The International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) is going on this week in Denver. As long as I have been involved in the book industry, trade shows have been fertile ground for rumors. Usually, each trade show sports one BIG rumor and a lot of little ones. Despite the fact that most turn out to be false, they keep everyone entertained and make long days on the floor bearable.
Though we are not attending ICRS this year, evidently this year’s rumor is about Thomas Nelson. Supposedly, we are being sold or have already been sold. I hate to spoil anyone’s fun, but this is patently false. We are not being shopped or in discussions with potential buyers. As the company’s CEO, I should know.
Maybe it doesn’t have the same high drama, but things here in Nashville are going well. We are struggling in this economy like everyone else, but so far our fiscal year, which began April 1, is off to a good start. For the quarter ending June 30:
- Our publishing sales were up 13.5% over the same period last year.
- Our returns were down 25%.
- Our profit more than doubled.
- Our market share increased slightly.
- We were the #1 Christian fiction publisher (according to PubTrack).
In addition:
- We currently have three books on the New York Times bestseller list.
- We had 17 of the top 50 Christian bestsellers on the July ECPA list.
- We won 6 “Retailers Choice Awards” yesterday—more than any other publisher.
Looking forward, we are optimistic about the fall selling season. In fact, with only three of our top 20 budgeted books for this fiscal year having been released, the best is yet to come.
So if you are attending ICRS and someone tells you Thomas Nelson has been sold or is being sold, please kindly point them back to this post. They deserve to get it straight from the horse’s mouth.
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Good for you Mike! Get out in front of rumint and squash it immediately!
That's right- straight from the horse's mouth. Great photo.
You've got to know your taking all the fun out of it! :)
I know, I hate that. Rumors can be so much fun.
When I saw the photo, I was initially thinking "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" and was wondering what that had to do with the article … thankfully you put me straight at the end!!
Great move! Debunk rumors as quickly as possible. I'm praying God will continue to bless you–the world needs God's absolute love so much, so keep at it!
Rumors start from the other end of the horse, right?
Good for you! I like it when people stand up for the truth. Why do people enjoy so much drama. Can you imagine if we took all the energy of gossiping and used it for the kingdom of heaven? Wow! God could use us to do some really cool things.o.0
Ha! Love the picture. LOL!! Thank for sharing.
I'm at the show and have discussed Thomas Nelson decision to not attend with several other exhibitors. I had not heard of the rumor that TN was being sold. I did hear that you were bringing back the Tommy Nelson name brand for your children's book titles. Is that true?
Yes, we are indeed bringing back the Tommy Nelon name and logo. We announced this at our sales conference a few weeks ago and I Twittered it at the same time. Thanks.