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Winter
2010 Events
February:
13
Refuge Church Ministries II
Singles and Couples Retreat
Ramada Inn - BWI
7253 Parkway Drive
Hanover, MD 21076
Book sales and signings (all day)
19-21 Jackson,
Mississippi Book Tour
Saturday:
Meet & Greet with -
- Rts. Campus Christian Bookstore
- Reformed Theological Seminary
- Baptist Bookstore
- Cokesbury Book and Church Supply
- Milestone Books and Worship
- Bell's Robes and Worship Aids
- St. Andrew's Bookstore
Sunday:
Fresh Start Christian Church
Pastor James Henley
5210 Manhattan Road
Jackson, MS 39206
(601) 519-7873
Guest speaker -
11:00am service with booksigning following worship service
26-28
South Carolina
Book Festival
Columbia, SC
*Books represented by The Author's Collective*
March:
1
Black Authors
Network Radio Show
with Host Ella Curry
8:00pm (EST)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/
Black-Author-Network
Listener dial-in number (646) 200-0402
7
Self-Publishing
Symposium
AspiComm Media
4th Annual S'Indie Self/Independent Publishing Awards
515 Malcolm X Boulevard
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Harlem, NY 11510
(516) 292-2149
12-14
Tucson Festival of Books
Tucson, AZ
*Books represented by The Author's Collective*
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| February 6, 2010
Hello
to all as I bring you greetings from Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD in
the midst of the Blizzard of 2010. It is predicted that we will
have 3
feet of snow by the time the snow ends later tonight!
"Self-Publishing growth a historic
development in book industry"
As the author of the Give God the Glory!
series of books and devotionals for the past eight years, these books
have earned 14 literary / media awards, are distributed internationally
by the world's largest Christian distributor, will be available in the
French, Burmese, Falam, and Ngawn languages in 2010 and
are currently
under consideration for translation and distribution in
Russian. All
of these books are published through my Christian-based publishing
company - Writing for the Lord Ministries. Yes, these
books
are self-published!! At this juncture in my global ministry
outreach,
the number of rejections that I've received from mainstream publishers
is irrelevant.
But...did you know that publishers
are increasingly turning to self-publishing as a growth market?
In the
midst of the downturn in our economy, a few publishers are starting to
recognize the value, credibility, honesty, insight, and talent of
self-published authors/titles. With the recent success of The Shack,
by William P. Young, publishers are taking notice. In parallel,
current economic conditions are forcing them to look at other means to
finance their struggling businesses and alternatives to supplement lost
revenue.
In
October 2009, Thomas Nelson Publishers, in partnership with Author
Solutions, became the latest publisher to create a new self-publishing
division - WestBow Press (Nelson's former fiction imprint). They are
actively soliciting manuscripts for publication from new authors.
Chief Executive Officer Michael Hyatt is quoted as saying, "With
the creation of WestBow Press, we will be able to help more authors
realize their dreams of being a published author, while discovering
more diamonds in the rough to add to our roster." Earlier
this
year, publishing research firm, R.R. Bowker, reported that
self-published and print-on-demand titles doubled in 2008 compared to a
3% decline of traditional books. It is an historical development
that
on-demand and short-run books exceeded the number of traditional books
entering the marketplace. Other Christian publishers who have
ventured
into self- or co-publishing programs include WinePress Publishing,
Salem Communications, Xulon Press, and B&H Publishing Group's
CrossBooks Publishing, just to name a few.
A
word of caution however. This trend does not necessarily mean that
the
mainstream publishers will have your best interest at heart. In
fact,
they most likely will not. Here are quotes from two respected
publishing industry insiders on the subject:
"We're going to see publishers try all sorts of new ideas.
They're trying to figure out how to make money with digital books, how
to improve the bottom line, how to trim costs, and how to increase
income." A 'farm team' implies that your editorial and marketing
people will be investing in these authors, shaping them for a brighter
publishing future and that won't be happening."
- Chip MacGregor, Literary Agent
"I think that struggling publishing houses are looking to
capitalize on this trend to make money. It is interesting to me
that
Thomas Nelson will not edit the manuscripts that their new WestBow
Press will publish."
- Sarah Bolme, Director, Christian
Small Publishers Association.
In Luke 5:4, Jesus commanded the first disciples that He
recruited to "Launch out into the deep, and let your down your nets
for a draught (catch)."
Has God given you a vision and dream to write your message to an
audience that desperately needs it? If so, do not hesitate to
take
advantage of the new and exciting opportunities that exist within the
publishing industry. You no longer need to withstand multiple
rejections from the mainstream publishers who offer the same excuses to
the masses. God, through technological advances and other strategies,
is opening doors for self-publishers that did not exist five years
ago. Take your launch today!
**Parts of this writing were extracted from the following
source: Christian Retailing magazine, December 7, 2009
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Publishing Industry News
200
Number of Waldenbooks mall-based stores that Borders
Group Inc. closed last month. 131 mall locations remain open.
$1.3 billion
Approximate
savings Bertelsmann AG, which owns Random House, has achieved so far
this year under its cost-cutting and efficiency program, which the
media company's executive board adopted last spring.
3 million
Number
of U.S. e-readers projected to be sold in 2009, with 30% of those sales
anticipated to occur during the most recent holiday season. Six
million are expected to be sold in 2010.
Source: Book
Business magazine, December 2009 issue.
84%
Percentage
of the 19 social networking sites tracked by Google's Ad Planner tool,
including Twitter and Facebook, that were shownn to have more female
users than male. Male users, however, dominate social news sites
like
Digg (64%) and Slashdot (82%).
4
Number
of months after the launch of new, hardcover titles in 2010 that Simon
& Schuster will wait to release the titles' e-book formats.
Source: Book Business
magazine, January 2010 issue.
**March is SMALL PRESS MONTH**
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Upcoming Industry Events
February 27 - March 3
National Religious Broadcasters
Convention
March 14-17
Children's Pastors Conference
March 18-20
NW Christian Education Conference
April 19-21
London Book Fair
London England
April 21-23
The Gathering 2010, Louisville, KY
(407)333-7110
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 About the
Founder/Author
Kevin
Wayne Johnson is a commissioned minister (National Association of the
Church of God, Anderson, IN), author of the multiple award winning and
national best-selling Give God the Glory!
series of books and devotionals, husband, and father to three middle
school-aged boys. While his books are sold worldwide, Johnson has
served on the faculty for seven writer's conferences throughout the
United States and London England since 2004. He serves Jesus
Christ
with the fundamental belief that God uses ordinary people to
accomplish extraordinary things!
Visit Johnson's websites
at: www.writingforthelord.com and www.writingforthelord.org.
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