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

Wow, summer ends very soon. Well, it's been a while since our last e-newsletter. The reasons are simple. To date, 2009 has been a year of change, rest, restoration, new ideas, refocus, redirection, and paradigm shifts to ensure that the Give God the Glory! book series truly reaches its intended audiences - the world!

During these current, and on-going, economic challenges that have lingered since December 2007, I have encouraged everyone within my sphere of influence to reduce spending, eradicate debt and save their money! My personal plan for 2009 has been just that. We have successfully cut back on spending by 80% and have made a serious dent in debts that had accumulated since 2001 when I began publishing this book series. The results have been remarkable!

This economic climate has drawn me closer to God and caused me to recognize the reality of what I had previously suspected. That is, in the publishing world, the two entities that really make money are distributors and advertisers. All other aspects of publishing rely heavily on these two if they are to flourish, beyond modest means, in this highly competitive arena. Read this quote from the past President of the Independent Book Publisher's Association:

"Last year, 400,000 books were published in the U.S. alone. When you consider that at the same time the number of distributors willing to take on a smaller publisher is shrinking, you can understand why the No. 1 concern of the majority of our members is distribution - getting it, keeping it and figuring out how to make it work cost effectively."

- Florrie Binford Kichler - Book Business magazine, September 2009

That said, I love to write and to serve others through the Christian literature that we publish: Books, articles, and devotionals. We will continue to do so. During this year of change, we have forged new relationships with the National Baptist Convention, the National Association of the Church of God (NACOG - Anderson, Indiana), as the incoming National Secretary for the Men's Ministry / Convention, translation of our first book into French beginning in January 2010 (Publisher: Editions Vida), and I was commissioned as a minister by the NACOG on May 18th. What's more, our book series is being reviewed by several global publishers for possible translation into ten (10) foreign languages.

Together, as we transition from summer into fall, be mindful of what our Heavenly Father teaches us in Isaiah 40:8-

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of God stands forever."

Enjoy God's blessings and spend your dollars wisely, asking God for direction.

Kevin Wayne Johnson

Founder - Writing for the Lord Ministries

Author - Give God the Glory! series

Publishing Industry News

$331 million

2008 revenue reported by 30 Audio Publishers Association member companies, a 6.7% decrease from the previous year.

700,000

Approx. number of titles Barnes & Noble (B&N) is offering at the launch of its new B&N eBookstore. The retailer expects that number to increase to more than 1 million titles within the next year. B&N also announced that is will be the exclusive eBookstore provider on the forthcoming Plastic Logic eReader device.

12,025

The final number of verified attendees, not including exhibitor personnel, at the 2009 BookExpo America, held in May in NYC. This number represents a 30% increase over the trade show's 2008 attendance in Los Angeles, yet an 11% decrease from the 2007 show in NYC.

Number of James Patterson titles that have appeared on the New York Times Best-Seller List - a Guinness World Record. Patterson received the honor at this year's BookExpo America.

83%

Percentage year-over-year increase of total minutes spent on social networking sites in the U.S. Total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700% year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site. MySpace's year-over-year growth declined 31% in the same time period.

5,000

Approximate number of e-book titles Simon & Schuster (S&S) has made available on Scribd.com for purchase and download, as a result of an agreement between the global trade publisher and the social publishing company. In addition, S&S also will make thousands of printed titles available for preview on Scribd.com, with links to purchase from the S&S Web site and other retailers.

Sources: Book Business magazine, August and September 2009 editions.

Industry Events

Sept. 3-7

Beijing International Book Fair

Beijing, China

(480) 966-3998

Sept. 6-8

Marketsquare Asia 2009

This event connects Asian Christian booksellers and publishers with western publishers. Exhibits, educational seminars and more!

Hong Kong, China

(719) 432-8428

See our listing at this international event

Sept. 13-15

Munce Group Christian Product Expo

Nashville, TN

1 (800) 868-4388

Oct. 14-18

Frankfurt Book Fair

The world's largest marketplace for trading publishing rights and licenses.

Frankfurt, Germany

(480) 966-3998

Nov. 5-8

CIROBE

Chicago, IL

(773) 493-1389

Summer 2009 update

This past summer's travels took us to Somerville, NJ, West Middlesex, PA, Denver, CO, and The Island of Bermuda. Many new relationships were forged and some of our many wonderful photos capture the moments. Please enjoy!

Somerville, New Jersey - July 11th & 12th

Kevin and wife, Gail, with our NJ church home: Shiloh Pentecostal Church, Inc., with Pastors Pat and Jack Webster at the grand opening of the new sanctuary and building.

West Middlesex, PA - August 8th & 9th

National Association of the Church of God (Anderson, IN) Annual Camp Meeting

Dedication ceremony for the new Wimbush-Benn Fellowship Hall. Construction begins immediately.

Denver, CO - August 13th to 16th

Denver's oldest church (Catholic) as seen from the Colorado State Capital Building.

THE WORD - Denver's only African-American Christian-owned detached bookstore. The owner, Cherlyn Haliburton, graciously hosted a booksigning on Saturday.

Kevin with Pastor Ron Frierson, Heart of the World Christian Center. Booksigning was held after the 10:30am Sunday morning worship service.

The Island of Bermuda - August 23rd to 28th

Entering the northern tip of Bermuda on the Norwegian Cruise Line.

Kevin with Bishop Vernon Lambe, Jr. in St. George's, Bermuda. Bishop Lambe oversees the 3 Church of God congregrations (Pembroke, Hamilton, and Somerset) on the island and just celebrated 50 years of marriage.

I visited St. George's only AME church on the way to the beach!

Remnants of royalty on display in the St. George's museum.

St. Peter's church is the oldest on the Island of Bermuda.

All homes on the island must paint their roofs white.