A New Book Review Program for Bloggers

A few months ago, we began an experiment. We offered a free book to anyone who agreed to post a 200-word review on their blog. We started with The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield. We had almost 200 people request books and almost 70% of them posted book reviews.

We were so pleased with the results, we decided to do it again. We offered Through the Storm by Lynne Spears. However, this time we required bloggers to post their review on Amazon in addition to their own site. We had slightly fewer requests and reviews, but we were still pleased with the results. Almost all the reviews were positive.

Thomas Nelson Wins Evangelical Book of the Year

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) just announced that our Word of Promise audio bible won the “Book of the Year” award for 2008. Wayne Hastings, Senior Vice President and Group Publisher for our Bible & Reference Group, accepted the award at the Christian Book Awards, held in Orlando, Florida, at the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS).

The amazing thing is that it is the first time in the 30-year history of the award that it went to a non-book. Think about it. First, it’s an audio Bible, rather than a traditional print book. Second, it’s a Bible rather than a book. This is fascinating. What does it mean for the future of publishing?

Layoffs at Thomas Nelson

I hesitated about blogging on this. But it’s kind of the “elephant” in the room. I think I owe it to you, my readers, to blog about the good things as well as the difficult.

As you may have read in Publishers Weekly or the Tennessean, yesterday we laid off slightly less than 10% of our workforce. This was not an easy decision. It fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say this was one of the most difficult decisions of my tenure Thomas Nelson.

A Change in Our Trade Show Strategy

Today, we announced that we will no longer be participating in the two major trade shows in our industry: Book Expo America (BEA) or the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS). As I said in our press release, we have been discussing this move for some time. In fact, it’s a conversation we have had every year since I have been at Nelson (ten years).

But the current economic downturn is forcing us to re-evaluate every marketing dollar we spend. This is not the reason for our shift in strategy, but it is the catalyst. The reality is that these trade shows provide very little return to us on a hugely significant investment.

The Half Marathon Sign-up Contest

Sometimes people just need a nudge from a friend to get with the program. This is particularly true with exercise.

Last week, Suzanne Thompson, our Nashville-based half marathon team leader, sent out an email to some employees. Lisa Stilwell, our Senior Editor for Gift Books, was one of the recipients. Yesterday, Suzanne received this response from Lisa:

Five Books on the New York Times Bestseller List

I have worked at Thomas Nelson for almost ten years. The most books we’ve ever had on the New York Times bestsellers list at one time is three. That was more than two years ago.

Yesterday, we were notified by the Times that we will have five books on the October 21, 2007 list. This is a new record for our company. These include:

The Largest Quarter in Our History

We just announced today that the quarter ending September 30 was the largest in our 209-year history. Net revenues were up 10% for the quarter and 10% for the first six months of its fiscal year. (Our fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31.) EBITDA was up 10% for the quarter and 18% fiscal year-to-date.

Our publishing segment has been especially sucessful this year. It was up 12% for the six months ending September 30. I believe this is the direct result of our One Company initiative. This initiative has afforded us the focus we needed to create products that are relevant to consumers.

Wanted: Vice President, Corporate Communications

I have finally decided to hire a Vice President, Corporate Communications. Filling this need is long overdue. Because it has not really been anyone’s responsibility, we have missed opportunities to raise the Company’s visibility in the marketplace. I am also at the place where I need help with the communication I do on behalf of the Company.

So, here is the job description that is being posted tomorrow. If you know someone who is qualified and might be interested, please have them contact Jim Thomason, our Vice President, Human Resources.

Position Summary

The Vice President, Corporate Communications primary responsibility is to raise the visibility of Thomas Nelson in the overall marketplace and to enhance its image among key constituents. (This is distinct from the role of publicists embedded within the Company’s individual operating units, whose primary responsibility is to promote specific authors, brands, or products.)

Send Me Your Questions

I have read a couple of blogs where the writer answers questions from readers. It got me to thinking—this might be a good thing to do on my blog.

So, if you are so inclined, send me your questions. I have even created a new e-mail address for this purpose: Question4Mike@gmail.com.

Q & A Regarding Thomas Nelson’s “Open House” Announcement

Yesterday, we sent out a press release announcing “Open House,” an event we plan to host in Nashville for our top Christian retail accounts in the Spring of 2008. We will invite two employees from each selected store and pay their expenses to attend the weekend conference in Nashville. The Open House initiative will take the place of our attendance at the CBA Advance convention.

Publishers Weekly ran an article in PW Daily about this entitled, “Nelson Out of CBA Winter Show.” Of course, the emphasis was on the fact that we have decided not to participate in next year’s CBA Advance trade show. Open House is our alternative. I thought the article was accurate and balanced. However, as I suspected, it has created a bit of a stir.