The weather cooperated this week for the consultation and presentation day by Christian Resources Together. I heard before the day started that some 140 people were to be coming, and the sanctuary in Central London where we were meeting certainly seemed brimming with people.
In the social mingling afterward I left my papers somewhere, so can’t give you the official spiel. That can be found elsewhere (see Phil Groom’s blog for the tweets from the day, for instance). But I was greatly encouraged by the meeting. And the presentation that stood out for me was by James Catford, Chief Executive of Bible Society. (As Steve Mitchell tweeted, it was “worth coming just for that.”)
A full outline of his talk will be in next month’s Christian Marketplace so I won’t steal their thunder. But James rooted his talk on 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show us that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” and encouraged us to realize that God has entrusted us to carry forth his treasure to the world.
James was the first of the day to name what we’ve been through – the IBS-STL sale has been a seismic shift in our industry, and if we need to grieve, we should do so. The market is unstable and has probably overcorrected with this shift, but things will settle down again. But in unstable times, more than ever do we need strong relationships within the trade.
What really stood out for me, as someone involved in editing and writing, was the discussion time when representatives of the Association of Christian Writers said how they’d like authors to be involved. Afterward I was talking with authors Vernoica Heley and Marion Stroud, and Marion had a wonderful picture that communicates it well. She said that now the partnership is like a three-leaf clover, including publishers, distributors and retailers. But when you add the authors, it becomes like a four-leaf clover.
Our small group discussed the value of authors joining the conversation. After all, without artists and authors, what do we have to sell? Nothing! And I know that authors feel out of the loop. I heard this just last week as I interviewed three of the Authentic authors for my next column in Christian Marketplace (Adrian Plass, Michele Guinness and Nick Page). Nick, for instance, said that as an author, no one had really talked to him about the changes in the industry, or what the effects of new technologies such as ebooks will be. (And Nick is actually pretty up on the state of the market; see his blog for his comments on bookselling.)
I would love to see authors being part of the discussions and the training days. It can only be good if we could get more authors meeting more booksellers and distributors. Authors and artists would benefit by hearing from the front-liners and booksellers would meet those behind the covers of a book or album.
So how can we turn a three-leaf clover into one with four leaves?
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Thanks Amy. This is one of the reasons I set up the Christian Authors, Booksellers and Publishers facebook group, as it happens: would love to see more people making use of it. Maybe I should rename it Christian Artists, Authors, Booksellers, Distributors and Publishers? Or Christian Artists, Authors, Booksellers, Publishers and Suppliers?
Hmmm… starting to look like a five-leaf clover now…
Hey Phil – what about Agents?
Are there many in the UK???
I can think of three (including me, of course).
OK, agents too
… maybe we’re looking at a double clover leaf rather than a multileaved one, then?
PS: Any Christian artist or author who’d like to introduce themselves with a guest post on the UKCBD blog, just give me a shout…
Thanks for the great post Amy, as one who couldn’t be there but would have liked to have been it’s great to get opinions and feedback. I am looking forward to hearing more on James Catfords talk, especially given the verse’s he used as its basis – as one very plain, slightly cracked clay jar with what looks to some like crazy crackle glazing as an aspect of it, I have a fondness for this passage of scripture, and the verses following on from it especially – in fact I love this whole chapter of 2 Corinthians and can so see why it speaks for and to us so much in the physical booktrade, in the here and now.
I was following along on twitter thanks to Steve Mitchell and Michael Deadman, and when Steve posted about the authors asking for more involement I twittered out it was a fantastic idea! as I too would love for authors to be much more involved.
On the general books side of things, as an indie bookseller, I am finding that with POD and partshare printing authors are in general becoming much more active at shop level, more direct contact, communication etc and I think this is a great thing indeed.
I love the creators and the reading/buying audience loves the creators too! there is a key correlation here and when the two come together often a little bit of extra magic (miracle?) can happen – and no not just an increase in book sales, though I can’t deny that’s nice too for me the bookseller and the author and the publisher/supplier :0)
It really is synergistic at the base level and when we work together more it works better :0)
So for me it would be so nice to see it more, authors should be more integral to the whole shebang, as you say no authors no products.
)
I’d love way more interaction on all the levels, trade and actaully in my bookshop please! Authors & artisans talks, signings, leading writers/book groups, doing seminars, talking and listening to whats needed, whats missing, sharing insights, collaborating. I love that idea.
Authors can tell booksellers a lot, booksellers can tell authors a lot – after all we are working for/with the same people at heart, and perhaps both authors and booksellers can tell publishers a little too and they us
You know it’s lovely to be able to share an anecdote or two about the author of a book, a conversation you had, the type of person they are, etc – it all adds to the feeling of community – and I’m all about community (as anyone who reads the UKCBD Blog! or my own Unicorn Tree Books Blog will know ;o)
The more cohesive the community the better it works – as an indie bookseller I really know this and hold this to be true, as a christian it’s also a fundamental of my faith!
So it’s great to see us coming together and I certainly welcome more interaction with authors, as well as with each other as booksellers, suppliers, publishers and indee interacting with our larger communities and groups as well.