Every time I attend the International Christian Retailers' Show I return with mixed emotions. On the one hand I love seeing friends and meeting new ones. And I thrill at the possibility of having a wider arena for ministry. On the other hand, the whole glitz and glamour, and yes even greed, thing troubles me. Bigtime.

First the good stuff: Through great friends at the DTS Book Center I scored accommodations at the Brown Palace Hotel—the nicest hotel in Denver—at convention rates. The room had free internet service, which offset any extra cost incurred from staying there. I loved having fresh roses in the room and turndown service with chocolate on the pillow. It felt nice to be pampered. A bonus: My friend Mary flew in from France and we were roomies.

I arrived late Sunday afternoon and had the privilege of hearing Eugene Peterson speak to about fifty writers and agents about writing, storytelling, and the contemplative life. Rich! I loved it when he said he thought we should ordain writers. After he spoke I told him I’d heard him say on Mars Hill that seminary students should memorize poetry, and I wanted to know what poets he recommended. His answer? George Herbert, Girard Manley Hopkins, and Wendell Berry. (He then had the good sense to fly back to Montana rather than stay for the convention, proving that an author does not have to stay and schmooze to have big sales and make deals.)

Monday morning was a breakfast for the Christian Authors Network (CAN), which I recently joined. You can subscribe to receive book excerpts regularly from them. I met some people I’d been emailing for a while, so it was fun to put names and faces together.

Monday morning I signed and gave away copies of Espresso with Esther. I read recently about someone asking for Marva Dawn’s autograph and her reply: “Why is my signature any more important than yours?” I think Marva is on to something.

AMG committed to doing two more Bible studies, as I mentioned in my last post. And I was supposed to pitch a book idea to another publisher, but the appointment got canceled. Yet where one door shut, another flew opened. I’m not at liberty to discuss it, but let’s just say the trip was successful as far as business goes. One possibility: A UK publisher may pick up Lethal Harvest and Deadly Cure for more overseas distribution. (The former is already in German.) I wonder: If they do publish the books, will they have to translate English-to-English? Like, will we need to add words like “smarmy” and “bloke”?

The not-so-good stuff: Monday night as I met with a friend from CAN, I heard about some acquisitions folks who’d told authors at a pre-conference meeting that the main thing they’re looking for in an author is big $ales. I know publishers have to make money. Sure, business is business. But Christian publishers should also bear this in mind: “The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).

Not all of the acquisitions folks who heard them agreed. I later heard from some who were disgusted. Thank God. Those are the folks I want to work for.

The next day I signed books at the Denver Barnes and Noble. It was a group signing deal. I got the chance to meet and converse at length with a sharp, young couple who talked about everything from Buddhism to Gnostic texts. I loved them! They walked away with the Esther study. I hope they find encouragement there.

During the B&N time, I was sad to see that some of the other ICRS authors there could not stop talking about themselves and how great their ministries were. Ugh. I couldn’t help but think of Proverbs 27:2, which says, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.”

I had lunch after that with a lovely new author who has a couple of books out. She said she had been made to feel “small” only one time so far—when someone rushed up to the person next to her and fawned over that person, and her participation in the conversation ended because neither of the others bothered to acknowledge she was still standing there. Ow.

So I give you a James Remix:

James 2:1–9 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose an author walks into ICRS who’s had numerous books on the bestseller list, and a wannabe author also comes in. If you show special attention to the bestselling author and say, “Let me get my picture taken with you,” but say nothing at all to the unknown person, have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are unsuccessful in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

I admit I’m as prone as anybody else to have a messed up value system. I’ve got my own areas of pride and distorted priorities. I just hate to see the Christian bookselling industry—an industry that has the word “Christ” in it—get sucked into the world’s mold. It’s time we bowed our egos and raised our standards.