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Show .MiriiwulIM SECTION Daitij&tcratb . 2004 SATURDAY, JULY 3, i LIFE & STYLE EDITOR I eandrusOherakJextra.com 344 2553 Etyssa Andrus Christian book - - retailers look for niche, scope out best sellers Lori Johnston E ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA It was a sign from above that the Christian book industry is changing. Large banners reading "New York Times Best Seller" greeted bookstore owners and publishers at their industry's annual convention in Atlanta this week. The signs promoted "The PurposLife" and "The Make-Driven er's Diet" just two of the pective books that have successfully crossed over into the mainstream market in recent Christian-pers- years. Soaring sales have obviously meant greater profits for some, and publishers are keeping a sharp eye out for authors who have the potential to become the next best seller. But success' has also meant greater competition for store owners, who cant match the deep discounts offered by big retailers that ynaw stock some Christian books. So, many of the 11,000 people at the meeting of CBA International 7- a renamed version of the Christian Booksellers Association, reflecting stores that offer more than were looking for their books own niche. Christian bookstores, a term generally referring to shops run by evangelical Protestants, will "never t, be able to sell as cheaply as Sam's dub, Costco or Barnes & Noble," said James Dion, retail consultant. a Chicago-base- d But they have a small advantage cusover those competitors tomer service and product knowledge, he said. "The business is first and foremost a ministry. The good news: It's a wonderful thing, it can become the most powerful customer service strategy you can develop," Dion said. But store owners often "put business not even second, but third and fourth. They're wonderful ministers but not really good businesspeople." Better marketing and merchandising is key, said Sherri Litza, owner of New Covenant Christian Supply in LaPorte, Ind. Sixty percent of the stores have less than $500,000 a year in sales, a relatively low figure, she said. "We have to find a way to compete," she said. "We have to develop our niche by customer service, customer loyalty and by becoming more efficient in what we do. All the stores are being challenged." Gifts with a Christian motif are one niche, as is music, Dion said. Bookstores also are banking on sales of earlier books by authors, such at Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye of "Left Behind" fame, along with Bible commentaries and works by established names such as prison evangelist Charles Colson and theologian Francis Schaefer. Other stores are opting to open on Sundays which, despite being ' the Christian day of rest, is a time -- Wal-Mar- now-popul- See BOOKS, BOBBY at the school's yoga and meditation room. Sitting next to him the Goddess of Learning and Knowledge. The school had its first graduates on June 19. K.C Gupta, president of Hindu University of America, is shown is COKEROriando Sentinel a statue of Saraswati, Spiritual learning Hindu U. earns degree of pride with first graduates Mark I. Pinsky THE ORLANDO SENTINEL wasnt a procession at the University of and for good 11 reason: Faculty members would have far outnumbered the students. Well, make that "student." Just two degrees were awarded masat the Orlando, Fla., campus ters in Hinduism and Vedic astroloand only one of the graduates, gy Jessica Sayles, attended. Still, there was an invocation. A ceremonial Hindu lamp was lighted, and university officials and invited guests spoke. In averse from Hinduism's sacred writings, university officials ' asked Sarasvati, the goddess of learning and wisdom, to bless the university. The ceremonies included not just the school's first graduation but a dedication of its first new, permanent structures prefabricated buildings that probably wont ever be covered with ivy. Although modest, the recent events were momentous for Hindu U. supporters around the world. The There r i ular classrooms and offices. A two-stor- y administrative building is next on the schedule. The faculty has grown to four and 18 adjunct professors, and an administrative staff of four. Hindu U. seems to enjoy good karma: Soon after moving to its site in 2002, a neighbor donated an adjoining 2.5 acres. "This is an item of pride for the local Hindu community and all over the country," says Gupta, a former professor of electrical engineering at the University of Colorado. Leaders of Central Florida's Hindu community of 7,000 agree. "Our community is growing, and it will help us create an awareness of the Hindu religion and philosophy and teachings," says Dr. Aravind Pillai, chairman of the Hindu Society of Central Florida. "It will help us tell the world exactly what we stand for." In addition to dispelling the image of Hinduism as a superstition, Pillai says, the university has created interest among members of his own community who have lost touch full-time- 10-ac- : V Rana Thwart, an administrator at Orlando's Hindu University of America, is shown in March 2002 in Florida. Two years later, the school held its first graduation ceremony to award two degrees. unique institution has come a long way from its first days in an old house and a portable classroom with a staff and faculty of two. "It's our humble beginning," ac knowledges K.C Gupta, the university president. The new structures, part of the university's first phase of development, add 5,000 square feet of mod See HINDU U., B6 6 Religious use of mercury persists even after health warnings called Florida water and spread it on their bodies for hick. "It's not dangerous," he said, standing by a FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. In a strip mall in counter stacked with jars of powdered herbs. "I can put it on my body, and nothing will happen. Lauder hill Fla., behind a window displaying statues of Voodoo spirits, the St. Ange Botanica sells It's not something that can hurt people." herbs and candles to help people gain love, monBut long-terexposure to low doses of merey or health. It also sells mercury, a hazardous cury can cause tremors (initially of the eyelids, heavy metal and a common ingredient in tongue and fingers), irritability, excessive shy- ' Caribbean religious rituals. ness, nervousness, insomnia, In Voodoo, Santena and othmemory loss and a decline in er faiths with African roots, cognitive abilities, according to ... Long-ter- m exposure to a 2002 report on the ritualismany practitioners sprinkle low doses of mercury can tic use of mercury by the Envithe silvery liquid on the floor, ronmental Protection Agency. carry it with them in pouches, cause tremors ... , irritability, When burn it in candles and pour it many of these sympinto bath water. While these toms appeared among excessive shyness, British hat makers, practices are intended to bring nervousness, insomnia, luck or success in love, federal who used hot mercuric acid to health officials said they could make felt hats, they inspired memory loss and a decline the expression "mad as a hatbe making people sick and in cognitive abilities. ter." contaminating their homes. Although mercury is a legal Many people sprinkle mer- St. and the cury in their homes, where it product, Ange can work into carpets and most other religious supply stores keep it out of sight. When a reporter refloorboards and emit hazardous vapor for years. That's a real concern," said John Risher, sequested it by its Creole name, vidajan, a clerk nior science adviser in the toxicology branch of went to a room in the back and returned with a the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Displastic bag of mercury capsules. They cost $6 ' each. ease Registry. "I know some practitioners sprinkle it in their houses, near cribs. Then you leave Ribert Mones, the store's owner, whose business card identifies him as a spiritualist able to as- the house or the apartment, and somebody has sist with evil spirits, jinx removal and love probSee MERCURY, B6 lems, said clients mix mercury with a cologne David Fleshier SOUTH FLORIDA o .' 19th-centu- , .... wv . ill MAftK RANOALLSouth Florida SurvSentinel Jean Pierre displays a vial of mercury in her Boynton Beach, Fix, botanica shop called St Jacques Botanica. Vrvi !'alJiB?K wi TP |
