Monthly column on the arts

It will be old news by the time you read this, but your diligent columnist happened to ring at the right time and scooped the news that Eagle Publishing Ltd. will be represented to the book trade by IVP.

This is a good deal more exciting than it sounds, for it is the last step in the rebirth of Inter Publishing Services and its imprint Eagle. The collapse of the company has been one of the dominant Christian publishing sagas of the millennium so far.

Eagle was launched in early 1991 by David Wavre, who resigned as Editorial Director of Hodder and Stoughton's Christian division to set up the new publishing house in Guildford. In 1992 Eagle acquired Highland Books, founded by Edward England, a predecessor of David's at Hodder, and the company ran both imprints for several years.

All publishers need a few basic titles that will go on selling and generate ongoing predictable income. In the early years, titles like Highland's Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald helped the new company's cash flow: later on, Eagle's list included major reference works such as The Bible Chronicle, a colourful and authoritative tabloid-style survey of events in biblical times. It was a very strong seller, not least because of the journalistic flair that editor Derek Williams brought to the project. More recently, Eagle acquired the UK rights to the Jesus Freaks series. This innovative youth project conceived by Christian music group dc Talk has had immense success in Britain.

Diversity

Eagle published an impressive list, but a small Christian publisher needs more than one string to its bow. Wearing his Inter Publishing Services hat, David Wavre provided consultancy and 'print brokering' services to the book trade. In a period when Christian book sales have varied from disappointing to abysmal, print services ensured cash flow and enabled publication of some titles that were unlikely to generate huge profits.

Another aspect of the business was reprints: for example, John Wenham's 1974 classic The Goodness of God, which Eagle republished as The Enigma of Evil. The reprint list includes titles by J.I. Packer, John White and Philip Yancey.

Eagle also created product from scratch. A C.S. Lewis diary, for example, was a popular gift for Lewis enthusiasts based on quotations from his writings, and a planned coffee table book combining the paintings of rural artist Helen Allingham with text from Alison Uttley's country journals was an inspired marriage of two quite different yet complementary creative artists.

Difficulties

The problems of Inter Publishing/Eagle had nothing to do with management or the development of its list. A major overseas print client in financial difficulties defaulted without warning on a payment due to Inter Publishing Services - a sum large enough to force the company to cease trading voluntarily and seek an arrangement with creditors. The creditors, in a massive endorsement of the company, overwhelming requested that Inter Publishing/ Eagle should continue to trade. In early 2002 the company was back in production, but the disruption had had inevitable repercussions: a substantial print customer now announced its decision to place its business elsewhere. It was the final straw and Eagle finally closed down.

David Wavre's new company, Eagle Publishing Ltd., founded after arrangements with the liquidator, is a slimmed-down version of the old, and, as I write, it has not been decided how much of the old list will be kept in print.

The offices are in Trowbridge near Bath (print services will be handled by a company based in Kingston-upon-Thames). Several of the Guildford staff will be working with Eagle Publishing. No major project has been cancelled, though some, like the Allingham/Uttley project, have been delayed. Among new titles will be David Pytches's autobiography Living at the Edge and his wife Mary's new book, F|inding the Key to Personal Integrity|.

Good news

Any new Christian publishing venture is good news, though the circumstances that produced this one are hardly cheering. You could say that it is all part of the current economic gloom. There's a lesson to be learned, however, as Eagle re-invents itself. In one sense, the company did not fail because people were not buying enough books. But had book sales been larger, dependence for cash flow on print brokerage (which is where disaster struck) would not have been so significant a factor. Indeed, had the Christian book trade been in a stronger state, diversifying into print services might not have been necessary at all. The example of the old Eagle is a sobering one, for Eagle was not the only small publisher vulnerable to unexpected setbacks.

This is one of those rare situations where individuals really can make a difference. How many Christian books do you intend to buy this year? Don't wait until January 1 to make some resolutions!

David Porter

© Evangelicals Now - August 2002
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