Another piece about the plight of Christian publishers who find themselves competing against their mainstream counterparts. When the "faith-friendly" market boomed, major publishers began acquiring Christian publishers:

On the Christian publishing side, the story is even more volatile. Best-selling inspirational titles caught the attention of major secular publishers, leading to a wave of acquisitions over the past decade. Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and other big-name secular publishers acquired Christian publishing houses, hoping for major income producers. Other publishers started religious divisions of their own.

But the downside to this sudden attention by mega-publishers, as explained in the article, is that if/when Christian publishers fail to follow up on the bestsellers that initially grabbed mainstream publisher attention, they risk getting the axe.

Add to that the much-discussed impact of discount retailers on traditional booksellers and publishers (from the article: "...with Christian books readily available and deeply discounted at the local Sam's Club, more and more consumers are picking up their inspiration along with a case of soda"), and it looks like things may get worse before they get better for the Christian publishing industry.