08074
January 30, 2008
Soaring sales
Presbyterian Publishing Corporation makes sales budget 14 consecutive months
LOUISVILLE – According to the numbers, 2007 was a good year for the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC).
The denominational publisher for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) exceeded its budget for the year, with ending sales of more than $8.4 million, according to information from the PPC.
“PPC has made its sales budget for 14 months in a row, which is an extraordinary accomplishment given the fact that the book publishing industry as a whole is still reporting only minimal increases in overall sales,” Marc Lewis, the PPC’s acting president and publisher, said in a press release.
“This is largely a credit to our authors who continue to publish great work with us and to the hard work of a dedicated team of publishing professionals here at PPC,” he added.
The Louisville-based publisher attributes its success to top sellers including new books Mandate to Difference by Walter Brueggemann and The Gospel according to The Simpsons: Bigger and Possibly Even Better Edition by Mark Pinsky.
Several PPC books were recognized as industry standouts, including Caring for Mother by Virginia Stem Owens, named one of the 10 best religion books of 2007 by Publishers Weekly; and God In Public by Marc Toulouse, selected as one of the 10 best books of the year by the American Academy of Parish Clergy.
Also cited as contributing to PPC’s success was TheThoughtfulChristian (TTC), the publishing corporation’s ecumenical online resource center. Especially noted was the addition of new subscribers to TTC and its partnership agreements with other denominational publishers such as the United Methodist Publishing House and the United Church Press of the United Church of Christ.
The PPC publishes books and resources under three imprints: Westminster John Knox Press, Geneva Press and The Thoughtful Christian. It also publishes and distributes four issues a year of These Days devotional magazine and Theology Today, a quarterly journal for clergy, scholars and students in seminaries and graduate schools of religion.
In 2008, PPC expects to publish 95 new titles and begin funding of the new hymnal project. Among the new titles are The Discipleship Study Bible, the first New Revised Standard Version study Bible to be published in five years; and Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, a new lectionary commentary series being done in partnership with Columbia Theological Seminary. |
