Church Publishing Incorporated
Making the Best Waves
New to Church Publishing Incorporated (CPI), Senior Vice President and Publisher Airié Stuart has brought a rich publishing background (including time at HarperCollins, Warner Books, and Macmillan) and a renewed focus on CPI’s financial health.
The bulk of what CPI creates are books: They make up close to 70% of the business. Historical bestsellers include various editions of The Book of Common Prayer and The Hymnal 1982. Edwin H. Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, widely used in seminary education, and Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry’s Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus, also top the list. The rest of the program includes electronic liturgical products, such as RitePlanning and RiteSong, church supplies, and lectionary inserts.
After conducting an extensive review of all of CPI’s product lines, Airié sees “enormous potential in our books program—publishing high-quality content from thought leaders for a broad global audience.” A new acquisition strategy focuses on deepening its reach through multiple markets (trade, church professional, and academic).
For the general reader, subjects such as leadership, inspiration, retirement, financial wellness, and social justice can enable growth and support the values we hold in common with the people we serve. “Scholarly works that advance Episcopal thought and theology, alongside our core liturgical and church resources, are also essential components of a deeper publishing strategy,” Airié says.
CPI has begun refining its suite of digital resources as well, such as ebooks and subscription-based electronic products, and is revamping the eCP, an app based on The Book of Common Prayer. Other changes on the horizon supporting CPI’s publishing strategy include global distribution, a robust print-on-demand program, and broader-reaching partnerships with booksellers and libraries. This multi-pronged approach to content and distribution will offer new ways of fulfilling the changing needs of the Church, and beyond.
Making waves not long after her arrival at CPG, Airié did not come to rock the boat so much as to steer it deftly through uncharted waters. “We have a unique opportunity to reach more people with meaningful content,” she says, “and make a difference in the world.”
