Bad Economic News Extends to the Inspirational Market

The bad economic news that we’ve been hearing seems to be extending into the inspirational sector of the market as well. Publisher Thomas Nelson has announced that it is laying off 55 of its staff – 10% of its current workforce.  This is a second round of layoffs, following the elimination of close to 60 positions in April 2008.

Unlike some of the publishers we’ve been hearing about in the news, Thomas Nelson does publish romance.  Their roster of authors includes some popular (and even controversial) authors such as Robin Lee Hatcher and Karen Kingsbury.  It is also the publisher of the bestselling Fireproof, about a firefighter trying to reconnect with his wife and save his failing marriage. Considering that Thomas Nelson also prints Bibles, this is huge.  If a publisher is having trouble selling the bestselling book of all time, that’s a problem.  And if a publisher has to go through 2 rounds of layoffs, losing roughly 10% of its staff each time, that’s a huge deal.

I’m curious to see what people think about the news coming out of the publishing sector these days.  Does it influence your book-buying habits at all?

-Lynn Spencer

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