectives. “It returned a bunch of product six-to-18 months ago basically saying it would no longer stock everything, but only hand-picked titles from the major publishers,” Squires shares.
For example, it gave preference to the denomination’s Christian Standard Bible, but short shrift to other popular translations. “There was a gap. Customers couldn’t find books they expected to find there, so they wouldn’t come back. A Christian retailer needs to serve a wide spectrum,” Squires says.
Also having a negative impact on the chain’s operation was the difference between an employee manager and an independent store owner. “Managers of chain stores have an inherently different approach to their responsibilities than an indie bookstore owner,” Squires believes, while he also apologized for making such a sweeping generalization.
“Managers of those chains stores varied in their level of local engagement and curation. It wouldn’t be fair to say it was none, but it also wouldn’t be fair to say all did it well either. It was a mixed bag, but if they had all done it well, they would have had a longer life.”
The key advantage for independent Christian bookstore owners is the passion they bring to serving the spiritual needs of the community. It is their calling, not just selling books, but helping people in their spiritual journey. “Christian booksellers are very industrious, very dedicated. They believe they are doing the work of the ministry,” Squires says.
Successful independent book store owners also curate their product selection to the wide range of faith preferences in the community, unlike LifeWay which took a top down, rather than an across-the-denominational-divide approach.
“Most successful Christian bookstores over the past decades have been the ones that are most adaptable from a topic perspective and most willing to serve a broad range of audiences,” he explains. “It is more about localization focused on the customer, rather than aligning around a certain strand of evangelicalism, theology or denomination.”
The very long tail of Christian readers
Despite the fact that the number of adults who regularly attend religious services has been declining, according to Pew Research Center, three-quarters of Americans identify with the Christian faith, per the latest Gallup survey.
Both Pew and Gallup surveys find that nearly 40% of Americans (39% by Pew and 37% by Gallup) are described as “highly religious.” That totals just under 100 million American adults.
A defining characteristic of these highly-religious Americans is they are committed readers, as well as committed believers. “Seven-in-ten people who are highly religious say reading the Bible or other religious materials is essential to their religious identity,” reports Pew.
This is exactly the kind of minimally-viable audience that Seth Godin describes in his latest book, This is Marketing. It’s an audience that is large enough to make it worthwhile from a cost perspective to reach, but small and niche enough that marketing messages resonate and are appreciated
“It is increasingly important in every sector of marketing to be able to curate a message to a minimally-viable audience,” Squires reflects.
Christian bookstores serve such a potentially-engaged audience, yet they remain underserved. The Parable Group’s research finds there are at least 100 markets with 50,000 people without a Christian bookstore within an hour’s drive.
From Squires’ vantage point he sees a growing opportunity for Christian bookstores and publishers. “ Christians are a passionate community that can make passionate, loyal customers for an independent bookstore ,” Squires believes.
“Christian booksellers love people and love books. They love their ministry and the impact they can have when a person walks in looking for a book or message that will help them spiritually. It’s a meaningful interaction that is happening every day among independent Christian booksellers,” he concludes.
