It is no secret that the publishing industry has faced many challenges over the past decade and even beyond. Digital media, e-readers and the rapid pace and consumption of online information has made a significant impact on their sales and bottom line. Crain’s New York Business brought this interesting topic to our attention in their article, “Religious texts are rare bright spot for publishers.”
There is one area of print publishing that is seeing some energy – religious publishing. Sales from religious presses to bookstores, online retailers and other dealers rose by 7.2% in 2016. This, according to the Association of American Publishers, is nearly triple the rate of overall book sales.
Many of the leading denominations and faiths are producing new prayer books, hymnals and worship resources to adopt new language to suit the times. In addition, many of them do not always have standard “across the board” beliefs, so various branches will produce their own materials. Up to 80% of the religious publishing is done in print as well.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
