I didn’t attend the final day of the Christian Book Expo yesterday in Dallas. Instead, Gail and I visited my parents in Waco. However, I promised I would share my summary thoughts on the event.

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I began yesterday with a breakfast meeting with a couple of other publishing CEOs. We got together to see if we could coordinate a large-scale promotion that would benefit our entire industry.

I can’t say more at this point, because we are in the early stages of discussion. Nevertheless, I was encouraged by the fact that there seems to be a growing realization that we might be able to make the pie bigger for all of us, rather than just continuing to steal market share from one another.
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Yesterday, the Christian Book Expo floor opened. We had 66 publishers, scores of authors, and dozens of book signings and author events. The attendance was lighter than I had hoped. However, given the fact that this is a consumer show and most consumers are working during the day, it wasn’t a complete surprise. Hopefully, attendance will pick up on Saturday.

Regardless, I thought it was a very productive day. We sold books steadily out of our booth all day long. Our friends from Family Christian Stores staffed the cash registers, which was a huge help. Meanwhile, Gail and I met with literally dozens of authors throughout the day.

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The first-ever Christian Book Expo (i.e., “CBE”) began yesterday in Dallas Texas. I’ve decided that I will post my daily activities, so that you who can’t attend can follow along vicariously. In case you missed it, I blogged about the details of this book festival a month ago.

Yesterday morning started out early with the GPA Invitational Golf Tournament. This is an annual event designed to raise funds for the Global Publishing Alliance (i.e., “GPA”). We played at the beautiful Tour 18 golf course in Flower Mound, Texas, just outside of Dallas.

I played in a foursome with Max Lucado. The tournament was a scramble format, and the weather could not have been better. Our score was not that great, but we had a blast. Hanging out with Max is always such a treat.

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