February 6, 2023 Edition
Industry News
Parasource Marketing and Distribution Limited will close operations on May 31
Parasource Marketing and Distribution Limited located in Paris, Ontario, Canada, has had to make a very difficult decision to close operations on May 31, 2023. Greg Tombs, President of Parasource said, “Following the pandemic, we have not seen the rebound that we would have expected on several fronts.” Parasource will continue operations to supply their customers – business as usual – through the Lent, Easter, Mother’s Day/Father’s Day periods.
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The Parable Group shares annual State of Christian Retail report for 2023
The Parable Group has released its 2023 State of Christian Retail report, providing data and insights into the current climate within the Christian retailing industry. The report, titled Agile Not Fragile, draws on over 3 billion rows of data from over 220 U.S. Christian bookstores—and represents over $84 million in sales data, 2.3 million consumer receipts, and nationwide survey results.
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ECPA February bestseller lists will be released this week
The Christian bestseller lists for February will be released this week in 15 categories, based on sales data from NPD Bookscan. The lists are published each month on ReadGoodBooks.com. To be notified, sign up here.
Stephen Macchia to address publishing leaders at Leadership Summit on developing spiritual discernment
Rev. Dr. Stephen Macchia, founder and president of Leadership Transformations and author of “The Discerning Life” will present a session at the ECPA Leadership Summit, held May 9-10 in Nashville, on exploring a biblical, relational, and practical approach for incorporating discernment into your individual lives and among your company’s leadership teams. The event will include speakers and topics that help equip publishing leaders to meet challenges, adapt, explore, collaborate, and face the future with an enduring hope, including:
- David Anderson: Fostering Gracism
- Joe Wikert: Lifelong Learning and AI
- International Market Panel with industry experts
- Philip Yancey: The Stewardship of Words
- Kristen McLean: NPD report on religious book market
- Peter Greer: Enduring Hope for Leaders
- Carolyn Weber: Shaped by Books
- Breakout sessions on publishing topics
Early bird registration now open at ECPALeadership.org
Staff Announcements
Jessica Kastner Keene joins WaterBrook & Multnomah
WaterBrook and Multnomah is pleased to announce that Jessica Kastner Keene has joined the publicity team as Publicity Manager, reporting to Beverly Rykerd, VP, Director of Publicity. With nearly ten years of book publicity experience, Jessica comes from Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, where she has led hundreds of highly successful media campaigns for well-known authors and experts.
Read More...Milestones
Two NavPress resources among 2022 top Disciplemaking books
Every year, Discipleship.org compiles a list of the best books for disciplemaking published in the past year. This year, two NavPress titles were included in the list: "Following Jesus: A Year of Disciplemaking and Movement-Building in the Gospels" by Peter Roennfeldt and "How to Save the World: Disciplemaking Made Simple" by Alice Matagora.
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Product News
Louie Giglio’s bestselling Indescribable Kids series expands with first activity book
For years, bestselling author and founder of the Passion movement Louie Giglio has encouraged kids to discover the wonders of the universe with his massively popular Indescribable Kids series, which has sold nearly one million copies. Now he is expanding the award-winning series with a new book, "Indescribable Activity Book for Kids: 150+ Mind-Stretching and Faith-Building Puzzles, Crosswords, STEM Experiments, and More About God and Science!" releasing on April 4, 2023.
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New Bible storybook for kids by Carl Laferton releasing from The Good Book Company
The Good Book Company is excited to announce the upcoming release of "God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook" (The Good Book Company, September 2023). This collection of 92 Bible stories is written by Carl Laferton and illustrated by Jennifer Davison.
Read More...Media Announcements
#1 NYT author Karen Kingsbury’s A Thousand Tomorrows series premiers Feb. 24
AFFIRM Originals adaptation of Karen Kingsbury’s best-selling inspirational romance novel, Karen Kingsbury’s A Thousand Tomorrows, will premiere exclusively on Pure Flix February 24, 2023.
KIIS FM On Air host Tanya Rad on Jesus Calling Podcast
Tanya Rad is the host of KIIS FM’s On Air with Ryan Seacrest. She recently joined the Jesus Calling Podcast to share about the crippling anxiety she experienced over fear of the future, and how putting her trust in God allowed her to find peace in the midst of the unknown. Rad’s book, “The Sunshine Mind, “is available from Zondervan.
Author and non-profit founder Toni Collier on Jesus Calling Podcast
Toni Collier, founder of the non-profit Broken Crayons Still Color, will join the Jesus Calling Podcast on Feb. 9 to share about the trauma she faced during her growing up years, how she tried to escape that darkness by pursuing new situations, and how God restored her relationships and gave her a way forward—showing her that her hardships would be stepping stones to her new purpose. Collier’s book, “Brave Enough To Be Broken,” is available from Thomas Nelson.
Other News
INDUSTRY
- Former PRH editor Ashley Hong joins Gardner Literary as newest literary agent
- PW: Spring 2023 Book Announcements for Religion & Spirituality
- Call for Submissions: The Word Awards for Canadian writers who are Christian
- CT: How We Read the Bible Now
- Lifeway trustees celebrate momentum, new initiatives
- Organizations Honored as 'Certified Best Christian Workplaces' in 2022
PUBLISHING
- Madeline McIntosh to Step Down as CEO of PRH US
- HarperCollins Is Cutting 5% of Its North American Workforce
- Amazon reports its first unprofitable year since 2014
- Hachette Book Group Raises Starting Salaries to $47,500
- The Sourcebooks BIPOC Editorial Training Program Is Opening Doors
- NPD Retail Outlook: Books Can Expect Plot Twists in the Next Chapter
- Will Artificial Intelligence Make Authors Irrelevant?
- ABA’s online bookselling platform switches to Bookshop.org
- Onshoring and Sustainability Among Top Issues at PubWest-BMI Meeting
- Publishing Trends posts International Bestsellers by country, January 2023
