September 25, 2017 Edition
Industry News
William R. Barbour, Jr., former Revell publisher and ECPA board president, dies
William R. Barbour, Jr., beloved family man and friend, passed away on Tuesday, September 12th at the age of 95. He was born in NYC, the son of Mary Alice and William R. Barbour, Sr. on March 2, 1922 and was raised in the Bronx. After graduating from the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bill attended Michigan State University Shortly after World War II broke out, he joined the US Army Air Corp and received flight training at Valdosta, Georgia and Avon Park, Florida. He was assigned as co-pilot of a B-17 bomber and was deployed to Britain where he flew many day and night missions over Germany.
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HarperCollins Christian Publishing recognizes passing of Nabeel Qureshi and legacy of his witness in lives transformed by his message and books
It is with deep sympathy for family and loved ones that HarperCollins Christian Publishing recognizes the passing of Nabeel Qureshi, who lost his year-long battle with stomach cancer on Saturday, September 16, 2017, and entered into the presence of Jesus, whom he had embraced as his Savior and Lord. He was 34 years old.
Paul Hawkins joins New Hope Publishers as Director of Sales and Marketing
New Hope® Publishers welcomes Paul Hawkins as director of sales and marketing. Hawkins was born and raised in Mississippi and earned a master’s degree from Mississippi State University. He brings much experience in the field of sales and development of strategies for brand awareness and development.
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ECPA announces the Finalists for 18th annual Christy Awards™
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced the finalists for the 18th annual Christy Awards. Winners will be announced at the awards gala, taking place on Nov. 8 at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., which will be hosted by Best-Selling Christian Authors Karen Kingsbury, Andrew Peterson and Chris Fabry. The Christy Award exists to celebrate excellence in the art of Christian Fiction and honor the power of story.
PubU sessions will explore the tools and rules for reader engagement in a variety of platforms
According to Nelson’s VP of Marketing Jeff James: “In today’s massively distracted marketplace, meaningful engagement is the key to short and long-term success.” James serves on the PubU Brain Trust and has developed the PubU Reader Engagement track with Chriscynethia Floyd. The PubU track was started last year by IVP publisher Jeff Crosby to further develop the publishing discipline of reader engagement and its effect on many publishing roles. Sessions will highlight how to attract, activate, and retain readers, while moving them through the purchase funnel with effective content, social engagement and advocacy tactics. They include:
- Shouting at Culture with Gabe Lyons (author and Q conference founder)
- The Value of Video in Reader Engagement with Phil Warner (VP of Video Production, RightNow Media)
- Integrating Mobile Marketing Into the Overall Integrated Book Campaign with Jeff James (VP of Marketing for Nelson Books/HCCP) and Aryn Van Dyke (Asst. Marketing Manager, HCCP)
- How to Leverage Events for Effective Reader Engagement
- Building Effective Street Teams with Anna LeBaron (author, book launch expert, and social media strategist)
- Best Practices to Sharing Content for the Purposes of Building Author/Publisher Platforms and Email Lists with Leah Chabai (Content and Social Media Manager for Proverbs 31)
- Using Audiobooks to Greater Enhance the Reader Experience with Jolene Barto (Marketing Manager, Audiobooks, HCCP)
“The PubU Reader Engagement track will provide you with the big picture understanding of why reader engagement is so critical, share the underlying platforms that make it possible, and deliver key strategies and case studies on how to build your own exciting engagement campaigns,” explains James. Learn more at ECPAPubU.org/Reader.html. PubU gathers, inspires, informs publishing professionals in Christian publishing, allowing them to customize their professional development through sessions in Reader Engagement, Marketing & Publicity, Editorial, Rights, Design, and Data, Delivery & Workflow. PubU will be held November 7-8 at Lipscomb University in Nashville.
Last week for Christian Book Award® submissions for 2018 program
The Christian Book Award® program is currently accepting nominations in until September 30 for titles published from October 2016 to October 2017. The Christian Book Awards recognize the highest quality in Christian books and Bibles and is among the oldest and most prestigious awards program in the religious publishing industry. Finalists and winners are selected in eleven categories: Bibles, Bible Reference works, Bible Study, Ministry Resources, Biography & Memoir, Christian Living, Faith & Culture, Devotion & Gift, Children (ages 0-8), Young People’s Literature (nonfiction), and New Author.
Milestones
Five Tyndale House novels nominated for 2017 Christy Awards™
Tyndale House Publishers is pleased to announce that five Tyndale fiction titles and four authors have been nominated for the 2017 Christy Awards™ (www.ChristyAwards.com). The Christy Awards™ celebrate excellence in Christian fiction and honor the power of story. Winners will be announced on November 8 at the Christy Award Gala at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., hosted by bestselling Christian authors Chris Fabry, Karen Kingsbury, and Andrew Peterson.
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Dr. Charles Stanley honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) announced the winner of the 2017 Golden Scroll Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening banquet of the Munce Group’s Fall Christian Product Expo at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Honored for his lifetime of excellence of ministering the word of God, the Golden Scroll Lifetime Achievement Award went to Dr. Charles Stanley, 84, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta, the two time President of the Southern Baptist Convention, the best-selling author of forty books and the founder of In Touch Ministries with television and radio shows as well as the In Touch devotional magazine discipling millions around the globe.
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ACFW announces Carol Award and Genesis winners; Jerry Jenkins honored
Significant achievements in the world of Christian Fiction were acknowledged at the 2017 ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Awards Gala at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center during the annual ACFW conference on September 23, 2017. Among the honorees were author and writing instructor Jerry Jenkins, recipient of the 2017 ACFW Lifetime Achievement Award.
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“She’s Still There” by Chrystal Evans Hurst sells 50,000 copies in first month of release
Chrystal Evans Hurst’s debut solo book, She’s Still There: Rescuing the Girl in You (August 8, 2017) has sold 50,000 copies in the first month of its release. The book hit the Publishers Weekly August Religion Bestseller’s List at #2 and the ECPA Christian Bestseller’s List at #4 for September 2017.
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Media Announcements
Jamie Ivey creates buzz around presale campaign for first book “If You Only Knew”
Top podcast host Jamie Ivey announced the launch of the presale campaign for her first book at "The Happy Hour Live" September 8 and 9. "If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free" will release January 30, 2018 from B&H Publishing Group.
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Bible Gateway interviews Max Lucado, author of ‘Anxious for Nothing’
How have we let our fears get the better of us? What’s the difference between fear and anxiety? What does it mean to be anxious for nothing? In this Q&A, Max Lucado (@MaxLucado) talks about his new book, Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World (Thomas Nelson, 2017).
Author Edie Littlefield Sundby’s incredible story of survival
Diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and given three months to live, author Edie Sundby joins The Jesus Calling podcast to share her story of enduring chemo and radical surgeries, then on to experiencing healing in different ways, as she journeyed 1600 miles on The California Mission Trail.
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Bible Gateway interviews Andrea Lucado, author of ‘English Lessons: The Crooked Path of Growing Toward Faith’
What happens when you take a wide-eyed preacher’s daughter from Texas “across the pond” to the multicultural lawns of Oxford? With winsome honesty, Andrea Lucado relives the year she spent navigating the Thames river, romantic relationships, the university’s atheist society, and a coffee-less Lent—and searched for answers to the universal questions of identity and faith. Bible Gateway interviewed Andrea Lucado (@andrealucado), the daughter of Max Lucado, about her book, English Lessons: The Crooked Path of Growing Toward Faith (WaterBrook, 2017).
Chrystal Evans Hurst encourages women in their spiritual walk
With the recent release of her latest book, “She’s Still There: Rescuing the Girl Inside” (Zondervan), Chrystal Evans Hurst joins the Jesus Calling Podcast to share the truth that God is always the author of our story, no matter the circumstances, and kept her ever resilient.
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Product News
Popular Christian satire site, The Babylon Bee, signs book deal with Multnomah
The founders of The Babylon Bee, a widely popular Christian website known for its satirical take on Christian culture, have signed an agreement with Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, to publish "How to Be a Perfect Christian: Your Comprehensive Guide to Flawless Spiritual Living," releasing May 1, 2018.
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Kathie Lee Gifford announces book during Rosh Hashanah
As a lifetime student of Scripture, Kathie Lee Gifford has been traveling to Israel since she was 17 years old. In a continuation of that love for this astounding land of faith, Kathie Lee will release "The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi" on March 6, 2018, with the W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.
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Paraclete signs two industry veterans to big books for 2018
Paraclete Press has signed Bert Ghezzi, bestselling author, popular editor, and author of more than twenty books, to a new edition of a book first published a generation ago. The Angry Christian sold 60,000 copies in its original run twenty-five years ago, and is set to be reissued in April of next year, with a foreword by Brandon Vogt.
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Bestselling author of ‘Heaven is for Real’ answers faith’s hardest questions in new book
Number 1 New York Times bestselling author of ‘Heaven is for Real’ answers faith’s hardest questions in new book, God Is for Real, coming September 26 from FaithWords. Pastor and author Todd Burpo provides accessible, biblical answers to Christianity’s most frequently asked questions in his new book God Is for Real. Burpo’s debut book sold more than 12 million copies and was made into a major motion picture. As a volunteer firefighter, pastor, and father whose story is known around the world, Todd Burpo finds himself most at home with those who are struggling—whether with pain, loss, or doubt—and yearns for them to know that God is not only real, but He wants to meet and know them. In God Is for Real, Burpo addresses some of faith’s challenging questions in a way that helps readers take the next step forward in pursuing a relationship with God.
Other News
INDUSTRY
PUBLISHING
- Barnes & Noble Donates 1 Million Dollars in Books to First Book for Areas Affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma
- Getting the Measure of Downloadable Audio
- 2018 Print Forecast: Paper Prices & Postal Rates Will Rise
- At Frankfurt’s ‘The Markets’: Nielsen’s Andre Breedt on Sales Trends and Competition
- Michael Healy on World Copyright Issues Publishers Need to Watch
