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Songs for a Gospel People
For the second year in a row it's a book from a B.C. that has garnered top debut sales amongst Canada's publishers.
Last year The Expo Celebration was the country's runaway publishing success story. In terms of numbers, sold, The Expo Celebration has now been eclipsed by Songs for a Gospel People (Wood Lake Books, $5.95).
Songs for a Gospel People is a collection of new and old hymns from little known publishing firm in Winfield, B.C. Back in August the book pre sold its first printing of 160,000 copies in Canada alone. "We haven't begun to tap the U. S. market yet," says publisher Ralph Milton.
Realizing that United and Anglican churches were often using pirated photocopied versions of hymns such as " Amazing Grace" and "Morning Has Broken", Milton and UBC theology professor Gerald Hobbs first recognized the need for an updated hymn book over beer and pizza in 1985.
Since then, with the musical editorship of organist Darryl Nixon from St. Andrews Wesley in Vancouver, Songs of a Gospel People grew into a compilation of 130 songs. Approximately 25% of the hymns are original submissions. After the United Church Observer ran a small story about Wood Lake's intention to print some new hymns, Milton's fledgling company was swamped with 3,000 submissions.
"I'm a bathroom baritone," says Milton, "I'm not a musician. We eventually had to get together a dozen people from across the country to test out the best of the new songs."
Milton pre-sold the collection of hymns by promising 1/3 off to congregations that agreed to invest an advance dollar for each book they wanted. When the denominational bookstores heard about Wood Lake selling directly to congregations, they preordered 55,000.
"The whole thing just grew on its own," says Milton, who originally hoped to simply bring out a supplement to the standard 1971 United Church hymn book for B.C., "Now Wood Lake is the only company in the world with its head office in Winfield, B.C. and its branch office in Toronto."
Milton and his Toronto partner Jim Taylor started the company after they realized the sale of Ryerson Press, now owned by an American corporation, meant manuscripts on religious matters could no longer find a home in Canada. Milton began by self-publishing his own book, The Gift of Story, a collection based on his premise that, "the yams we tell over the back fence define what we really believe."
Wood Lake has no official connection to any church. Milton says his company caters to 'the liberal Christian constituency.' He has published 45 titles, including a collection of religious humour and a cookbook, Those Marvelous Church Suppers, featuring recipes supplied by the likes of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Bishop Remi De Roo and the late Margaret Laurence.
[BCBW Spring 1987]
Last year The Expo Celebration was the country's runaway publishing success story. In terms of numbers, sold, The Expo Celebration has now been eclipsed by Songs for a Gospel People (Wood Lake Books, $5.95).
Songs for a Gospel People is a collection of new and old hymns from little known publishing firm in Winfield, B.C. Back in August the book pre sold its first printing of 160,000 copies in Canada alone. "We haven't begun to tap the U. S. market yet," says publisher Ralph Milton.
Realizing that United and Anglican churches were often using pirated photocopied versions of hymns such as " Amazing Grace" and "Morning Has Broken", Milton and UBC theology professor Gerald Hobbs first recognized the need for an updated hymn book over beer and pizza in 1985.
Since then, with the musical editorship of organist Darryl Nixon from St. Andrews Wesley in Vancouver, Songs of a Gospel People grew into a compilation of 130 songs. Approximately 25% of the hymns are original submissions. After the United Church Observer ran a small story about Wood Lake's intention to print some new hymns, Milton's fledgling company was swamped with 3,000 submissions.
"I'm a bathroom baritone," says Milton, "I'm not a musician. We eventually had to get together a dozen people from across the country to test out the best of the new songs."
Milton pre-sold the collection of hymns by promising 1/3 off to congregations that agreed to invest an advance dollar for each book they wanted. When the denominational bookstores heard about Wood Lake selling directly to congregations, they preordered 55,000.
"The whole thing just grew on its own," says Milton, who originally hoped to simply bring out a supplement to the standard 1971 United Church hymn book for B.C., "Now Wood Lake is the only company in the world with its head office in Winfield, B.C. and its branch office in Toronto."
Milton and his Toronto partner Jim Taylor started the company after they realized the sale of Ryerson Press, now owned by an American corporation, meant manuscripts on religious matters could no longer find a home in Canada. Milton began by self-publishing his own book, The Gift of Story, a collection based on his premise that, "the yams we tell over the back fence define what we really believe."
Wood Lake has no official connection to any church. Milton says his company caters to 'the liberal Christian constituency.' He has published 45 titles, including a collection of religious humour and a cookbook, Those Marvelous Church Suppers, featuring recipes supplied by the likes of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Bishop Remi De Roo and the late Margaret Laurence.
[BCBW Spring 1987]
Submitted on October 25, 2004 in By David.
