Religious books: Coming in from the fringe

SAN FRANCISCO — There's one thing that keeps Margaret Lee going when times at the Harvest Christian Bookstore get tough: The look in her customers' eyes when they buy their first Bible.

It's an intimate moment when they find just the right one — for a loved one, maybe, or someone looking for God — and they hold it in their hands. After nearly 30 years, it still gives her chills. It gives her the will to keep business as usual as the only full-service Christian book shop in San Francisco.

"Almost never a day goes by that a person doesn't say, 'Please stay, please stay,' " Lee says about her shop on Noriega Street. "I say I'm doing my darnedest, but it's hard. It's a hard industry."

The religious book industry — 98 percent of which is made of Christian titles, according to the Association for Christian Retail — has seen a transformation over the past decade from large obscurity to mainstream prevalence. Christian books once available only at independent-niche Christian bookshops like Lee's are now sold online and in mainstream stores everywhere. As recognition of the popularity of Christian books has grown, with some titles holding a steady spot on the nation's best-seller lists, Christian publishing companies and their audience have grown, too, expanding globally and into the electronic marketplace. Now the formerly fringe products have a home in mainstream popularity and at stores like Lee's.

Sure, Lee knows that means she's got more competition, but in the end, it's the big picture that matters to her.

"Ultimately, I always say, as long as people are reading their Bible, and reading good Christian material … I couldn't really care where they got it, in a way," Lee says. "I don't wish ill for people who don't shop here, but if you see a validity to this ministry … please, come and support us."

Rise of the religious book

Years ago, the best place to find a Christian book was at a church or nonprofit organization. Then in 1950, Christian booksellers from 219 charter stores organized the Christian Booksellers Association in Illinois with a plan to network and strengthen each other. Today the organization includes 1,700 stores and is recognized by leading Christian publishers as one reason Christian books have been slowly integrated into mainstream culture.