Christian book sellers

Christian Publishing and Secular Holding Companies

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Christian publishers who are owned by secular companies have always made for strange bedfellows. Christian publishers are bound by some ethics which they follow – one of the main ones is that they must always remain Christian in the materials that they produce. So what happens when a Christian publisher is owned by a secular company?

A certain case comes to mind, where one secular company produced a controversial book about gay Christianity, and the publisher had to ask that the ethics be examined. This brought to an end a business relationship that had endured for long. This case underscores the problems facing Christian publishers who are owned by secular companies.

Different ethics
A secular publisher will sell a book as long as it can bring about high readership volumes – the readership may be a result of outrage, excitement, amazement and more. Basically, as long as they are within the law in releasing a publication, secular companies will not balk at selling any book.

A Christian publisher is bound by the ethics that are in line with the teachings of the bible. Even if there is Christian fiction being sold, the titles have to show some Christian value. Children’s books are written about monsters and how they are defeated, but the whole story has to toe the thin line between a fairy tale and a horror story.

A tale of survival
In order for some publishing houses, Christian or secular, to survive in the tough publishing business, they sometimes form mergers. Some of the companies that run these mergers are strictly secular in the way they publish books. This is a story of survival, and sometimes it does not auger well for the Christian publisher. Stories of corporate battles over the kinds of books to publish are seen on the news every day.

Do Christian publishers have to work with profitable secular publishers in order to keep their books on the markets? This is an interesting question and this is because this is what happens most of the time. In rare cases is a Christian publisher acquired by another Christian publisher. Secular publishers have great incomes and funds, given that their titles are more widely sold. Christian publishers lack this financial backing and that is why they seek such mergers, which can sometimes be very embarrassing.

So what should be done?
Christian publishers need to find a way to merge and form bodes that can come together and pool resources to get financial and market stability. There are associations for Christian publishers but these are not run as enterprises. It is now time for Christian publishers to run a collective enterprise. They will be better positioned to compete with secular books once they do so. It is all up to the individual publishers now to think of other ways, other than getting acquired by secular companies.

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The Future of Christian Publishing

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All forms of Christian Literature, especially fiction books are really having a hard time selling to the public. The market for Christian Publishing is very large, but most publishers are having a hard time competing in the technological world of the Internet. There are still very many publishers that are still active in this market, but most of these are the ones that have been established for a long time and have a great history with their customers. We look at some of the challenges that Christian Publishers are facing today, and what they can do to make it better.

The pricing of books
The main issue affecting Christian publishers is the pricing structure today. When the time came for eBooks and the many self-published books available on the Internet, Christian publishing took a serious hit. There has been a lot of pressure to lower prices in order to keep prices at levels that would attract customers. There are customers who would not mind paying premium prices for a good book, but these are a very small portion of the total readership base.

There has been a definite race for the bottom when it comes to pricing and this makes it very hard to sell new books at the usual prices. This pricing structure has brought about complete restructuring of the Christian publishing industry over the years.

Following reader tastes
Readers of Christian books have varying tastes in the material they read. Just like the wide range of preachers in the world, each with his or her way of preaching, readers tend to follow publishers and authors who are well known. This has forced new publishers and authors to try and follow the readers, instead of the other way round. People are making the mistake of writing according to the style of yet another writer, and this dilutes the content of the book. Ideally, each author and publisher should stick to their style, market the books well, and let the readers come to them.

Expanding to mass markets
This is the situation where a Christian publisher has to go to great lengths to get a book out, pay out a lot of money for printing, and marketing of the book, and also pay out advances to the authors, and only find that the book cannot be sold at break even prices. The mass markets have been liquid when it comes to new Christian books. Some of the larger publishers enjoy a full list of customers, but others end up struggling.

These are the major factors affecting Christian publishing and they should be addressed. There is a need for a concerted effort to get Christian publishing back on the map once more. People who love owning a book, will not hesitate to buy one from the store, but others who prefer digital editions will still be a challenge for these publishers.

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Digital Christian Publishing Makes an Indelible Mark

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Digital Publishing has had a profound effect on Christianity as a whole. When people and churches set up a website, they attract a huge following from their faithful flock. Many people log onto digital publishing platforms on a daily basis looking for the latest scripture, daily inspiration, and a lot more. This shows that digital publishing has had a profound effect on how Christians relate to the Word, Church and Christian Community.

Social Media
Every Christian Bookshop London has a social media site, where they announce their latest releases, and any offers that they may have. The sites are also used to pass on tidbits from some of the publications in an effort to influence their followers to buy the titles. Some of the social media sites run competitions that offer publications as prizes to the winners. Basically all this is only possible thanks to digital publishing. The books promoted in this way can easily be downloaded and read, without having to go to the Christian Bookshop London.

Audio books
Now this is one of the digital publishing platforms that is yet to take hold in Christian Circles. People love to read and see pictures, rather than listen to the book being read to them. However, for people who would not mind listening to the book, (not a sermon), audio books are a great way to get Christian publications in an easy-to-follow format. Some audio books go a little further to explain some of the issues and concepts that are found in the book.

Video
Now this is one of the best ways of publishing digital content online. It has been shown that some Christian writers have first produced content on sites like YouTube, which has then been published for sale at a Christian bookshop London, and have gone on to be bestsellers. The visual appeal of video can be seen even when you go to physical churches and video is used to explain what is being preached about in the sermon. People tend to remember videos much better than the scripted word. So authors should look into ways of publishing their books in video formats. The book entitled “The Secret” is one such boo that has successfully been produced as a video.

eBooks
One cannot talk about digital publishing without talking about Books. This is one of the simplest ways of getting your book published and sold on the Internet. Every Christian Bookshop London has a digital eBook store, where their audience can buy and download some of the titles that they stock in hard cover or paperback. eBooks are safe, thanks to digital signatures, and can be produced within a fraction of the time it takes to print a paper copy of the same.

Digital publishing has changed the landscape for the way a Christian Bookshop London can get books to their readers. It has also changed how authors and publishers work in today’s digital world. Basically, this new way of publishing books has left an indelible mark in the world of Christian publishing.

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Christian book sellers

Creativity Targeted at Young Minds May Shape Their Christian Life

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Creativity has always been highly regarded in Christianity because it reflects the creativity of the Maker of the whole universe. When you look all around you, you see the Creativity of God in all its Glory. Creativity can be used to shape the minds of youngChristians so they grow up rooted in the Christian faith.

Any good Christian Bookshop London should have books that bring out creativity in young people. The kind of creativity that glorifies and builds a Christian life. Creativity may come in the form of song, art, dance and a lot more, all of which can be used to shape the Christian lives of young people.

The pandemic creativity disease in Christianity
There has been a long-standing disease that seems to eat away at creativity within Christiancircles. People all seem to copy and clone what other people do. For example, Bishop T.D Jakes had a particular style of dressing that simply made him stand out from the rest. It was not long before preachers in churches all over the world were wearing outfits similar to his.

Now this is not the way that a Christian Bookshop London should teach creativity to young people. Creativity targeted for young people should teach them to build on their unique talents to uphold Christian values. If an individual has a great voice, he or she should look for publications that will enhance their own unique singing style. Not just copy what other Gospel artistes are doing.

True creativity from a Christianst and point
True creativity is that which follows the same process as that which God followed when he created the universe. From darkness and chaos came beauty.Creativity is always the first step towards light and deliverance. When creativity is used to its best, it produces an effect that can shake the whole world.

A Christian Bookshop London should think of creativity from this point of view. The books and publishers in stock should help young minds to use their creativity in ways that will truly be unique. Creativity is boundless, and Christians have to stop the bad habits of cloning their own works.

Creativity targeted at young people will help them build on the dreams that they have from an early age. It is true that children have a very wild imagination, where they believe that lions and lambs can coexist together in peace and harmony. This may not be the case in real life, but it speaks of the potential that can be found in young children. Material in a Christian Bookshop London should teach them how to creatively build on their dreams, factor in some real-life experience and then use these to build their Christian lives.

Christian Publishers and any Christian Bookshop London have the responsibility of nurturing this creativity. By simply stocking creative works, the creativity of the young ones is also primed. The young generation still have a lot to offer when it comes to creativity and Christianity. Publishers and authors should realize this and create content that will feed this creativity.

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Christian Publishing Delivering the World from Secular Privilege

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There has been a lot of misunderstanding about the Christian faith from the secular world. The term “Christianophobia” was coined to show just how the secular world looks down upon things that pertain to the Christian faith. In one case, a Colorado State University Christian organization applied for a grant to get a speaker to come and speak about Christianity at the college. The grant was turned down, and this led to a serious court case, where the student’s organization claimed that they were discriminated against since they were Pro-Christianity.

It is up to Christian publishing to deliver the world from such secular privilege, by coming up with books that teach about Christianity in a manner that is acceptable to the secular world. Any Christian Bookshop UK should have publications that will appeal to a secular audience, but have a Christian message.

Secularity and its effect on daily life

The secular world has always tried to maintain a sort of secular exclusivity especially to things that are based on the Christian faith. For example, a hospital may be looking for a doctor who would not hesitate to give an emergency abortion to a mother who may lose her life. The secular world will prefer a doctor who is not firmly rooted in Christianity, as opposed to one who upholds the Christian faith and may hesitate to perform such a procedure. The hospital management will be thinking of the financial implications of lawsuits brought about by such decisions, and therefore favor the non-Christian doctor.

Events such as these happen in daily life, but there is a need for the secular world to start accepting Christian tenets and norms as part of daily life too. This is where Christian publishing and Christian Bookshop UK come in.

The solution to secular privilege

The secular world has also accused Christians of promoting Christian privilege when it comes to sharing resources from a Christian organization or institution. However, secular privilege is much more embedded than Christian privilege. Christian publications and Christian Bookshop UK should address these issues from a “world view”. Issues surrounding both Christian and Secular privilege should be addressed academically and spiritually.

People have to know why they react as they do when secularism and Christianitycollide. They need to know how to handle issues that stem from such situations. Christian publications and Christian Bookshop UK are some of the best channels to do so, since they do have an unbiased world view.

All situations should be approached with alternatives from both pedagogies. What would a Christian do, and what would a non-Christian do in any situation that brings about these privileged view on issues?

The Christian Bookshop UK should have books that encourage conversation and not confrontation. Christian authors and publishers should be the first to out an end to this kind of view, since they are supposed to be more accepting and welcoming.

Christian publishing has a great role to play in changing these kinds of views. It is time that they picked up the mantle and set the world free from secular and/or Christian privilege.

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Christian Publishing and the Children’s Ministry

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There are several benefits that Christian publishing imparts on the Children’s Ministry. Every parents should make it a habit to walk into a Christian Bookshop UK and find a book that will help shape the Christian future of their young ones.

Ensuring that children are exposed to beneficial books right from the start ensures that they grow up to build a better society, family, church and world. The importance of Christian publishing in this aspect cannot be understated.

Ways in which Christian publications benefit children

The negative results of sin – You want your child to know that it is wrong to sin, and Christian publications have many ways of teaching children this. The 10 commandments are some of the basics that children start to learn, and they should follow them with dedication. A Christian Bookshop UK should have publications that teach about the bad outcomes of sin.

Understanding the world – Children are usually confused about the ways of the world. Christian publications help them understand who made the world and what the initial desire of the Maker was. They get to know about what went wrong with God’s initial plan and how this has shaped the world as they know it today. With this understanding, children will then get to know how they can stay close to the teachings of the Bible, and to God’s initial plan, so they can one day get to meet Him in Heaven.

Acceptance of Christ – It has been shown that people who accept Christ as their Lord and Savior at an early age tend to keep their faith. Children are very impressionable and tend to keep what they learned at a tender age for longer in their lives. These are the years in which they are molded into the adults that they will become. A Christian Bookshop UK should have books that encourage children to embrace salvation from an early age.

Counterbalancing worldly influences – The influence of worldly things can make a child stray from a Christian way of life. Christian publications have helped children in countering this kind of influence, by teaching them what really matters in life. A child is less likely to steal or lie in order to get ahead in life, if he or she knows that there is a clean and honest way of getting to the same objective. A Christian Bookshop UK should stock books that tell children about some of the challenges that they will face in life and how to overcome them in a Christian manner.

It is fun – Any Christian Bookshop UK will testify that Christian publications targeted at the Children’s Ministry are full of fun lessons. Children easily assimilate information when it is presented in a fun way. It may be in the form of cartoons, comics, stories or activities.

Christian publishing has a great responsibility and role to play when it comes to the Children’s Ministry. Authors and publishers should always think about these young and impressionable minds when they are creating content for them. The industry will help shape the future society with proper dissemination of Christian teachings.

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Readers Expect More from Christian Publications

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There is a perception that Christian publications are not as interesting as secular ones, and one wonders why this is so. For avid readers, who can go through a book in a single week, there has been tis view that Christian books are the most challenging to read. This is to say that readers expect a lot more from Christian publications. The challenge to any Christian Bookstore UK is to find those books that are easy to read and have content that will keep the reader glued to the pages.

Issues raised about Christian publications

The length of Christian books – Now this does not have anything to do with the number of pages that a book has. There are secular non-fiction books that have a lot of pages, but are still quite interesting to read compared to Christian boos of the same length. The issue is the time it takes for a Christian author to make a point. A great Christian Bookstore UK should have authors who have been known to be quick in getting to the point of any chapter in their books.

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The books seem like sermons – There have been sermons in the past that have been transcribed and become best sellers, but this is not something that all Christian books should try to emulate. The spoken word will not always seem as brilliant one it is written down on a page. Most Christian authors tend to base their content on sermons that they have preached in the past, and they often fail to give as much zest to the written word, as compared to their spoken sermon.

Doomsday writers – Many Christian authors tend to write about something bad, rather than something good. They talk about the impending doom for all non-believers. However, great writers will show the joys of living a Christian life, in a manner that will captivate the reader and inspire some real change. The audience needs information that they can invest in, rather than be shocked or irritated.

Too many quotes – Go into a Christian Bookstore UK and browse through some of the titles that you find there. One thing you may notice is that most books have too many quotestalking about the same tenet. Writers tend to write biblically, and quote from several biblical boos to support something that they are writing about. It would be great if these quotes would be reduced to just the most essential.

What readers really want

Readers want a Christian Bookstore UK to stock books that are readable, even when someone is tired in the evening. These books should have informationthat is full of zest and will inspire the reader to implement the teachings in his or her own life. Secular non-fiction, such as travel, is used to inspire people to visit places that they have never been to. The same should be done when it comes to Christian publications. A Christian Bookstore UK should do their due diligence and look for title s that have some of these basic “readability” factors.

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Will the Internet Promote or Corrupt Christian Publishing?

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The Internet has pervaded the lives of people all over the world, and this influence has reached into areas touching on religion and faith. You can easily find a Christian Bookstore UK that is selling Christian books online, in an effort to start a good relationship with people who use the Internet to buy goods and services. The Christian experience is now being pushed into cyberspace and one question stands above all – will the Internet promote or corrupt Christian publishing?

The World of online Christianity

One in every three churches has a website or other online channels of getting to build relationships with Christians online. Statistics show that 25% of Internet users have received some form of religious teaching online at one time or another. This figure is set to rise as many a Christian Bookstore UK set up online stores where they can sell Christian Titles to avid readers. People are treating the Internet as an ecclesiastical library to look for information that will inform their Christian beliefs. This shows that the Internet can indeed be used as a formidable channel to spread the Word of God.

The Concerns of online Christian channels

Any Christian Bookstore UK will say that there is a definite move towards online purchasing, and this may also be felt in other aspects of Christianity. People are now getting disembodied from physical churches as they seek for online churches to get their spiritual nourishment from. It is important for people to interact as they do when they go to physical churches, since they can discuss issues that are related to Christianity with other believers. This interaction is important in the creation of a vibrant Christian society or community.

Another concern that can be raised by a Christian Bookstore UK is information overload. There are too many books being sold online, with some providing differing opinions on the same Christian tenets. Which books should Christian readers rely on for the truth about their faith?

The Internet is very difficult to harmonize and the literature being disseminated online will always differ. This is the reason why publishers, authors and churches are concerned about the effect of the Internet on Christianity as a whole and Christian publishing.

The way forward
Kingdom Publishers, a leading Christian Bookstore UK, has urged Christians to follow guidelines that have been developed by some Christian learning institutions. Christians must look at:

  • The author or site creator, the credentials, background and experience.
  • The accuracy of the information available
  • The date that the information was published
  • The purpose of the information
  • The writing style

With these few guidelines, readers will be able to get information from a sustainable and stable source. Once a readers decides on getting information from one Christian Bookstore UK, or a particular author, he or she should keep this trend in order to get information that will provide consistent content.

With care, Christian publishing can be promoted by the Internet but there are also concerns that should be addressed with care.

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Should Popular Stories Be Used To Tell Christian Stories?

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Children love popular stories and fairy tales, since they are universally known and read as they have always been. Hansel and Gretel will sound the same, whether it is read in the UK or in Asia. Given the universal nature of these stories, do they have the potential to be used in teaching Christian Values?

It would be great if one could walk into a Christian Bookstore and find one of these popular books which has been adapted to fit certain Christian values. One should note that the stories do not have to change at all, but their summary can be used to teach a different lesson, other than the fact that good wins over evil.

A look at some stories that have the potential to teach Christian values

When you walk into a Christian bookstore and find the book about Hansel and Gretel, you immediately think of the “entertaining value” of the book and do not see much value from a Christian point of view.

Now imagine that the story is told just as it has been for centuries. Hansel and Gretel are lured into the lair of the wicked witch by the sweets and yummy stuff that she had laid out for them. Little did they know that they were to be fattened so they could be eaten.

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Hansel and Gretel eventually defeat the witch and escape with their lives. The Christian value here is about how temptation looks very sweet at the start. How temptation can lead a person into a life that could eventually have serious consequences. It tells of how one should rely on the good lessons learned from a Christian point of view to defeat the temptation.

The challenges to be addressed

Publishers who would like to see such popular stories end up in a Christian Bookstore have a lot of challenges to face.

The first is the copyright issue, which should be addressed with the publishers holding the rights for such stories. With such partnerships, popular stories can be used to teach Christian values to young children.

Publishers and authors also need to sensitize parents and children that the stories now have a new lesson to teach and they should visit a Christ bookstore to get the new versions. This means proper marketing to Christians through social media and other online avenues.

What other stories can be used to teach the same values?

Various cultures have their own popular stories that they tell their children. A Christian Bookstore should explore stories from several cultures all over the world. Pastor Andy Yiangou has a book, Jungle Tales, which has stories from the Karoomba Jungle, a popular jungle in Asian Folklore.

Kingdom Publishers is a Christian Bookstore that has a wide range of books that use popular stories to teach Christian values to children and adults alike. Visit their online store and check from their extensive catalog and see which books would be great for you and your children. Popular stories and characters can play a crucial role in shaping the Christian lives of both adults and children alike.