Where Have the Good Books Gone?

May 5, 2005 Posted by Roger OvertoncloseAuthor: Roger Overton Name: Roger Overton
Email: rogeroverton@hotmail.com
Site: http://ateamblog.com
About: Roger Overton is currently pursuing a Masters degree at Talbot School of Theology. He has addressed various churches, schools and youth camps throughout the United States. Roger was co-editor of The New Media Frontier (Crossway, 2008) and God and Governing (Wipf & Stock, 2009). Roger can be emailed at rogeroverton@hotmail.com.See Authors Posts (569)

An interview with Mark Tauber, Deputy Publisher for HarperSanFrancisco, was published in the latest Spring Arbor (a book distributor) catalog. The last question of the interview is especially intriguing. Keep in mind that HarperCollins is a secular publishing company (HSF is their religious imprint).

Q: In your opinion, what is one of the biggest challenges facing the Christian book industry today and how might it be overcome?

 

A: I think the biggest challenge for the Christian book industry is to get important transformational books back into the stores. Unfortunately, very few stores these days carry titles and authors other than the top 10 CBA marketplace bestsellers and gift renditions of those top 10. While this is important, it is also critical that stores go a few layers deeper and stock titles and authors who provide the meat that the bestsellers feed on. If the stores cannot go deeper in what they carry and how they merchandise, then I fear—and I am not alone—that it will soon simply need to be called the Christian gift industry.

This point speaks volumes of the Christian culture we live in today. Our popular Christian bookstores (Lighthouse, Family Christian, Berean- to name a few) are really more like gift stores. When I go to Lighthouse (my closest one) I’m amazed when I see a book I’m actually interested in; last time I picked up J. Gresham Machen’s The Gospel in the Modern World. But what was I there for? I was looking for a gift for my sister. When I want a book I go House of Bibles in Fullerton or Archives in Pasadena (which is bigger but farther away).

Mark Tauber has his finger on a symptom of a growing problem in contemporary Christianity. We have sacrificed critical thinking about our beliefs for catchy slogans and trendy programs (like Purpose Driven Life, Celebrate Recovery).

Related posts:

1. What Publishers are Learning about Books & Blogging
2. "Will Blog for Books"
3. Buy my books!
4. "Will Blog for Books"
5. Logos Books Galore!
6. Books I Can't Wait to Read

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