Christa Brown’s book defies sales patterns – Baptist News Global

Something fascinating is happening with Christa Brown’s memoirs Baptistland.

I have been in book publishing for nearly 30 years, a career that has allowed me to see many sides of the publishing business. My last corporate position was Vice President and Publisher of a large evangelical publishing house owned by one of the “Big Five” publishers.

David Morris

My time in publishing ran parallel to the great changes of the last few decades – the digital revolution. When e-books first came onto the market, there was great fear that this new format would become the dominant form of book consumption. Publishers would lose significant revenue, retailers would go out of business completely and books might even stop being read.

But none of this has come true, Not quite. The publishing business has changed a lot, but it’s still profitable. We still have brick-and-mortar retailers, although their numbers and market share have declined sharply. And believe it or not, people still read a lot of books every year.

What happened instead, as our media and communications world was restructured by instant delivery, streaming, and searchable electronic devices, was not an e-book revolution, but a revolution in electronic distribution.

Printed books still sell better than e-books.

Print is still king in most categories of books, but the way books are discovered and distributed is more dependent on our online universe than you can imagine. I am now the publisher of an independent press, Lake Drive Books, that works with entry-level authors, and I can tell you that more than 95% of their books are sold not through bookstores or libraries, but through online retail.

So what happened to e-books? They were successful at first, but then stagnated, or even declined. The share of e-books in genre-driven fiction, for example, could reach as high as 50%. But in nonfiction, where most religious books are published, e-books account for about 13% of sales overall. And audiobooks, which once accounted for perhaps 5% of sales, have now caught up with e-books.

So print is still king in the most important book categories. But that does not apply to Christa Brown’s Baptistland: Memories of abuse, betrayal and transformation.

The calculation is based on the At the above percentages, digital editions of religious nonfiction books combined should not account for more than 25% of total sales. But since Brown’s book hit shelves on May 7, digital editions combined have accounted for nearly 54%, split almost evenly between e-books and audiobooks.

It’s now been more than two months since the first sales of the book were recorded, and the print edition may be the preferred edition of many of Brown’s core audience. But as we continue to promote the book and bring it to the attention of those who don’t know the author, we’re finding something quite fascinating is happening.

“Print is not king here, it hardly has a place in the royal court.”

In the last four weeks of sales, digital editions accounted for a whopping 81% of total sales. This figure, although exceptional for this book, surprised this experienced publishing professional.

Print is not king here, it is hardly in the royal court.

So the question is: Why?

Why would the e-book and audiobook editions together sell more than the printed book of Christa Brown’s Baptistland?

Baptistland is a story of survival from clergy sexual abuse that she herself experienced and that exists in Southern Baptist culture. Her narrative shows how abuse can go unchecked and thrive in a culture and a fraudulent theology of patriarchy. It is a culture that draws an authoritarian line between ministers and men, between husbands and wives, and between siblings.

Christa Brown

If you read this book, You’ll also learn how Brown not only survived, but underwent a personal transformation as she left Baptistland and began a life as a successful appellate lawyer, wife, and mother. It’s an extraordinary story and a well-written book.

So can you guess why a book like this sells significantly better as an e-book and audiobook than most books?

We can only speculate, but it’s a good guess that people are reading and listening to Brown’s book discreetly. Sure, many like the convenience and price of a digital edition, but many choose these formats because they want to read the story without the prying eyes of their friends, fellow churchgoers, husbands, or even their local minister.

I love Baptistland Because It tells a story that I probably would have advised against publishing when I worked at a major evangelical publishing house.

One thing many of us have discovered as we move away from the authoritarian religion that has emerged in recent times is that you cannot reason someone into a new belief position. Our spiritual culture and institutions are all about identity, and our loyalties are unconscious and less questioned than we might think.

Yet stories like Jesus’ parables break through our seemingly linear thinking. They help us see a new narrative, if not new nuances, of real life. Stories can lead to more openness and tolerance of ambiguity than the flytrap of right belief and sound doctrine. Rich, engaging, and authentic stories can change perceptions and reshape identities.

I am so glad for Christa Brown’s courage in telling her story and allowing me to publish it. We need to listen to more stories, and especially now, the stories of women like her.

David Morris is the author of Lost Faith and Wandering Souls: A Psychology of Disillusionment, Grief, and the Return of Hopse. He is the publisher of Lake Drive Books and a literary agent with Hyponymous Consulting, two companies that work together and specialize in authors and books that help people heal, grow, and discover. David holds a PhD in Psychology and Religion from Drew University. He lives with his wife in Grand Rapids, Michigan. More at davidrmorris.me.

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