Cook Partners

Are We Seeing More Christians?

Christianity Today offers a web-only review of Brand Jesus: Christianity in a Consumerist Age, by Tyler Wigg Stevenson (Seabury Books, an imprint of Church Publishing Incorporated):

... Stevenson asks whether we are seeing more Christians — or better Christians — as a result of the 7-billion-dollar-a-year Christian publishing industry. The figures show (Brand Jesus cites Ron Sider and others for evidence) the answer is a resounding, "Not really."

Do you agree? Are we seeing more Christians as a result of our publishing?

Stevenson's indictment is focused on the U.S., but the testimonies we at Cook International receive from publishers worldwide suggest that literature does aid in evangelism: see the January/February 2008 issue of Cook Partners on publishing and evangelism. 

Japan: 150th Anniversary of Protestant Mission

Ecumenical News International reports:

Protestants in Japan are preparing to mark the 150th anniversary in 2009 of the beginning of Protestant missionary work in the country, at a special assembly in Japan's second-largest city of Yokohama. "The significance of this assembly is found in that we will be thankful for Japan's Protestant mission as a work begun by the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the start of a new phase in the past 50 years, so that we may receive a new vision looking to the future," said the Rev. Makoto Watabe, general secretary of the Japan Bible Society and secretary general of the committee that is organizing the two-day assembly in July 2009. 

Indonesia: Christian Publishing Industry Gathers To Grow

From a Christian Trade Association International press release:

CBA Indonesia’s Indonesian Christian Retail Expo 2008, 12-13 Sept. in Jakarta, drew about 10,000 attendees and nearly 225 exhibitors to the first-ever event of its kind in the world’s largest Muslim country. The successful convention [...] was themed “Gather to Grow.”

The event included training for booksellers. For a report on the event in Indonesian, click here. Publishers and booksellers that took part in Expo include Immanuel, Metanoia, and many others. For additional information on the Indonesian Christian market, check out these recent articles in Cook Partners magazine: "When Sales Slow, Get Creative!" (September/October 2008) and "Educating Indonesia's Christians" (March/April 2008).

... “It is really quite amazing what the Lord is doing in Indonesia,” says ChristianTrade president Jim Powell. “In the world’s most populous Muslim nation, Bibles, Christian books, and other resources are distributed through normal retail and publishing channels.”

United Kingdom: Publisher's Home Bombed

The Guardian reports,

The London home of the publisher of a controversial new novel that gives a fictionalised account of the Prophet Muhammad's relationship with his child bride, Aisha, was firebombed yesterday, hours after police had warned the man that he could be a target for fanatics.

The Jewel of Medina, by American journalist Sherry Jones, had previously been scheduled for publication by Random House in the U.S., but later canceled (the U.S. version of the book will be published by Beaufort Books). Martin Rynja bought the rights  to publish the U.K. version through his company, Gibson Square.

Three men have since been arrested in connection with the bombing attack.

USA: Religion Journalists Told to Link Stories to News Items

Advice for journalists, from a Religioscope report on the recent Religion Newswriters Association convention:

while the traditional “religion page” in newspapers may be endangered due to the “shrinking of newsprint,” there are innovative ways [for religious journalists] to link their reporting to online versions of the news. This can mean that religion news once confined to a page or section isolated from other news can find a wider readership when such articles are linked to blogs and related “secular stories” on a newspaper’s electronic version, according to Cathy Grossman, religion reporter for USA Today.

The same advice also applies to anyone preparing press releases at your publishing house. How newsworthy are the items you send to publicize your books?
 

Stories Are "Flight Simulators"

Scientific American notes that stories not only activate our imaginations (sparking "flights of fancy"), but also:

... act as “flight simulators” for social life. A 2006 study hinted at a connection between the enjoyment of stories and better social abilities. The researchers used both self-report and assessment tests to determine social ability and empathy among 94 students, whom they also surveyed for name recognition of authors who wrote narrative fiction and non-narrative nonfiction. They found that students who had had more exposure to fiction tended to perform better on social ability and empathy tests.

Read the rest of the article here.

 

Burundi: Literacy Program Helps Women

"In a country where 67% of the population is illiterate," says the Anglican Church of Burundi in an article for Episcopal Life Online, 26,000 people have been helped by the Mothers' Union Literacy and Development program in the past eight years. At a recent event,

One widow told how she had become literate after her husband's death and now has the courage to cope with being HIV positive. The program empowered her to overcome abuse, misunderstanding, and a sense of inferiority, she said. Through the formation of an association she is encouraging and supporting others living with HIV and AIDS. She is also challenging others to be tested for the virus and persuading families to send their children to school so that they too can become literate and numerate.

Her testimony was just one of many. 

Long-Distance and Non-Profit Lies

Yahoo! News and Live Science report,

                         Office emails are more loaded with lies than traditional written communications like pen and paper, new research suggests. Previous research has supported this notion, also finding that phone calls are even more packed with prevarication.

In fact, one 2004 study "found that people are twice as likely to tell lies in phone conversations as they are in emails." For publishers who conduct long-distance negotiations for rights or printing services, trust is key. And because Christian publishing is mission-oriented, study findings raise additional concern:

... fudging the facts is a more serious problem at non-profits, according to David Shulman, author of From Hire to Liar: The Role of Deception in the Workplace (ILR Press, 2006). The reason, Shulman figures, is that nonprofits tend to struggle more than for-profit corporations, "which may lead to deception to survive and serve a mission."

Therefore be cautious in your negotiations and communication, asking God for wisdom. And remember the advice of Scripture:

... If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Gal. 6:1) 

 

India: Kuduk Bible Controversy

A translation published by the Bible Society of India is being burned by tribal demonstrators, reports Thaindian News:

Tribals in Jharkhand are up in arms against a recent Kuduk translation of the Bible, which exhorts people to destroy trees and places where they worship. The Bible Society of India has apologised for the translation and has promised to withdraw copies from the market.The Kendriya Sarna Samittee (KSS), an organisation of tribals, has announced it will burn the copies translated into Kuduk - one of the local tribal languages - if they are not withdrawn.

Mexico: Fewer Than Three Books Per Year

Juan Luis Arzoz, president of the Cámara Nacional de la Industria Editorial Mexicana (Caniem, the Mexican Publishers Association) stated that the average number of books read amounts to only 2.96 per person each year, reports El Universal. 

Arzoz made this observation in his remarks announcing the book fair to be held October 10-19 in the Zócalo at Mexico City. More than 550 publishing organizations are expected to offer 55,000 books to the public during the fair. Last year, more than 200,000 books were sold at the fair.

Meanwhile, ExpoCristiana, the largest exposition of Christian books in Mexico, will take place October 16-19 at the World Trade Center in Mexico City. Evangelical publishers participating in that event include Desarrollo Cristiano International,  Editorial Mundo Hispano, Tyndale Español, Vida and many others.