From Where I Sit

What I Have Learned in Four Years of Blogging

I began blogging in April 2004. (I actually began writing articles and posting them on my Web site in 1998, but that was before we used the term “blogging.”) Since that time, I have posted 344 entries. At an average of 800 words per post (which, for me, is conservative), that is 275,200 words—almost four 256-page books.

During this time, I have learned a good deal about blogging. I’m sure I still have way long way to go, but I thought I would summarize what I have learned so far:

Half Marathon 2008 Testimonials

In late December of 2007, I issued the 2008 Half Marathon Challenge. An amazing 135 of our employees participated in the event and participated. It was my second half marathon, and I enjoyed it even more than last year.

Last week, Lindsey Nobles, my Director of Corporate Communications,invited everyone who finished to write about their experience. Like last year, we were overwhelmed. It seemed that the majority of runners wanted to share their experience. As a result, I have included them below in full. (They are listed alphabetically by last name.) I found them truly inspiring.

Finishing My Second Half Marathon

One week ago today, I was running the Country Music Half Marathon. It was an incredible experience. I enjoyed this year’s race even more than last year’s—which is saying a lot.

Amazingly, some 32,000 people participated in either the race. According to various media reports, another 32,000 or so spectators attended. Regardless, it was a sea of people. Unless you run these types of races, you can’t imagine the energy.

Choosing Which Books to Publish

My post, Too Many Books, Too Few Shelves, raised a lot of great questions about how we determine what we publish at Thomas Nelson. Therefore, I would like to address a persistent issue that was raised in the comments section of that post.

Let me say at the outset that I appreciate the robust dialog. It is very helpful to me, and I hope to other readers. Not only does it help me to clarify my position, but it may actually help shape my position. My thinking is not static, and neither is our strategy. It is a “work in progress.”

Too Many Books, Too Few Shelves

If we can’t stop the presses, we should at least slow them down. U.S. publishers produced almost 300,000 new titles last year, a number that Sara Nelson of Publishers Weekly referred to as “a ridiculous number.”

With bookstore sales rising a modest 3.6% in the last five years, we have more and more books competing for what amounts to the same exact shelf space. Clearly, something is wrong.

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.

Why I Am (Still) Excited About Christian Retail

Last Saturday, April 12, I spoke to Christian Retailers at our inaugural Open House event. It was video-taped, and you can watch it here if you are interested.

Because the file was so large, I had to upload it as five separate videos. The total length is 40 minutes or so. However, if you click on the link above, it will play all five videos as a YouTube “playlist,” with each video playing one after the other.

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.

A Quarter of Thomas Nelson’s Employees Running the Half Marathon

On January 4th, I set a goal of enrolling 158 of our employees in one of two half marathon races this spring. This represents roughly 25% of our workforce.

I knew this was a big goal and, frankly, it was a little daunting. However, I am happy to report that we now have 160 employees registered. In addition, we have 32 spouses, and 14 authors or agents registered for a total of 206 people. Wow.

Seven Reasons to Run the Half Marathon

A little over a month ago, I issued the The 2008 Half Marathon Challenge. I invited our employees, spouses, authors and agents to run either the The Big-D Texas Marathon & Half Marathon in Dallas on April 6 or The Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon in Nashville on April 26. So far, we have 102 employees signed up. My goal is 158.

In various meetings last week, several people told me they were “on the fence.” This post is a shameless attempt to get you off the fence and sign-up! Here are seven reasons why you need to do so:

Chapter 1: Our History

The Little Blue Book Series

I previously announced that our Executive Leadership team wanted to compile our corporate philosophy into a small book. This is an installment in that project.

As you read this chapter, keep in mind that this is not a traditional book. Thomas Nelson employees are the primary audience. The chapters are short on purpose. They are intended to be a sort of “quick reference” for the things that are important to us.

Many companies would simply put this kind of content in their employee manual. However, as a book publishing company, we have chosen to put ours in an actual book.

Once you’ve read this chapter, I’d like your feedback—even if you don’t work for Thomas Nelson. You can do that by leaving specific comments. (If you are reading this post via e-mail, you will need to go to my actual blog, scroll down to the bottom of the post, and leave your comments in the Comment section.) I’d like to hear “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” Based on this feedback, I plan to revise the chapter.

If you want to read other chapters, you can go to the project overview and the table of contents. This also provides the revision history.

Cuimhnich air na daoine o'n d'thainig thu (Remember the people from whom you have come.)

— A Gaelic Proverb

Our company has a long and fascinating history. The story begins in Scotland with the birth of Thomas Neilson (sic) in 1780. Though his parents were farmers, he developed an interest in printing, the most high-tech industry of the 18th century. As a result, his parents sent him to London to become an apprentice in a print shop on Paternoster Row, which was kind of the Silicon Valley of the Day.

In 1798, at the tender age of 18, Neilson started a second-hand bookstore in Edinburgh, Scotland. The store was located at 7 West Bow Street. The store did quite well, but in the early 1800s, he decided to branch out. He began to realize there was a market for inexpensive editions of public domain books. So, in 1818, he began reprinting the classics. He also legally changed the spelling of his name to “Nelson.”

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:

The 2008 Half Marathon Challenge

Last year, I ran the Country Music Half Marathon. About 65 of my Thomas Nelson colleagues ran with me. It was my first half marathon, and it was an awesome experience. I think that most of my colleagues would agree.

Well, I want to do it again this year. Between our Nashville office and our Dallas office, I want to see 158 people run or walk the race. That would represent 25% of our workforce of 630. The Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon is scheduled in Nashville for April 26. The Big-D Texas Marathon & Half Marathon is scheduled in Dallas for April 6.

More Details on the Amazon Kindle

Since I wrote my initial post last night, Amazon’s Kindle page has gone live. If you don’t do anything else, go to the page and watch the basic intro video. (If you scroll down, you’ll see a larger version of the intro video.) It looks even more interesting than I thought. It has certainly come a long way since I first saw the device 18 months ago.

As of today, Thomas Nelson has 668 titles available for Kindle download. Bob Edington, our VP of Internet Sales, tells me that many, many more are on their way. (Evidently, Amazon is trying to catch up with the backlog.) Just to put this into perspective, Zondervan, the second largest publisher in our space, has 53 titles. Tyndale, the third largest publisher in our space, has 57.

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.

Video of My “Customer-Focused Publishing” Presentation at BEA

As I mentioned in my last post, the speech I gave at BEA in New York was video-taped. I provided a link to it at Publishers Lunch. Unfortunately, you have to be a member to view it.

Thankfully, BEA now has the video up on their Web site. You can watch it there if you are so inclined. Also, the video does not show my slides. If you want to see those, click here (12.7 MB) to download a PDF of my slides. I created them in Apple Keynote, but the PDF will enable you to view them on any platform. If you want to view the two video clips I showed, you can view them here and here.)

Technorati Tags: books, future, imprints, publishing

Why Imprints Don’t Matter

I spoke at Book Expo America last week in New York. In case you are not in the publishing business, this is our largest U.S. trade show. I spoke on the topic of “Customer Focused Publishing: How Thomas Nelson Moved Away from Imprints and Closer to Customer Wants.”

(If you are a member of Publisher’s Lunch, you can click here to watch my presentation on video. I have also asked the BEA organizer to upload it on YouTube.com, but I have not received a response. Also, the video does not show my slides. If you want to see those, click here (12.7 MB) to download a PDF of my slides. I created them in Apple Keynote, but the PDF will enable you to view them on any platform. If you want to view the two video clips I showed, you can view them here and here.)

My assignment was to justify why we eliminated our twenty-one separate imprints and are now focusing on the Thomas Nelson brand. In the eyes of some, this action amounted to heresy, since imprints are such a staple of traditional publishing.

Why Don’t Publishers Do More Research?

Book publishers are notorious for not doing consumer research. I am not sure exactly why, but it seems they want to decide what is best for the market. Early in my publishing career, I got my first taste of this.

In my second job out of college, I became a Marketing Director for a medium-size publishing house. I had been in the job less than 90 days when I suddenly realized that no one seemed to know which marketing vehicles really affected consumer buying behavior. For example, at the time, I couldn’t tell you what was more effective—a magazine advertisement, a “shelf-talker,” or an author appearance on television.

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.)

A Practical Tool for Collaboration

Our company has had an Intranet site for several years. We call it, “The House,” as a reference to our corporate logo. It has housed our company phone directory, employee handbook, various policies, etc.

The problem was that our Intranet was static—“read only.” If you wanted to make a change, you had to get someone in the IT department to do it.

Changing the Publishing Model

If you are in the publishing industry or have been reading my blog, you probably know that effective April 1, we eliminated all twenty-one of our company’s “imprints.”*

Over the course of this past year, we “rolled up” all of our publishing brands into the singular “Thomas Nelson” brand. (In other industries, this is sometimes referred to as a “brand consolidation.”) We also reorganized by consumer categories.

Measuring “Total Author Experience”

Our publishing business is like a three-legged stool. Its success rests on the happiness of three primary constituents: our employees, our authors, and our customers—in that order.

The rationale is that if we take care of the employees, they will take care of our authors and customers. As a result, the very first point in our vision statement says, “We maintain an inspired work environment where people connect with the Company’s purpose and values.”

Half Marathon Testimonials

In January, I issued a challenge to our employees to run a Half Marathon with me. The Dallas-based employees who accepted the challenge ran the Big-D Half Marathon on April 1. The Nashville-based employees ran the Country Music Half Marathon on April 28.

Interestingly, I received some criticism for issuing this challenge. I received an anonymous e-mail from someone outside the company who said, “What in the world has running got to do with work?” Well, the short answer is, “more than you think.”

Imprints: An Endangered Species

Last fall, we first announced our “One Company Initiative.” Among other things, this called for the elimination of our 21 publishing imprints. This was effective as of April 1. From this point forward, we are publishing all of our books under the single “Thomas Nelson” imprint.

Now it looks like at least one other publisher has followed suit. In today’s edition of Religion BookLine (published by Publishers Weekly),

The Beginning of a New Fiscal Year

Our fiscal year begins on April 1. To celebrate this past year and to kick off the new year, we had all our Nashville-based employees gather around the flagpole this morning. I shared a few thoughts that I thought I would repeat here, in case you weren’t able to attend.

A Look Back

Last year was tough. The economic environment was challenging, as was the retail sector. The publishing industry was at best flat. And, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the religious segment was down 10.2% for the year. However, this appears to be turning around.

February Update: Top Ten Publishers in America

This is an update to the top ten publisher lists. We maintain two lists internally. First, we track all trade publishers. (Publishers whose books are primarily sold through retail booksellers as opposed to, say, textbook publishers.) The various imprints are consolidated into their parent companies. So, for example, HarperCollins includes William Morrow and Zondervan. Simon & Schuster includes Free Press, Pocket Books, Howard Books, Scribner, etc.

Second, we track all Christian publishers. In this case, we break out the Christian imprints of the trade publishers and rank them against each other. That’s why Zondervan, for example, is on the second list but not the first list. (Click on the images above and below to enlarge them. If you want to save the PDF files to your hard drive, right-click and download the linked files.)

Update: Top Ten Publishers in America

We just re-ran our list of the top ten publishers in America. Michael Cader at PublishersLunch.com pointed out that I had separated St. Martin’s Press from all the other Holtzbrinck imprints. (Holtzbrinck is the parent company of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Henry Holt, MacMillan, and, of course, St. Martin’s.)

I asked Cletis Fisher, our database guru, to re-run the report, consolidating all the Holtzbrinck imprints. I also asked him to add Multnomah Books to Random House, since they were recently acquired by RH.

Five Publishing Hurdles

If you’re an aspiring author, have ever wondered what happens to your book proposal after it arrives at the publishing house? Sometimes, I’m afraid, the acquisition process appears to be a sort of “black box.” Proposals are inserted into the black box and then disappear for weeks. At some point they pop out. Most are sent back to the author with a rejection letter. A precious few actually become a book.

But what happens while the proposal is inside the box? In this post I want to describe the internal proposal review process. If you have ever wondered how in the world publishing houses decide what to publish, this post is for you.

Chapter 7: Our Standards

The Little Blue Book Series

I previously announced that our Executive Leadership team wanted to compile our corporate philosophy into a small book. This is the [number] installment in that project.

As you read this chapter, keep in mind that this is not a traditional book. Thomas Nelson employees are the primary audience. The chapters are short on purpose. They are intended to be a sort of “quick reference” for the things that are important to us.

Many companies would simply put this kind of content in their employee manual. However, as a book publishing company, we have chosen to put ours in an actual book.

Once you’ve read this chapter, I’d like your feedback—even if you don’t work for Thomas Nelson. You can do that by leaving specific comments. (If you are reading this post via e-mail, you will need to go to my actual blog, scroll down to the bottom of the post, and leave your comments in the Comment section.) I’d like to hear “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” Based on this feedback, I plan to revise the chapter.

If you want to read other chapters, you can go to the project overview and the table of contents. This also provides the revision history.

Declare among the nations; proclaim, and set up a standard; proclaim—do not conceal it

— Jeremiah 50:2

We often say, “We are a Christian content company.” However, we understand our identity as a Christian content provider in a very different way than most of our peers in the industry. Like them, we want all of our messages to be delivered from the perspective of a Christian worldview. This is the foundation of our content program. However, unlike most of them, we want our communicators to explore any subject they wish.

Yes, we publish content and host conferences on spiritual and devotional themes. This is part of life and, admittedly, the most important part. But it is not the only part. We also deliver content that deals with the other aspects of life: business, culture, politics, entertainment, etiquette, cooking, family, etc. And, of course, we publish fiction. Lots of it! No topic is off limits, provided it comes from a Christian worldview, is executed well, and has commercial value. (We are, after all, a commercial content provider.)

Chapter 5: Our Vision

The Little Blue Book Series

I previously announced that our Executive Leadership team wanted to compile our corporate philosophy into a small book. This is the [number] installment in that project.

As you read this chapter, keep in mind that this is not a traditional book. Thomas Nelson employees are the primary audience. The chapters are short on purpose. They are intended to be a sort of “quick reference” for the things that are important to us.

Many companies would simply put this kind of content in their employee manual. However, as a book publishing company, we have chosen to put ours in an actual book.

Once you’ve read this chapter, I’d like your feedback—even if you don’t work for Thomas Nelson. You can do that by leaving specific comments. (If you are reading this post via e-mail, you will need to go to my actual blog, scroll down to the bottom of the post, and leave your comments in the Comment section.) I’d like to hear “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” Based on this feedback, I plan to revise the chapter.

If you want to read other chapters, you can go to the project overview and the table of contents. This also provides the revision history.

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

— Proverbs 29:18

Having a clear vision of where you are going is crucial to any human endeavor. This is especially true when it comes to business. Unless we know where we are going, it is difficult to select the best route to get there or to assign the necessary resources.

Like our Purpose Statement, our vision is oriented around “We inspire the world.” It also includes our vision for market share and financial performance. These are also critically important but are the result of doing other things well.

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.

Vote: Is Blogging a Good Use of My Time?

One of my dear friends called today to report that some people at Thomas Nelson are skeptical about my blogging. He said they are wondering if this is a good use of the my time. “How can the CEO possibly be doing his job and writing a daily blog. It’s impossible!”

Well, maybe not. I guess I am a little naive about this. Honestly, it never crossed my mind. As the CEO, I think that communication is one of my primary responsibilities. My job is to cast vision, shape our culture, and mentor those under me. Blogging is simply a means to an end.

However, I like blogging