Christianbook.com Fiction Blog

As I was catching up with publishing our interviews with several Abingdon authors, I was struck by how detailed and thoughtful the interview answers were. These were carefully chosen authors and books, written from a slightly different perspective than the norm. Abingdon just started publishing their fiction line this fall and what an outstanding set of books and authors they’ve debuted!
First, the eye of the god is based on the true history of the Hope Diamond. The Fence my Father Built…is made up of old oven doors, and it gets more quirky still.  Call of Zulina takes place in the 1800′s in W. Africa, depicting a young woman who has been sheltered from the outside world by her parents.  She decides to run away when she sees the prospect of the man her father wants her to marry.  Once over the wall that has barred her in all these years, she discovers a world she almost can’t comprehend, from the slavery to the vile streets, etc. The author, Kay Marshall Strom is well familiar with Africa and passionate about its fate, which clearly comes through in her writing. Prayers of Agnes Sparrow is about an older woman completely confined who spends all of her hours praying.  The miraculous part of the story is how the prayers come true.

Instead of talking about books today, I want to give you a bit of an insider’s view into our very special company, CBD/Christianbook.com. Our company started with brothers Steve and Ray Hendrickson. Steve was a theological student at the time, and was appalled at the high cost of his texts. So the two brothers figured out a way to get them for less…and CBD was born.

Once word got around that the brothers were getting the books for less (hence our logo, “Everything Christian For Less”) students and pastors wanted to also take advantage of the savings. From its humble beginnings out of their parents garage (when Ray, who is now President and CEO, was a mere 14 years old), their helpers included their Mom (who still works as the head of our Credit Department to this day. She’s 80 years young!), their Dad (an Assemblies of God Pastor) and several friends. They outgrew the garage and then outgrew their first building, and then their second building, with the same principle always, Christian books, and now other Christian products, for less.

Eventually they bought another piece of land in Peabody, MA, across the street from their old building. This time they have a warehouse that’s four stories high and the size of four football fields. Yes, CBD even outgrew that warehouse and rents other storage facilities around the area. We’re all here, in Peabody, under one roof. There’s now about 500 people who work at CBD, many have worked here with Ray since it started, and most people stay for a very long time.

Why is there such a loyalty when most companies have a constant turnover? Because of the family atmosphere, starting with Ray and Mrs. Hendrickson, to customer service, web, IT, warehouse, HR, Hendrickson Publishing. We don’t have a dress code. It’s not at all unusual to see Ray in shorts and when the Boston Bruins, Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox win a series/ playoffs, we’ll get a half day off or a special delivery of cracker jacks. We have staff appreciation weeks, quarterly luncheons, a special celebration everyday throughout the last week before Christmas.

Our motto within the company is “one boat, one team,” and that’s true, particularly at Christmas! In order to ensure excellent customer service and quick shipping, it’s “all hands on deck.” From top to bottom, we all work in the warehouse or on the phones to serve our customers. This year, our company was recognized as one of the Top one hundred companies, ranking #22 overall and #8 in the mid-size company category in the Boston Globe.

This is just a taste of …the rest of the story.