A Gentle Madness

I met a pastor recently who introduced himself this way: “Hi, I’m John.” (Not his real name.)

“Hi, John,” I said.

“I buy books,” he replied. It was the beginning of a sad tale that sounds like fiction, except that it is true. John confessed that he didn’t just buy books. He was addicted to book buying. In fact, he had already bought over 850 of IVP’s 1200 books in print and was closing in on the rest. That doesn’t include Bible study guides or booklets, though he’s sorely tempted to pick those up as well. “Just to complete the set, you know,” he said. “Like Pokemon. Gotta catch ’em all.”
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Dear Santa

Dear Santa:

We have been a very good publisher this year. We have paid our bills on time. We have one of the highest “in stock” rates in the industry. We have published many valuable books. We got several awards for our book designs. We have played nice with our authors. We told the truth in our marketing (even if we did get a little “excited” now and then). So I hope you will keep that in mind as Christmas gets near.

I know your elves are working harder than ever this time of year. Maybe they would have time to squeeze in one or two of the following into your sleigh before you take off.

1. Lots and lots of shelf space in bookstores so people can see our award-winning covers, not just our award-winning spines.
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