Comments on: Christian Book Expo: My Take

By: Why Christian Retail Book Market Self-Help Books Get Attention of … | Christian Children's Book

Thu, 21 May 2009 07:15:20 +0000

[...] Christian Book Expo My Take Michael Hyatt Indie booksellers now have only eight percent of the overall $32 billion book retail market. Christian booksellers have a small slice of the indie market. As for diagnosing. [...]

By: LynCote

LynCote — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:49:35 +0000

Hi, I was there too. One idea that might be entertained is to break it up into regions and smaller venues. More authors would be available then since they could drive over. And finally no entrance fee! Let people choose from a menu and pay for what the workshops and events that are above and beyond the floor. And authors, I gave away books. I viewed this as an opportunity to get new readers.
Well, I'm late in commenting, but thanks for the insightful analysis, Mike.
Lyn Cote

By: Noel Griese

Noel Griese — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:30:01 +0000

Nothing wrong with buyers and vendors getting shmoozed at dinner. But one of the problems with the CIROBE book show in Chicago is the number of vendors renting inexpensive suites apart from the show to vend their products. Someone started that at the Spring Book Show, and Larry May put a quick stop to it with a tactful email to all the vendors and registered buyer attendees discouraging commerce with the parasite.

By: Dr. David Frisbie

Dr. David Frisbie — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:31:46 +0000

We did several e-mail blasts. Our fan base wanted to take us out for coffee or even dinner. "We can take you out to a really nice dinner for less than it would cost our family to park and pay for admission," one couple told us. For our fan base (we're not Max Lucado, and we get that) the price of parking and admission offset the perceived benefit of seeing the various authors and learning more about the books. We ended up having blessed and meaningful coffee times and meal times with some of our readers. A few of them (God bless them, one and all) did buy tickets, come to the show, and then buy books: ours and others.

By: Chownage

Chownage — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:34:23 +0000

I would wonder what it would have been like if all 150 speakers would have emailed their fan base a couple of times?

By: Chownage

Chownage — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:33:09 +0000

Or offer an entrance fee with a 25% discount on all products. If someone spends $80 on products, they got their entrance fee back.

By: Chownage

Chownage — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:29:30 +0000

This was my assumption…especially when you have what used to be CBA Expo around the same time just a handful of years ago.

By: NoelGriese

NoelGriese — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:01:24 +0000

Mark Kuyper and I are going to talk. I sent him a few more things to think about before we get together by phone. Didn't want to bother you – surprised you can find time to read all the traffic on your blog. Meanwhile, I'm helping to plan a national seminar on self-publishing, a seminar for writers at the Great American Bargain Book Show in Boston in August and trying to help Clark Atlanta University launch a new TV show on books and authors – initially via Comcast to Atlanta metroplex, but already being test-marketed for digital streaming internationally. Also just posted a story on my Energy Pipeline News blog about how Goldman Sachs, Citibank and Merrill Lynch last summer manipulated the crude oil futures market, driving the price of crude oil to $147/bbl. in order to drive SemGroup into bankruptcy and pick clean the bones. Highest traffic I've had at that site since I ran a story about how KBR Halliburton failed to inform U.S. soldiers protecting it in Iraq that they were being exposed to hexavalent chromium – the bad stuff that got Erin Brokovich angry. Brings back memories of my early days as an investigative reporter in Chicago.

By: Michael Hyatt

Michael Hyatt — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 02:02:10 +0000

Were you there? Where are you getting your information?

Actually, we didn't sell directly to consumers. We worked with a Christian retailer. They had their registers and their staff in our booth. They took 100% of the retail sales. We sold them our product at our normal trade discounts. Nearly all of the other publishers did the same thing.

By: Michael Hyatt

Michael Hyatt — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:33:41 +0000

I know Mark Kuyper sent you an email on Tuesday, March 24th. He copied me. Did the two of you ever get a chance to talk?