Some notes from a talk by Sally E. Stuart, author of The Christian Writers Market Guide:
- Publisher blogs are increasingly prevalent (for example, IVP).
- Authors are sometimes expected to provide fully developed marketing plans.
- “Secular” has become a pejorative term, now the preferred term is “General.”
- There is a move toward digital publication and dissemination, due to competition, postage, printing costs.
- Christian booksellers are facing stiff competition with decreasing margins, in part because Christian books are becoming popular in mainstream outlets like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Wal-Mart.
- Only 44% of Protestants read Christian magazines, which themselves only make up 21% of the magazine reading of the average Protestant.
- Christian publishing is the only publishing segment that has been growing in recent years (it is roughly 5-10 percent of the overall market).
