Mr. Otis
06-29-2004, 10:25 PM
I had more time to investigate today and I tried to take a few notes. Sharon's book signing wasn't until 4:00, and the books didn't arrive at the hotel until 11, so I wandered the floor for a couple of hours. Here were my impressions of some of the major publishers:
Xulon: No fiction titles that I noticed. Artists featured, all of whom were signing books at some point during the convention, included Kay Coulter, Brother Ray Chiasson, Tricia Patterson, and Ray Arnett.
Waterbrook: Fiction authors featured were Rene Gutteridge, Jane Kirkpatrick, and Liz Curtis Higgins. Might be wrong, but appeared to be romance or historical fiction. Gutteridge's books might be the exception.
Bethany House: Tracie Peterson, Beverly Lewis. Seems like all romance stuff.
Westbow (imprint of Thomas Nelson): Davis Bunn, Ted Dekker, Robert Whitlow, and big banner for new Frank Peretti novel coming in April '05. No title. Most of Nelson's floor devoted to Christian living titles: Chuck Swindoll, Michael Reagan, Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, bibles.
Warner Faith: No fiction that I saw on first pass. Joyce Meyer, Janet Parshall (who was signing books when I walked past), Gloria Gaither, Michael D. Evans, Pat Williams, Joel Osteen. Note to self: How many publishers does T.D. Jakes have, anyhow? This is the fourth publisher I've seen so far!
Spring Arbor (distributor): Mostly Christian living titles on display. Biggest line for book signing so far--author Francine Rivers. Romance?
Howard: Two new titles from Tim Downs. Looks interesting, "Bug Man" series featuring forensic entymologist (insect specialist who identifies how long a body has been dead by the types of insects crawling out of it).
Multnomah: Pushing Dr. James Dobson and Ryan Dobson, a number of other Christian Living titles.
Cook Communications (River Oak): Big fiction display, mostly historical and dramatic. Janice Thompson, Debbie DiGiovanni. A lot of space given to this new Shadowmancer novel which is being billed as "a Christian 'Harry Potter'".
Whitaker House: Smaller company, a couple of titles that look interesting: Godiva and The Nightbringer, which appears to be a dark tale of a demonslayer that chases the same demon over a period of about a thousand years.
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I'm sure I missed a lot. My notes were based on my impressions of the most obvious and prominent displays.
I didn't see anything obvious concerning job openings, but with the late morning meeting and two trips on the shuttle bus to the hotel and back to pick up the books for Sharon's signing (and then for more books so she wouldn't run out), I didn't have much time to look, to be honest. Plus most of the people working the booths sort of looked past me when they saw my blue name tag (blue = "exhibitor").
One display that was interesting was for Relevant Media (http://www.relevantmagazine.com/), a company that's publishing a magazine and Christian living books aimed at 20-something Christians and seems to be publishing some new fiction titles, too.
All in all, it was a good day. Sharon signed away nearly all 200 copies of Armageddon Strain, plus the balance of the copies of Winds of Evil left over from yesterday, not bad for an hour's work.
Xulon: No fiction titles that I noticed. Artists featured, all of whom were signing books at some point during the convention, included Kay Coulter, Brother Ray Chiasson, Tricia Patterson, and Ray Arnett.
Waterbrook: Fiction authors featured were Rene Gutteridge, Jane Kirkpatrick, and Liz Curtis Higgins. Might be wrong, but appeared to be romance or historical fiction. Gutteridge's books might be the exception.
Bethany House: Tracie Peterson, Beverly Lewis. Seems like all romance stuff.
Westbow (imprint of Thomas Nelson): Davis Bunn, Ted Dekker, Robert Whitlow, and big banner for new Frank Peretti novel coming in April '05. No title. Most of Nelson's floor devoted to Christian living titles: Chuck Swindoll, Michael Reagan, Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, bibles.
Warner Faith: No fiction that I saw on first pass. Joyce Meyer, Janet Parshall (who was signing books when I walked past), Gloria Gaither, Michael D. Evans, Pat Williams, Joel Osteen. Note to self: How many publishers does T.D. Jakes have, anyhow? This is the fourth publisher I've seen so far!
Spring Arbor (distributor): Mostly Christian living titles on display. Biggest line for book signing so far--author Francine Rivers. Romance?
Howard: Two new titles from Tim Downs. Looks interesting, "Bug Man" series featuring forensic entymologist (insect specialist who identifies how long a body has been dead by the types of insects crawling out of it).
Multnomah: Pushing Dr. James Dobson and Ryan Dobson, a number of other Christian Living titles.
Cook Communications (River Oak): Big fiction display, mostly historical and dramatic. Janice Thompson, Debbie DiGiovanni. A lot of space given to this new Shadowmancer novel which is being billed as "a Christian 'Harry Potter'".
Whitaker House: Smaller company, a couple of titles that look interesting: Godiva and The Nightbringer, which appears to be a dark tale of a demonslayer that chases the same demon over a period of about a thousand years.
---
I'm sure I missed a lot. My notes were based on my impressions of the most obvious and prominent displays.
I didn't see anything obvious concerning job openings, but with the late morning meeting and two trips on the shuttle bus to the hotel and back to pick up the books for Sharon's signing (and then for more books so she wouldn't run out), I didn't have much time to look, to be honest. Plus most of the people working the booths sort of looked past me when they saw my blue name tag (blue = "exhibitor").
One display that was interesting was for Relevant Media (http://www.relevantmagazine.com/), a company that's publishing a magazine and Christian living books aimed at 20-something Christians and seems to be publishing some new fiction titles, too.
All in all, it was a good day. Sharon signed away nearly all 200 copies of Armageddon Strain, plus the balance of the copies of Winds of Evil left over from yesterday, not bad for an hour's work.