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In creating the following Infographic about Amazon.com (@amazon), FrugalDad (@FrugalDad) says, “The story of its growth in the last 17 years can only be compared to the thunderous rise of Walmart. And in some ways, the curve is steeper: the million-title-bookseller turned world’s-largest-retailer hit the $50 billion sales mark in half the time it took Walmart. As far as online sales go, Amazon has laid waste to a list of successively higher-caliber competitors. Playing full-court with Barnes & Noble to Walmart all the way to Apple, Amazon just keeps outgrowing its labels: bookseller, etailer, and now tech company?”

Source: Frugaldad.com

Christian books once available only at independent-niche Christian bookshops...are now sold online and in mainstream stores everywhere. As recognition of the popularity of Christian books has grown, with some titles holding a steady spot on the nation's best-seller lists, Christian publishing companies and their audience have grown, too, expanding globally and into the electronic marketplace. Now the formerly fringe products have a home in mainstream popularity....

A 2005 Baylor University study shows 11% of Americans spend $50 or more a month on religious products, including non-book items....

Nielsen BookScan, which provides information for The Wall Street Journal’s best-seller list, tracks 75% of book sales in America from traditional retailers, independent bookstores, and Amazon.com — but the company only tracks 50% of sales from Christian bookstores, specifically. That should change with the addition of key Christian retailers and Walmart in 2012, says Jonathan Stolper, vice president and general manager of Nielsen BookScan (@NielsenWire).

“It’s certainly conceivable that those Wall Street Journal charts will change dramatically,” Stolper says. “I think The Wall Street Journal will see some Christian books pop up on there when we complete the panel.”

Read this in full.

Remember to daily use the SomersaultNOW online dashboard to read the latest news in Christian and general book publishing.

Springwise (@springwise) reports that the advantage of the printed book’s ability to have the author handwrite at a book signing a personal message to the book’s owner on its pages is now gone. “Kindlegraph (@kindlegraph) aims to challenge that, by enabling authors to send personalized, digital inscriptions directly to the reading devices of their fans.”

Created by Evan Jacobs, a former programmer at Amazon, Kindlegraph is designed to facilitate a closer connection between authors and their fans. To personalize their ebook, users log in with their Twitter credentials and select from a list of popular ebooks. So far approximately 1,700 authors are involved, with around 7,500 books listed.

After selecting an ebook, a request is then sent to the author who, after logging in, will see a list of current requests. There is space to type a personalized message, and clicking “Kindlegraph it” will send the message to Docusign APIs which embed the signed message and sends a PDF back to the reader’s Kindle.

Jacobs hopes that authors will use it as a means to build relationships with fans; for example: sending preview chapters or short stories before they are published. A video on the Kindlegraph’s website explains how the platform works in more detail.

Read the full story.

Also see our previous blogposts, “Ebook Autographs” and “How Authors Can Autograph Their Ebooks.”

This article in The New York Times (@nytimes) says, “Amazon.com (@amazon), the online retailer, has long competed with bookstores; now it's starting to make deals with authors, bypassing the traditional publisher.”

Amazon will publish 122 books this fall in an array of genres, in both physical and ebook form. It is a striking acceleration of the retailer’s fledging publishing program that will place Amazon squarely in competition with the New York houses that are also its most prominent suppliers….

“Everyone’s afraid of Amazon,” said Richard Curtis, a longtime agent who is also an ebook publisher. “If you’re a bookstore, Amazon has been in competition with you for some time. If you’re a publisher, one day you wake up and Amazon is competing with you too. And if you’re an agent, Amazon may be stealing your lunch because it is offering authors the opportunity to publish directly and cut you out."

Read the full article.

Also see International Business Times (@ibtimesnews), “5 Reasons Kindle Fire Tablet May Kill Barnes & Noble.”

Mark Coker (@markcoker), founder of ebook distributor Smashwords, wanted to know how readers discover ebooks. So he posted a survey at the ebook forum Mobileread (@mobileread), “challenging readers to select the single most common criterion they follow to discover their next read.”

To capture a broad range of usable data, I suggested 12 answers, one of which was “Other.” Respondents were allowed to select one answer only since I wanted to identify the single most important discovery criteria.

The most-selected answer was “Recommendations from fellow readers on online message forums, blogs and message boards," with 29% of respondents choosing this. By contrast, only 4% selected, “Personal friend/family member recommends it to me.” I think this is fascinating, because it implies readers might trust the collective wisdom of strangers and online acquaintances more than they trust the recommendations of immediate friends and family. At the risk of placing too many eggs in this basket, remember 71% selected something else....

What to make of the results? How might authors and publishers focus their e-publishing efforts based on the data?

·         Target readers who are active in online communities because they influence their fellow readers

·         Maximize the availability of your book so readers can randomly stumble across it and sample it

·         Boring titles, unprofessional cover images and poorly written book descriptions are instant turn-offs

Read this article in full.

Also read our previous blogpost “Where & Why We Buy Books.”

More research on a variety of topics is available on the SomersaultNOW dashboard under the Research tab. Stay abreast of the latest information with this helpful online resource for publishing and marketing executives.

Christian retail stores are changing the way they display product. Christian media-on-demand kiosks by Integra Interactive, called the myMEDIA BurnBar, are now in 500 locations across the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, and England. According to its website

the myMEDIA BurnBar™ enables retailers to virtually stock thousands of digital products and have them burned on-demand by customers. It’s the world's largest retail-based burning kiosk system despite focusing on just the CBA channel. The kiosks sell music CDs, Bible software, video, games, and audiobooks.

Digital products in virtual displays are game-changers in the world of retail.

Be sure to visit a Christian bookstore during the nationwide event, Christian Store Week (@CSW_2011) from Oct. 1st through the 10th.

For more than 60 years, independent and chain Christian retail stores have represented the crossroads of faith and community for all denominations and walks of life. Also a safe haven for Christian consumers, these wholesome, family-friendly environments provide the best selection of the highest quality products in the Christian market.

It’s in honor of these retailers’ steadfast commitment to create a store culture of dependability and outstanding customer service that we celebrate Christian Store Week. The top brass among Christian publishers and music companies will be working together to host Christian Store Week celebrations across the country this October.

Several publishers are sponsoring the celebration, including the Common English Bible (@CommonEngBible).

Visit the official Christian Store Week website.

Also read Christian Retailing's (@ChristianRetail) "Christian Store Week unites 500 retail outlets."

Chart source: The Verge (@verge)

Amazon today announced the availability of the ereaders Kindle ($79), Kindle Touch ($99), and the Kindle Fire, an Android-powered touchscreen tablet with a 7-inch display that will sell for just $199, or less than Barnes & Noble's $249 Nook Color and less than half of Apple's entry-level $499 iPad.

Read the news:

Warc (@WarcEditors): "Publishers embrace Amazon's tablet."

Apple Insider (@appleinsider): “Amazon Kindle Fire aims to undercut Apple's iPad with $199 price.”

“Amazon's new $79 Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch stick with e-ink display.”

Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) live blog of the announcement.

PW writes, “The Kindle has a new feature called ‘x-ray’ that lets you look at ‘the bones of the book,’ by which Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos means looking up various historical references and real characters mentioned on a particular page of a book. Amazon has ‘pre-calculated all of the interesting phrases’ in a book, so along with the book comes a ‘side-file’ with all of this information included.”

An article by Piet Levy (@pietlevy) for Religion News Service (@ReligionNewsNow) says that “when the Borders bookstore chain — the nation’s second-largest — finishes closing all of its stores this month, Christian retailers see a window of opportunity in the death of a mega-competitor that once threatened to put them out of business.”

With 70% of Christian retailers reporting flat or declining sales last year, and overall sales dropping 3% according to the Christian retail association CBA, proactive Christian booksellers, marketing agencies, and the 1,200-member CBA are taking any opportunities they can.

After Borders announced its liquidation in July, Colorado Springs, Colo.-based CBA sent an alert to member stores: “Post Borders Growth Strategy: As Borders Shuts its Doors, Christian Booksellers Should Open Theirs Wider.”

The letter offers suggestions for retailers including discounts for customers with Borders loyalty cards and trying to lure former Borders customers into Christian stores.

Read this in full.

Also see the article by Lynn Garrett (@LynniGarrett) in Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly), "After Years of Loss, Only the Strong Christian Stores Survive," and The Atlantic's (@TheAtlantic) article, "Is the Death of Borders Really Good for Independent Bookstores?".