From Where I Sit

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.

Let’s Not Talk Ourselves into a Recession

Last weekend, I attended a Christmas party with several of my friends. After getting a cup of hot apple cider, our polite conversation quickly turned to our mutual concern for the economy.

It seems that everywhere you look, the news is bad. The media drone on and on about the sub-prime mortgage crisis and high gas prices. While the outlook may not be apocalyptic, it is certainly pessimistic.

Corporate Secrecy and Transparency

Today has been a long and busy day. I haven’t had a chance to write until now. And, it’s late, so I am simply going to point you to a provocative article on corporate transparency that ran in the March Issue of Wired magazine. It is called The See-Through CEO by Clive Thompson. (Thanks to Michael Gamma for bringing this article to my attention.)

Don’t dismiss this article because you’re not a CEO. Thompson’s observations and insights apply to everyone in leadership today. He says,

Transparency is a judo move. Your customers are going to poke around in your business anyway, and your workers are going to blab about internal info—so why not make it work for you by turning everyone into a partner in the process and inviting them to do so?

This is an article definitely worth pondering and perhaps even discussing with your colleagues.

Technorati Tags: culture, leadership, transparency

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.

Q & A with Christian Retailing About Bestseller Lists

Recently, I wrote a post entitled Why the Bestsellers Lists Are Inaccurate. I followed this up a few days later with another post on the same topic entitled Toward a Better Bestsellers List.

Andy Butcher, the editor of Christian Retailing magazine, read the posts. He then sent me an email with several questions. I agreed to answer them, provided I could do so on my blog. I also agreed to wait until his article was published before I published my answers to his questions.

Seven Out of the Top Ten Bestsellers

Publishers Weekly just published the February Christian Marketplace Bestsellers list. Amazingly, we have seven out of the top ten hardcover bestsellers. Here’s the list:

Rank	Title	Author
1	Facing Your Giants	Max Lucado
3	The Way of the Wild Heart	John Eldredge
4	Cure for the Common Life	Max Lucado
5	Get Out of That Pit!	Beth Moore
6	Captivating	John & Stasi Eldredge
7	Grace for the Moment, Vol. 2	Max Lucado
10	The Christmas Candle	Max Lucado

Congratulations to Max, John, Stasi, and Beth, as well as our publishing, sales, and marketing teams. I’m proud of you!

Technorati Tags: bestsellers, books, publishing, thomas nelson

WestBow Press Publishing “More Innovative Fiction”

WestBow Press received some great coverage in the March 28 issue of Publishers Weekly. Here are a couple of excerpts worth noting:

Thomas Nelson’s WestBow imprint is quickly gaining a reputation for publishing more innovative CBA fiction. Launched in late 2003, WestBow’s intention from the start was to raise the bar. “Our primary goal isn't ‘edgy’ fiction but stories with a real, authentic voice that are entertaining, culturally relevant, and God honoring,” said publisher and industry veteran Allen Arnold. “When we find those voices, we don’t shy away from the edgy elements—or sugarcoat them.”