March 4, 2019 Edition

Call for Submissions for Christian Fiction: March 1-31

The nomination period for The Christy Award™ is now open.  Nominations will be accepted March 1-31 in nine fiction categories: General; Contemporary Romance; Historical Romance; Historical; Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller; Visionary; First Novel; Young Adult; and Short Format.  Submissions are open to works of fiction written from a Christian worldview, published traditionally or independently from March 2018 to March 2019.

For more information, visit ChristyAwards.com.

NPD: One in four 2018 children’s books in the U.S. featured a licensed property

Licensed books, featuring popular characters from movies, TV, games, toys and lifestyle brands, made up 12 percent of total sales and 26 percent of juvenile sales in the U.S., market in 2018, according to global information company The NPD Group.

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ECPA Leadership Summit early bird registration ends in two weeks

The upcoming ECPA Leadership Summit, held April 30-May 1 in Chicago, is open to all industry leaders from managers to presidents. Attendees will be inspired to expand their missions with speakers Dr. Gordon Smith, author of “Institutional Intelligence;” Chris Horst, co-author of “Rooting For Rivals;” Tina Constable, senior VP over five Penguin Random House imprints; Jackie Hill Perry, artist and author of “Gay Girl, Good God;” Kristen McLean, reporting on the latest NPD consumer data customized for our industry; and more.

The program, themed Beyond Borders: Expanding Our Mission, will also include industry panels on the fast-growing audio book and podcast markets, new retail strategies, and the growing opportunity for global partnerships and collaborations.  Plan to register your teams, gather with industry colleagues, and expand your mission in an ever-expanding world at Leadership Summit.

Registration and program at ECPALeadership.org
Early bird rates expire March 15.  Save up to $300.

Gold Award presented to Moody Publishers for Sales Milestone

The ECPA Gold Award was recently awarded to Moody Publishers for Living by the Book by Howard G. Hendricks to honor its sales milestone of over 500,000 sold.

ECPA publishers are encouraged to review their list of titles—including Bibles—that exceed 500,000, 1 million and 10 million in sales for the Gold, Platinum and Diamond awards. The year’s sales milestones are celebrated at the ECPA Awards Celebration on April 30 in Chicago for nominations received by April 8.

More on the ECPA Sales Award program.

Bible Gateway interviews John Teter, author of “The Power of the 72”

They were not professionals. They were not celebrities. We don’t even know their names. We know very little about them, except that they were ordinary people who were drawn to Jesus. When Jesus asked them to join him in his mission, they stepped up, answered the call and went out in his name. And amazing things happened as a result. They were the 72. Bible Gateway interviewed Rev. Dr. John Teter (@johnteter72) about his book, “The Power of the 72: Ordinary Disciples in Extraordinary Evangelism” (InterVarsity Press, 2017).

Read this interview.

Pastors Joel and Nina Schmidgall join the Jesus Calling podcast

Finding balance by committing their closest relationship to prayer, husband and wife Joel and Nina Schmidgall join the Jesus Calling podcast to share how they’ve learned to include God’s love and guidance in their own marriage. Their new book, “Praying Circles Around Your Marriage” is available from Zondervan.

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