05.16.07
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Kids and Books Bible Buyers
Unleashing the Leaders Around You Cohabitation Faith Facts Unfair? Affluent Americans Giving Religious Book Sales The Church Leaders Intelligence Report is compiled and edited by Gary D. Foster. He may be contacted by email.
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John Muir, the famous 19th century explorer and naturalist, traveled to Alaska in 1879. In his book, Travels in Alaska, Muir tells an amazing story of the Thlinkit Indians.
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Kids are buying books in quantities we’ve never seen before reports Booklist magazine. Credit a bulging teen population (30 million plus), a surge of global talent and perhaps a bit of Harry Potter afterglow. Teen book sales rose 25% between ’99 and ’05. Fantasy and graphic novels are especially hot, and adventure, romance, humor and gritty coming-of-age tales remain perennial favorites. Yet the National Assessment of Educational Progress reports 12th-graders’ reading scores are virtually unchanged since ‘02. The teens who are reading welcome the growing sophistication of young adult literature. Teens have a lot of disposable income, and they’re willing to spend it on books. 
Bible buyers don’t buy on impulse, but 88% know before shopping they want to buy a Bible. They spend an average of 21 minutes making a Bible purchase, and 61% buy them as gifts. The two top Bible gifting occasions are ceremonial events (32%) such as graduation, birthday, wedding, etc., and life passage events (17%) or life stage transition (e.g. youth to adult). The average buyer spends $33 per Bible or $44 each if buying multiple copies. 
The need to control may be one of the most destructive traits in church leaders. The attempt to dictate the outcome of every decision, to weigh in on every proposal, is like acid rain, which poisons the environment of leadership. The most damage is often done by the leader who manipulates subtly, who outwardly talks about team leadership, but rules like an iron-fisted dictator. Management Guru Peter Drucker said, “Beware of the person who talks loudly about participatory leadership; that person is likely a dictator.” Gordon MacKenzie, former Creative Director at Hallmark, observes in his book Orbiting the Giant Hairball, "My last boss at Hallmark, a fellow by the name of Bob Kipp, sat at the wheel of one of the corporate speedboats. I was at the end of a towline on water skis. We spent our time together skimming across the great Lake Hallmark. Kipp was so sure of who he was, and why he was where he was and where the power was, that he was not threatened at all when I would ski around in a wide arc until I was even with the boat and sometimes even past it. He knew I was not going to start pulling the boat with him in it. It just doesn't work that way. The power remains in the boat. But, in allowing me to ski past him — in a sense, allowing me to lead — he would unleash in me an excitement about our enterprise that served our shared goals. If you are in a position of power and want to lead well, remember: Allow those you lead … to lead … when they feel the need. All will benefit." 
About a third of first births among white women come before marriage, compared with three-quarters among black women. As for children, 55% of blacks, 40% of Hispanics and 30% of whites spend some of their childhood with cohabiting parents. 
The latest Newsweek poll found 91% of American adults say they believe in God and nearly half reject the scientific theory of evolution. Despite rising secularism, Christians still far outnumber any other faith group. 82% of American adults identify themselves as Christian. Only 5% are religious non-Christians. Time magazine recently reported 85% of Americans follow a Christian faith, 66% have no doubts God exists and 11% believe in God but have some doubts. According to Newsweek, only 6% do not believe in a God at all; 10% identify themselves as having “no religion”; and 3% are atheist. The poll further found that 47% feel the country is more accepting of atheists today than before and 49% personally know an atheist. 
The National Organization for Women has filed a complaint with the Health and Human Services Dept., saying a program intended to promote responsible fatherhood is illegal because it’s only about men. 
Americans with annual household income over $100,000 spend a median of 17 hours a week online, vs. 14 for everyone else. Affluent Americans spend more time on the Internet searching instead of surfing according to a JupiterResearch study. They also are more aware of advertising and are more active online. 20% of affluent people visit Web sites dedicated to business compared with 11% of others, and 37% of affluents do research for work online vs. 27% of non-affluents. So, if you’re marketing to affluents, it should be about search advertising and giving people resources so they can find information online rather than banner and pop-up ads. It is best to target affluents via paid search, product reviews posted on company Web sites and content on social media sites. 43% of affluents use instant messaging, vs. 36% of people with lesser incomes. 26% read blogs and 11% are blog-authors. Among non-affluents, those figures are 22% and 6%, respectively. 
Charitable contributions to colleges and universities in the U.S. grew by 9.4% during ‘06, reaching $28 billion. 
Religious book sales were up 28.2% in January, ($34.6 million), according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP). That compares to an 8.3% drop in December and 10.2% for ’06. Sales for all book categories were up 6.4% for the month. 
