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Thomas Nelson (publisher)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Nelson is a publishing firm that began in Scotland
in 1798 as the namesake of its founder. Its former US division is currently the sixth largest American trade publisher and the world's largest Christian publisher. It is owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg & Company
. HarperCollins
announced its acquisition of Thomas Nelson in 2011.
In Canada, the Nelson imprint is used for educational publishing by Cengage Learning
. In the UK, it was a mainstream publisher until the late 20th Century and is now part of another educational imprint, Nelson Thornes
.
in 1798, originally as a second-hand religious bookshop but soon diversifying into publishing reprints of Puritan
writers. The firm went on to become a publisher of new books, and as the nineteenth century progressed it produced an increasingly wide range of non-religious materials; by 1881 religion accounted for less than 6% of the firm's output.
By the early twentieth century, Thomas Nelson had become a secular concern in the UK. Until 1968, according to the curators of a Senate House Library exhibition, it "specialised in producing popular literature, children's books, Bibles, religious works and educational texts." It was the first publisher for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
.
Thomson owned the company from 1960 until 2000. That year it was acquired by Wolters Kluwer
, who merged Nelson with its existing publishing arm, Stanley Thornes, to form Nelson Thornes
.
of the Bible from 1901 until 1928, when it transferred the copyright to the International Council of Religious Education. In the 1930s, the company made a deal with this Council (which later became part of the National Council of Churches
) to publish the Revised Standard Version
. Following an ownership change in 1960, which the firm was sold to The Thomson
Organization, changes happened, and in 1962 the company’s failure to meet demand for this Bible translation led to the National Council of Churches
granting other publishers licenses for the work, leading to a dramatic fall in revenue.
, with an intent to pursue medical training. To pay his way through college at the University of South Carolina
, and later Columbia Bible College
, Moore began to sell Bibles door-to-door. The Lebanese
immigrant had a strong sense of American patriotism and free enterprise and used it to establish the National Book Company in 1958, and in 1961, established Royal Publishers, and sold stock in the firm a year later, with notable shareholders including Morrow Coffey Graham, mother of noted evangelist Billy Graham
.
Royal Publishers' success for five years, more than doubling sales every year, and resulted in the Thomson Organization asking if he would take control of Nelson's North American operations. Instead, Moore surprised the firm by offering to purchase the company, and Moore took over on March 7, 1969, preferring to keep the company's name and logo. In Canada, the brand continues as Thomson Nelson, an educational imprint. In the 1960s, Thomas Nelson moved its headquarters from New York to Camden, New Jersey
. It moved again to Nashville, Tennessee
in the 1970s. From 1979-82, Nelson developed the New King James
Bible (also known as the Revised Authorized Version) and under Moore began diversifying the company with a gift division.
In 1992, Thomas Nelson Inc began its modern advancement. Nelson purchased the Word
music and books brand from Capital Cities-ABC
. In 1997, the company split the two, spinning off the record label and printed music division, one of the largest church music companies, to Gaylord Entertainment. That led to a lawsuit by Gaylord in 2001 over the Word name, and was settled when Nelson renamed their book division the W Publishing Group. That year also led to a corporate expansion by the purchase of the Cool Springs and Rutledge Hill Press labels.
In 2003, World Bible Publishers was acquired by Nelson, and also the fiction label WestBow Press made its debut (all books were later consolidated under the Nelson brand and WestBow Press was resurrected in 2009 to offer self-publishing services to aspiring authors). Also, an imprint for internet news source WorldNetDaily
made its debut that year. The agreement dissolved, however, after 2004, and the former WND brand is now under the Nelson Current brand, including its authors.
Thomas Nelson, now based in Nashville
, publishes leading Christian authors, including Billy Graham
, Max Lucado
, John Eldredge
, John Maxwell
, Charles Stanley
, Michael A. O'Donnell, Ted Dekker
and Dave Stone. Thomas Nelson Inc in 2000 began marketing the Women of Faith
conference, a concept devised by author Stephen Arterburn in 1995, after attending a church conference in Atlanta. Today, the Women of Faith conference is one of the best-known women's events around North America, attracting over 400,000 women annually. In 2005, Thomas Nelson launched the Revolve teen conferences, built on the Women of Faith model. Michael S. Hyatt
, a twenty-five year veteran of the publishing industry, became President and CEO of the company on August 18, 2005, succeeding Sam Moore who served as the company's CEO for nearly 47 years.
In February 2006 it was announced that private equity firm InterMedia Partners
, in conjunction with some other investors, had agreed to buy Thomas Nelson for $473 million. The transaction closed on June 12, 2006. The company now operates as a private company. In 2010, a group led by Kohlberg & Company
bought a majority share of the company. In 2011, it was announced that the News Corporation
would buy Thomas Nelson for $200 million.
in the US and Canada in 2007. The Nelson name lives on through the Canadian company Nelson Education Ltd., an educational publisher.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in 1798 as the namesake of its founder. Its former US division is currently the sixth largest American trade publisher and the world's largest Christian publisher. It is owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg & Company
Kohlberg & Company
Kohlberg & Company is a private equity firm that focuses on leveraged buyout transactions founded by industry pioneer Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.Today, the firm invests in a variety of transactions including leveraged carveouts , take private transactions and acquisitions of privately held companies...
. HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
announced its acquisition of Thomas Nelson in 2011.
In Canada, the Nelson imprint is used for educational publishing by Cengage Learning
Cengage Learning
Cengage Learning is a publisher of print and digital information services for the academic, professional and library markets, and delivers customized learning solutions for colleges, universities, professors, students, libraries, government agencies, corporations and professionals around the...
. In the UK, it was a mainstream publisher until the late 20th Century and is now part of another educational imprint, Nelson Thornes
Nelson Thornes
Nelson Thornes is a publishing firm located in Cheltenham, Great Britain.Started in 1968, as Stanley Thornes, the company began primarily publishing English textbooks for students before branching out into other areas of education. In 2001 Stanley Thornes through its parent company Wolters Kluwer...
.
British history
Thomas Nelson founded the company that bears his name in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in 1798, originally as a second-hand religious bookshop but soon diversifying into publishing reprints of Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
writers. The firm went on to become a publisher of new books, and as the nineteenth century progressed it produced an increasingly wide range of non-religious materials; by 1881 religion accounted for less than 6% of the firm's output.
By the early twentieth century, Thomas Nelson had become a secular concern in the UK. Until 1968, according to the curators of a Senate House Library exhibition, it "specialised in producing popular literature, children's books, Bibles, religious works and educational texts." It was the first publisher for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
.
Thomson owned the company from 1960 until 2000. That year it was acquired by Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer N.V. is a global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory sectors...
, who merged Nelson with its existing publishing arm, Stanley Thornes, to form Nelson Thornes
Nelson Thornes
Nelson Thornes is a publishing firm located in Cheltenham, Great Britain.Started in 1968, as Stanley Thornes, the company began primarily publishing English textbooks for students before branching out into other areas of education. In 2001 Stanley Thornes through its parent company Wolters Kluwer...
.
Original American history
The American branch of Thomas Nelson was set up in 1854 in New York, and by the 1870s it was one of the city's most important firms. It held the copyright for the American Standard VersionAmerican Standard Version
The Revised Version, Standard American Edition of the Bible, more commonly known as the American Standard Version , is a version of the Bible that was released in 1901...
of the Bible from 1901 until 1928, when it transferred the copyright to the International Council of Religious Education. In the 1930s, the company made a deal with this Council (which later became part of the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
) to publish the Revised Standard Version
Revised Standard Version
The Revised Standard Version is an English translation of the Bible published in the mid-20th century. It traces its history to William Tyndale's New Testament translation of 1525. The RSV is an authorized revision of the American Standard Version of 1901...
. Following an ownership change in 1960, which the firm was sold to The Thomson
Thomson Corporation
The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies.Thomson was active in financial services, healthcare sectors, law, science & technology research, and tax & accounting sectors...
Organization, changes happened, and in 1962 the company’s failure to meet demand for this Bible translation led to the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
granting other publishers licenses for the work, leading to a dramatic fall in revenue.
Current US company
In 1950, 19-year old Sam Moore came to Columbia, South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
, with an intent to pursue medical training. To pay his way through college at the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
, and later Columbia Bible College
Columbia International University
Columbia International University is a Christian institution of higher education located in Columbia, South Carolina. The university is recognized for its emphasis upon spiritual formation, biblical authority and world evangelization.-History:...
, Moore began to sell Bibles door-to-door. The Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
immigrant had a strong sense of American patriotism and free enterprise and used it to establish the National Book Company in 1958, and in 1961, established Royal Publishers, and sold stock in the firm a year later, with notable shareholders including Morrow Coffey Graham, mother of noted evangelist Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
.
Royal Publishers' success for five years, more than doubling sales every year, and resulted in the Thomson Organization asking if he would take control of Nelson's North American operations. Instead, Moore surprised the firm by offering to purchase the company, and Moore took over on March 7, 1969, preferring to keep the company's name and logo. In Canada, the brand continues as Thomson Nelson, an educational imprint. In the 1960s, Thomas Nelson moved its headquarters from New York to Camden, New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
. It moved again to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in the 1970s. From 1979-82, Nelson developed the New King James
New King James Version
The New King James Version is a modern translation of the Bible published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. The New Testament was published in 1979. The Psalms in 1980. The full Bible was published in 1982. It took a total of 7 years to complete...
Bible (also known as the Revised Authorized Version) and under Moore began diversifying the company with a gift division.
In 1992, Thomas Nelson Inc began its modern advancement. Nelson purchased the Word
Word Records
Word Records is a Christian record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a division of Word Entertainment , which, itself is co-owned by Warner Music Group and Curb Records...
music and books brand from Capital Cities-ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. In 1997, the company split the two, spinning off the record label and printed music division, one of the largest church music companies, to Gaylord Entertainment. That led to a lawsuit by Gaylord in 2001 over the Word name, and was settled when Nelson renamed their book division the W Publishing Group. That year also led to a corporate expansion by the purchase of the Cool Springs and Rutledge Hill Press labels.
In 2003, World Bible Publishers was acquired by Nelson, and also the fiction label WestBow Press made its debut (all books were later consolidated under the Nelson brand and WestBow Press was resurrected in 2009 to offer self-publishing services to aspiring authors). Also, an imprint for internet news source WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily is an American web site that publishes news and associated content from a U.S. conservative perspective. It was founded in May 1997 by Joseph Farah with the stated intent of "exposing wrongdoing, corruption and abuse of power" and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.-History:In...
made its debut that year. The agreement dissolved, however, after 2004, and the former WND brand is now under the Nelson Current brand, including its authors.
Thomas Nelson, now based in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, publishes leading Christian authors, including Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
, Max Lucado
Max Lucado
Max Lucado is a best-selling author and writer and preacher at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas...
, John Eldredge
John Eldredge
John Eldredge is an author, counselor, and lecturer of Christianity.-Life and work:While living in Los Angeles Eldredge was looking for a "worldview." After exploring other religions, Eastern mysticism, Lao-Tzu, and New Age spirituality, he discovered the writings of Francis Schaeffer, whom he...
, John Maxwell
John Maxwell
John Maxwell may refer to:*John Maxwell, 4th Lord Maxwell , Scottish nobleman and head of the Border family of Maxwell*John Maxwell , Scottish prelate, Archbishop of Tuam, Bishop of Ross...
, Charles Stanley
Charles Stanley
Charles Stanley , is a US preacher, Pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia.Charles Stanley may also refer to:*Charles H...
, Michael A. O'Donnell, Ted Dekker
Ted Dekker
Ted Dekker is a New York Times best-selling Christian author best known for mystery and thriller novels, though he has also made a name for himself among fantasy fans. Early in his career he wrote a number of books that would best be categorized as Religious thrillers...
and Dave Stone. Thomas Nelson Inc in 2000 began marketing the Women of Faith
Women of Faith
is a Christian women’s organization that has been holding non-denominational conferences at various locations around North America since 1996. According to their Web site, Women of Faith is a faith-based women’s organization encouraging women of all ages and stages in life to grow in faith and...
conference, a concept devised by author Stephen Arterburn in 1995, after attending a church conference in Atlanta. Today, the Women of Faith conference is one of the best-known women's events around North America, attracting over 400,000 women annually. In 2005, Thomas Nelson launched the Revolve teen conferences, built on the Women of Faith model. Michael S. Hyatt
Michael S. Hyatt
Michael S. Hyatt is the CEO and Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers. He blogs at michaelhyatt.com on "intentional leadership." He writes on leadership, productivity, publishing, and social media....
, a twenty-five year veteran of the publishing industry, became President and CEO of the company on August 18, 2005, succeeding Sam Moore who served as the company's CEO for nearly 47 years.
In February 2006 it was announced that private equity firm InterMedia Partners
InterMedia Partners
InterMedia Advisors, LLC, also known as InterMedia Advisors is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in the media sector....
, in conjunction with some other investors, had agreed to buy Thomas Nelson for $473 million. The transaction closed on June 12, 2006. The company now operates as a private company. In 2010, a group led by Kohlberg & Company
Kohlberg & Company
Kohlberg & Company is a private equity firm that focuses on leveraged buyout transactions founded by industry pioneer Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.Today, the firm invests in a variety of transactions including leveraged carveouts , take private transactions and acquisitions of privately held companies...
bought a majority share of the company. In 2011, it was announced that the News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
would buy Thomas Nelson for $200 million.
Canadian history
When Thomson sold Thomas Nelson UK, it kept the Canadian operations of the publisher as part of the company's education division. Thomson Education was spun off as Cengage LearningCengage Learning
Cengage Learning is a publisher of print and digital information services for the academic, professional and library markets, and delivers customized learning solutions for colleges, universities, professors, students, libraries, government agencies, corporations and professionals around the...
in the US and Canada in 2007. The Nelson name lives on through the Canadian company Nelson Education Ltd., an educational publisher.