Despite the rumors concerning of the demise of Christian books, bookstores, and especially Christian fiction there is news that tells a different story.
There were a couple statistics released this past week that show signs of encouragement!
General market sales:
According to the U.S. Census Bureau. Bookstore sales hit $698 million in the month of June 2015 compared to $672 million last June. That is a 3.9% increase. Skeptics will claim that the June 18 release of Grey by E.L. James inflated the numbers. But if must always cut out the “exception” then we need to cut the exceptions out of every statistical comparison.
Christian market sales:
According to Nielsen Bookscan religious fiction sales in the first 25 weeks of 2015 saw a 6.4% increase over the same period last year. This is a major reversal of the downward trend that caused a lot of consternation earlier this year when reports of 2014 numbers were unveiled. The silver lining is the lack of a major bestselling release in the Christian market that could skew the numbers. It is overall growth.
So what? What does this mean? In some ways it is like a good investor. A good investor does not panic when the stock market takes a dip (like it did last week). They remain confident in their investments and until other factors come about the good investor tends to hold on for the ride or see a downward trend as an opportunity, not a disaster.
In the same way it is important for an author to avoid the tendency to react emotionally to bits of bad news or react strongly to news that isn’t very encouraging. Instead it is wise to remain confident in their ability and until other factors come about the professional writer tends to hold on for the ride or see a downward trend as an opportunity, not a disaster.
Did I just write the same sentence twice? There is method to the madness. The point is to keep looking for opportunities that can open at a moment’s notice.
Books are still selling. A lot of them…every day…every hour. Readers still want entertainment, inspiration, or education in their books and they always will. You are a content provider and your words could be the ones that are read by tomorrow’s reader. Unless you give up and quit today.
Meanwhile let’s see if we can focus on a bit of good news for a change.
