Writing for the Lord Ministries - Give God the Glory! E-Newsletter Archives

Hello to all as I bring you greetings from Memphis, TN in the midst of a midwest tornado. It is predicted that we will have 8 inches of pouring rain by the time it ends on Sunday!

The gift of writing a best-selling book series - Give God the Glory! - has developed into something much bigger over the past seven years: Serving others. The Apostle Paul taught this simple, yet effective, principle to the saints at Philippi:

"Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
(Philippians 2:4 - NIV).

His service was also personified through four mission journeys throughout Asia Minor and Macedonia as he established several local churches, encouraged their growth and development through epistles, and mentored young pastors.

Looking at Paul's life, particularly after his conversion on Damascus Road, I marvel at how God uses ordinary folks to accomplish extraordinary things by the orchestration of the Holy Spirit. That said, "writing for the lord" for the past seven years has led me down a phenomenal path that has broadened into an unprecedented number of opportunities, both locally and internationally. Amongst them include preaching at selected churches several times per year upon request, teaching at numerous writers conferences, receiving annual royalties from the copyright clearance center, earning 16 literary awards for literary excellence, generating global sales, translation of selected books into foreign languages, cultivating great relationships with publishing industry professionals, enjoying the fulfillment that comes in response to the call upon my life, and moving toward e-books as a viable alternative to print books only.

Given the new wave of technological advances across the industry, and the soon-to-be transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, it is incumbent upon authors, writers, and publishers to keep pace with today's consumer. Smart authors/publishers will heed the three key market dynamics shaping today's book-buying behavior. For example, did you know that e-book sales increased 50% in the past year?

1. The economy and the resulting decline of book purchasing. Book buyers as a percentage of the U.S. population dropped below 50% for the first time ever 2008.

2. Reading's competition for our leisure time with the ever-growing choices available. Last year, online activities even surpassed television viewing as the No. 1 leisure activity among American adults, who now spend on average more than 15 hours per week online. Reading books comes in at a paltry 5.5 hours per week.

3. The migration of product formats. E-book sales are sharply increasing as hardcover, paperback, and mass market sales are all down. The Amazon Kindle Store includes more than 440,000 books, the Sony e-Reader offers users access to more than 1,000,000 e-books, and Barnes and Noble Nook offers more than 1,000,000 titles. Further, at the end of 2009, Amazon.com announced that its Kindle e-readers had become the most gifted item in Amazon's history. On its peak day of the holiday season (December 14, 2009), Amazon customers ordered more than 9.5 million item worldwide - a record-breaking 110 items per second.

I serve others through shared knowledge of industry trends. Take advantage today and advance your publishing program to new levels!!

Enjoy God's blessings!

Kevin Wayne Johnson

Founder, Writing for the Lord Ministries

Author, Give God the Glory! series

Publishing Industry News

Amazon Royalties Up
Amazon.com recently announced a 70% royalty option for authors and publishers on its Kindle Digital Text Platform. Beginning June 30, 2010, authors and publishers who select the new royalty option will receive 70% of the list price, net of delivery costs.

299

The number of customers (out of 353 purchases) who opted to take a book for free instead of paying $0.99 or more for it, on option offered through Smashwords "honor system" payment choice. Fifty-four customers paid for a book. Among those who voluntarily paid for a book, payments ranged from $0.99 to $12.42. The average price paid was $3.20.

30
The number of sites hosting an Espresso Book Machine, the automatic, book-at-a-time book manufacturing device created by Jason Epstein and Dane Neller, founders of On Demand Books. Nineteen of the locations are in the United States.

The Most Expensive E-book

The most expensive e-book retails for $6,232, according to The Most Expensive Journal (Most-Expensive.net). The e-book, "Nuclear Energy," which includes three volumes of "Energy Technologies," is sold on Amazon.com.

Source: Book Business magazine, April 2010 issue.

**May is THE MONTH OF PEACE**

Upcoming Industry Events

May 3-5

ECPA Executive Leadership Summit

Nashville, TN

480-966-3998

May 13-18

EXPOLIT

Miami, FL

1-866-782-3976

June 1-4

Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit

St. Charles, IL

1-888-972-2556

June 27-30

International Christian Retail Show

St. Louis, MO

1-800-252-1950

About the Founder/Author

Kevin Wayne Johnson serves as Pastor of Ministry at Celebration Church, Columbia, MD, is a licensed minister (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: