New York Times Best-Selling Author Chronicles Inspirational Journey in new books, Be Unstoppable and Unstoppable Me

Grand Rapids, MI – February 28, 2018 – Known most notably as one of the best women surfers in the world, Bethany Hamilton’s story is one of the biggest comeback stories of a generation. In 2003, while surfing, she lost her left arm to a 14-foot tiger shark, and her amazing resilience and positive attitude fascinated the world as she returned to surfing, winning national titles and becoming a source of inspiration to millions.

Her raw grit and determination will be highlighted in two new books, releasing from publishing partner Zondervan on June 5, 2018, in conjunction with the upcoming release of her new documentary, Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable.

In the picture book, Be Unstoppable: The Art of Never Giving Up, (Zondervan, $16.99), Bethany inspires readers to be bold, enjoy life, and take the risk of trusting God each day. Alongside breathtaking, never-before-seen photos from the making of her new documentary, Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable, the book has inspiring quotes and lessons from her life. With a full-color poster included, this book will resonate with new and old fans who will appreciate her story of living life with anticipation for the limitless possibilities found in a faith in God that is bigger than the hardships she faced.

Her new children’s board book, Unstoppable Me, (Zonderkidz, $9.99) co-written with her husband Adam Dirks, features a story about a surfing baby lion named Makana who faces her fears to be unstoppable when catching new waves. Adam and Bethany look forward to reading this tale to their son, Tobias, and their soon-to-arrive baby to teach them about the importance of never giving up and believing in yourself. The story is illustrated by Gill Guile.

The release of these books will be supported by a pre-order campaign offering exclusives, social media engagement through Bethany’s audience of 4.2 million fans, and a book tour at surf shops and bookstores.

“Bethany’s athleticism and story inspire us all to understand how passions can help an individual push through challenges. We are pleased to present her as role model who will inspire readers to be bold, enjoy life and be the best they can be,” says Annette Bourland, Senior Vice President and Group Publisher at Zondervan.

In the Be Unstoppable book, Bethany writes, “At times, I have struggled with despair and fear, but my faith in God was greater than my hardships. Having hope in God’s promises strengthened me to be brave. Through my personal drive and support of my family, I recommitted to my passion. Even with one arm, and some doubt, I was determined to get in the ocean again and surf. This book shares that passion and I hope inspires you to pursue your heart’s desire and stick with it through tough times.”

Both books will be available online and in stores on June 5, 2018. Pre-orders begin March 7, 2018.

#BeUnstoppable
#Zondervan
#Zonderkidz

http://www.zondervan.com/be-unstoppable
http://www.zondervan.com/unstoppable-me

For more information on the film:
http://bethanyhamilton.com/unstoppable/
#unstoppablethefilm

Bethany Hamilton:
Twitter: @bethanyhamilton
Instagram: @bethanyhamilton
Facebook: @surferbethanyhamilton
Web: www.bethanyhamilton.com

About the Author:
Bethany Hamilton is a source of inspiration to millions. In 2003, while surfing, she lost her left arm to a 14-foot tiger shark. With resilience and tenacity, Bethany returned to the water a month later, and within two years won her first national title. Her unbelievably positive attitude fascinated the world, resulting in an autobiography that was later adapted into the film Soul Surfer. Her courage and talent led to her induction into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame in 2017. Bethany and her husband, Adam Dirks, are also involved in charities such as Friends of Bethany, a foundation she and her family created to support amputees and youth. In addition, Bethany authored Body and Soul to encourage others toward confidence and fitness. Her new documentary Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable brings her passions together, showcasing her world-class surfing and love for life as well as her message of female empowerment and never giving up.

Zondervan is a world-leading Bible publisher and provider of Christian communications. Zondervan, as part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., delivers transformational Christian experiences through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, academic resources and digital products. The Company’s products are sold worldwide and translated into nearly 200 languages. Zondervan offices are located in Grand Rapids, MI. For additional information, please visit www.zondervan.com.

Media Contacts:
Mary Beth Googasian, Director of Publicity, MaryBeth.Googasian@harpercollins.com 616-698-3345
Jessica Westra, PR Associate, Jessica.westra@harpercollins.com

Colts Neck, NJ – March 5, 2018 – Writing for Your Life, a resource center for spiritual writers, is pleased to announce that two members of the Evangelical Christian Publishing Association (ECPA) will be featured in the upcoming “Meet the Editors” webinar series. They are Susan Salley, Associate Publisher, Abingdon Press and Jenny Baumgartner, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Nelson Books, HarperCollins Christian Publishing.

Writing for Your Life is a resource center for spiritual writers, producing spiritual writers’ conferences and webinars, and providing marketing, editing and other book consulting services. The “Meet the Editors” webinar series is intended to provide prospective writers with insights about how to get published within the Christian publishing industry, and how to work with editors. Speakers will also discuss what their respective imprints are seeking in terms of types of books, authors, and topics. “Meet the Editors” will take place April 23-24, 2018.  Additional information may be found at: https://writingforyourlife.com/webinars/

“I feel it is important for the publishing industry to help aspiring writers learn how to navigate the challenging waters of today’s publishing world” said Susan Salley, Associate Publisher, Abingdon Press.  “Writing for Your Life helps equip writers to reach their maximum potential.”

“As a part of the Christian publishing industry,” said Jenny Baumgartner, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Nelson Books, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, “I believe it’s important to provide new writers with more opportunities for learning and career advancement. I am glad to ‘give back’ and help make this happen.”

In addition to the “Meet the Editors” webinar series, other upcoming Writing for Your Life events include:

• Spiritual Writers’ Conference – May 9-10 – Raleigh, NC – featuring Barbara Brown Taylor, Lauren Winner, and Robert Benson
• Publishing in Color for African American Spiritual Writers – June 19-20 – New Brunswick, NJ – featuring Patricia Raybon, Sophfronia Scott, Rev. Frank A. Thomas, Rev. Jacqui Lewis, and representatives from Urban Ministries, Baker Publishing Group, Christianity Today, Intervarsity Press, Our Daily Bread, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and many more.
• Spiritual Writers’ Conference – Nov. 6-7 – Elmhurst, IL – featuring Sarah Bessey and Lauren Winner

About Writing for Your Life
Writing for Your Life is committed to offering a comprehensive set of useful resources and services to support spiritual writers. We offer in-person writing conferences and online webinars featuring leading spiritual authors and publishing industry experts. Authors discuss and teach about various aspects of spiritual writing. Industry experts offer advice on how to get published and how to market.  We also offer a variety of writer support services including book development, editing, book proposal review, marketing, and platform development. https://writingforyourlife.com/

About Publishing in Color
Publishing in Color is a series of conferences for under-represented groups of spiritual authors such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. The goals of these conferences are to: foster relationships between under-represented groups of prospective spiritual authors and representatives of spiritual book publishing companies and spiritual magazines; provide networking and educational opportunities so that prospective authors can learn more about how to work with these publishers and magazines; and result in an increased number of books and articles published by under-represented groups. https://publishingincolor.com/

For additional information: Contact Brian Allain at brian@writingforyourlife.com.

Now in Paperback, GOD CODE Uncovers Startling Revelations in Ancient Hebrew Bible

For generations, the Hebrew Bible has been revered as the holy and sacred Word of God. As the scriptural foundation of both the Jewish and Christian faiths, it is the most influential text in Western civilization. But is there more to the Bible than meets the eye? Does technology allow for new messages from God to be discerned today?

Timothy P. Smith, a Virginia-based appraiser and conservator of artifacts and antiquities, believes he has discovered a code encrypted in the ancient Hebrew text that unequivocally provides proof of the Bible’s divine authorship. In what reads like an adventure novel,Smith shares his startling findings in God Code: Unlocking Divine Messages Hidden in the Bible (March 6, 2018, WaterBrook), previously published in hardcover as The Chamberlain Key.

Smith’s globetrotting journey is the basis of a new two-hour special, also titled “God Code,” that will premiere Sunday, April 8 at 9 PM ET/PT on HISTORY. “This is not a scripted program, but a real rough and tumble quest for the world’s greatest treasure,” says Smith.

“I want people to look at the Bible with a new found lens,” Smith adds. “The Bible is a treasure that has been cherished and protected by people around the world for thousands of years and now this text is revealing new messages for our generation.”

In God Code, readers will join Smith on a page-turning trek that takes them from Virginia to the remote Rockies of British Columbia to Southern Spain and the site of the Rocio Madonna. Part code-cracker and part historical sleuth, Smith tells his highly personal and up-until-recently private story of faith, adventure and discovery that not only holds personal but potentially historical and religious implications.

God Code presents empirical evidence that the oldest Hebrew biblical texts are vastly more multifaceted and extraordinary than previously understood. When researching a mystery about his family heritage, Smith was drawn to Genesis 30:20-24. There, using an equidistant letter skip decryption method, he discovered not only his own name but also biographical information of other family members. The statistical odds of this are beyond mathematical calculation, and it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Smith examined further this short passage in Genesis and found detailed information on Jesus, including his virgin birth, his crucifixion and resurrection—in a text believed to have been written between 1300-900 BC, centuries before Christ’s birth. Using this process, which he refers to as The Chamberlain Key because through it he has been able (much like the chamberlains of old) to unlock doors that have been locked for centuries, Smith has come across such findings as:

• Evidence that the words and letters of the Hebrew Bible are not only carefully preserved but precisely arranged by God
• Clues to the location of the contents of the Ark of the Covenant
• References to revered religious images, such as the Rocio Madonna
• Warnings of spreading anti-Semitism, hatred and violence

Smith has been assisted in his research by a cadre of eminent scientists and scholars from around the world who have shared their expertise to help unravel the phenomenon of his discoveries in the most ancient Biblical texts.

In the book’s foreword, Dr. Eugene Ulrich, chief editor of the Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls and professor of Hebrew Scripture and Theology at University of Notre Dame, writes, “However one wishes to interpret the meaning and significance of the text, they may rest assured that the text on which Timothy Smith based his interpretations has almost certainly been there for a very long time, since before the birth of Christ.”

“My hope in publishing this book is not to provoke unwarranted fear or, certainly, to imply I have all the answers,” says Smith, “but instead to invite investigation and consideration—to encourage others to take a closer look not only at the ancient Hebrew Scriptures…but also New Testament writings that appear to be interwoven with the Hebrew text in ways barely imagined before now.”

For more information, visit www.chamberlainkey.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Timothy P. Smith is a noted appraiser and conservator of artifacts and antiquities. He is president of Timothy Smith & Sons, which sells antiques and fine arts as well as offers appraisal and restoration services. Smith is the fourth generation of one of North America’s most noted conservation and preservation families. Family projects include the construction of the Jefferson Memorial, The National Gallery of Art and The Carter Rock Naval Test Center. Among Smith’s private clients are a former president, former United States senators and military leaders.

Smith is a court certified appraiser and has been utilized as an expert witness, appraiser and art and antiquities recovery specialist for more than 30 years. God Code (previously titled The Chamberlain Key) is his first book. He is currently in working on a production with Jupiter Entertainment and HISTORY for a documentary television special. He lives in Eastern Virginia with his wife.

Religion/Inspirational
March 6, 2018
ISBN: 9781601429179 · Trade Paperback · $15.00/$20.00 Canada
e-Book ISBN: 9781601429162 · $10.99

Contact: Beverly Rykerd, brykerd@penguinrandomhouse.com  (719) 268-1935

During The Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America‘s (PCCNA) annual meeting from February 21-23 in New Orleans, BroadStreet Publishing author Dean Merrill presented his new book Miracle Invasion: Amazing True Stories of the Holy Spirit’s Gifts at Work Today. This compilation of more than forty credible stories of recent healings, prophecies, miracles, and other gifts can inspire faith and courage—if Christians are not too hesitant or nervous to engage. Several contributors to Miracle Invasion, such as Chris Ball (president of Elim Fellowship), Cathy Ciaramitaro (co-pastor of megachurch Windsor Christian Fellowship), and Bishop Harry Cohen (president of the United Holy Church of America) joined by sharing their incredible first-person accounts. In addition, Merrill explained the process for how he gathered the stories, the criteria for inclusion or not, and how people can use the book in their speaking, small groups, and/or classes. Jeff Farmer, PCCNA president, concluded by speaking about the importance of miracles in today’s ministry.

For additional information about Dean Merrill or his book Miracle Invasion, visit miracleinvasionbook.com or deanmerrill.com.

“A Light So Lovely” to be Available August 2018, Following Release of Disney Movie, “A Wrinkle in Time”

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH., February 2018 — Bestselling and beloved author of the classic, A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle is known for her fascinating perspectives on science, art, story and faith. This year, over half a century since the timeless novel was originally published (1962) and what would’ve been L’Engle’s 100th birthday, readers are given a peek into her rich life of faith in A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L’Engle, Author of A Wrinkle in Time by Sarah Arthur. Acquisitions Editor Stephanie Smith commissioned author and L’Engle enthusiast Sarah Arthur to be the biographer for this project.

The upcoming book is set to release shortly after Walt Disney Picture’s wildly anticipated “A Wrinkle in Time” film adaptation, which hits theaters March 9, 2018. The theatrical film adaptation starring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and more takes viewers on an enchanting journey to worlds beyond their imagination as light collides with darkness.

“We are thrilled to be working with Sarah Arthur, whose vivid portrait of L’Engle’s imagination and faith has much to say to readers today,” said Stephanie Smith, acquisitions editor for Zondervan Books. “Madeleine was a master of story, and to her, every story was an act of faith. She said it best herself: ‘We do not draw people to Christ by…showing them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.’”

In A Light So Lovely Arthur digs deeply into the life of a woman who continues to be a beacon for generations of readers struggling to reconcile faith and science, art and religion, sacred and secular. Drawing from interviews with L’Engle’s literary contemporaries such as Philip Yancey and Luci Shaw, L’Engle’s granddaughter Charlotte Jones Voiklis, and influential fans such as Makoto Fujimura, Nikki Grimes, Sarah Bessey, they reveal new layers to the woman behind the stories we all know and love.

Sarah Arthur is a fun-loving speaker and the author of over 12 books ranging from popular devotionals to serious engagement with literature and story. She’s the preliminary fiction judge for the Christianity Today Book Awards and has been writer-in-residence for the Frederick Buechner Writers Workshop at Princeton Theological Seminary. A graduate of Wheaton College and Duke University Divinity School, she has served in youth ministry for over 20 years.

Zondervan is a world leading Bible publisher and provider of Christian communications. Zondervan, part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., delivers transformational Christian experiences through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, academic resources and digital products. The Company’s products are sold worldwide and translated into nearly 200 languages. Zondervan offices are located in Grand Rapids, Mich. For additional information, please visit www.zondervan.com.

Contact: Jennifer VerHage, jennifer.verhage@harpercollins.com, 616-698-3331

 

 

Carol Stream, IL February 21, 2018 – Famed evangelist and founder of Christianity Today magazine, Billy Graham, died peacefully on Wednesday, February 21 at his mountaintop home in Montreat, North Carolina at the age of 99.

During his life, Graham preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to over 200 million people across the world—over 100 million in person at his popular rallies. With his authenticity and passion for proclaiming God’s truth and love for every person, it’s estimated that over three million people accepted his invitation to “ask Jesus into their hearts.”

Graham is known for coalescing evangelicalism into an important movement in the mid-twentieth century—a movement that centers on Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. He founded various evangelical organizations, including the leading evangelical publication, Christianity Today, in 1956.

CT’s editor in chief, Mark Galli, shares, “In the early 1950s, Billy Graham felt the urgent need for balanced reporting and biblical commentary on the social, cultural, and theological trends and issues facing Christians. He woke up one night with a vision to start a magazine that would shape the hearts and minds of pastors and church leaders—a magazine that expressed biblical truth through Christ-centered love. His vision that night led to the first issue of Christianity Today being published October 15, 1956.”

Harold Smith, president and CEO of Christianity Today, honors Graham’s legacy, “Not only did Billy Graham start this ministry that now reaches over five million Christian leaders each month, but the Lord used Billy to bring countless people into a saving personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m but one person who thanks Billy for his commitment to the incredible call of God on his life because he helped lead my mother to find and follow Christ as a young women, who then led me to grow up knowing Christ.”

Christianity Today is honoring Billy Graham’s life and ministry with a full commemorative issue at https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/billy-graham/

Billy Graham’s vision was for Christianity Today to lead the evangelical movement in biblical truth and love. This vision is represented through the nonprofit ministry’s cause of Beautiful Orthodoxy. To honor and expand Billy Graham’s legacy of Beautiful Orthodoxy, gifts to Christianity Today’s Beautiful Orthodoxy Fund can be given at https://www.christianitytoday.org/give/.

Christianity Today is a nonprofit, global media ministry centered on Beautiful Orthodoxy—strengthening the church by richly communicating the breadth of the true, good, and beautiful gospel. Reaching over five million people monthly with various digital and print resources, the ministry equips Christians to renew their minds, serve the church, and create culture to the glory of God.

Contact: Cory Whitehead 
Phone: 630-260-6200 x4220  E-mail: cwhitehead@christianitytoday.com

Billy Graham was a quiet man of God, but he was also a visionary. He led hundreds of thousands to a personal faith in God. His books influenced millions. Many ministries can point to ways in which their work was deeply influenced by Mr. Graham. That is certainly true for us at Tyndale House Publishers. When Tyndale House was still a kitchen-table operation, Mr. Graham began to promote Living Letters, the first part of what eventually became The Living Bible. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association gave away millions of copies of Living Letters and the subsequent books in that series. And when Mr. Graham insisted on paying Tyndale House a royalty for the copies that were given away, Ken Taylor, the founder of Tyndale House, used that royalty check to start Tyndale House Foundation. Mr. Graham was criticized for encouraging people to read a paraphrase of the New Testament, but he recognized the value of a translation that reads “like today’s newspaper.” We thank God for the life and ministry of Billy Graham.

Mark D. Taylor
Chairman/CEO
Tyndale House Publishers

Industry’s premiere Christian Fiction Award program to accept submissions March 1-31

(TEMPE, ARIZ., February 26, 2018)  ECPA and The Christy Award™ advisory board will open the submission period for The Christy Award™ for Christian Fiction on Thursday, March 1.  Nominations will be accepted March 1-31 in these fiction categories:

• GENERAL (includes women’s fiction and non-genre)
• CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
• HISTORICAL ROMANCE
• HISTORICAL
• MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/THRILLER
• VISIONARY (includes fantasy and apocalyptic)
• FIRST NOVEL
• YOUNG ADULT
• SHORT FORMAT (novellas, series)

Submissions are open to works of fiction written from a Christian worldview, published traditionally or independently from March 2017 to March 2018. (Submitting publishers do not need to be members of ECPA.)

“The Christy Award™ exists to recognize and celebrate the talented novelists of faith who tell authentic stories that explore our relationships with each other and with God,” says Stan Jantz, ECPA executive director. “We are grateful for the work of the authors who create these beautiful stories, and for the publishers who curate and support the books they write.”

Finalists will be named on September 19.  Winners will be announced on November 7 in Nashville at The Christy Award Gala, to be held at the Shamblin Theatre/Lipscomb University following the ECPA Publishing University (PubU) and the Art of Writing conference.  The Gala will feature Charles Martin, author of the 2017 Christy Book of the Year, Long Way Gone (Thomas Nelson), along with other notable authors and speakers.  For more information, visit www.christyawards.com.

• To receive program updates and information: http://publications.ecpanews.org/h/r/12ECACE2ABD53E3B
• Program rules and submission information: http://www.ecpa.org/?page=christy_submissions
• Program questions can be directed to TheChristyAward@ecpa.org
• Last year’s finalists and winners: http://www.christyawards.com/finalists-winners.html

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade organization comprised of member companies that are involved in the publishing and distribution of Christian content worldwide. Since 1974, ECPA has strengthened Christian publishing by building networking, information, and advocacy opportunities within the industry and throughout multiple channels so that our members can more effectively produce and deliver transformational Christian content. ECPA.org

The Christy Award™ is the foremost award honoring and promoting excellence in Christian fiction since 1999 and is named for Catherine Marshall’s novel, Christy, which has sold millions since its publication in 1967.  ChristyAwards.com  facebook.com/ChristyAward  twitter.com/ChristyAward

Media contacts:
Stan Jantz, ECPA Executive Director, sjantz@ecpa.org 480-966-3998
Cindy Carter, ECPA Awards & Recognition Manager, ccarter@ecpa.org 480-966-3998

Minneapolis, Minn. —BroadStreet Publishing author Brian Bird is speaking at the NRB Convention Super Session on Tuesday, February 27th in Nashville. Bird is sharing the stage with Vice President Mike Pence, actor Dennis Quaid, Director/ Author/ Writer Alex Kendrick, Evangelist Luis Palau, and Emcees, The Benham Brothers.

BroadStreet Publishing has partnered on a three-book series from Brian Bird, the Executive Producer of The Hallmark Channel’s original show, When Calls the Heart, and his co-author Michelle Cox. The first book is a devotional title When God Calls the Heart which released on February 1st, 2018 and was the #1 New Release on Amazon in the areas of Christian Inspirational and Christian Devotionals. The next book in the series is a Christmas offering complete with special traditions and recipes for the season set to release early fall 2018. The third will be centered on romance and will release around Valentines Day, 2019. Each book takes God moments from the series episodes and highlights the inspirational meaning.

When Calls the Heart has a fan base that has been described by Hallmark as a phenomenon. The worldwide “Hearties” group resembles one big family, even having a yearly reunion where the cast shows up to greet the fans. The show is going into its fifth season and expects to expand its weekly viewership of 3.6 million due to the numbers from this year’s Christmas movie positioned as the first episode of season 5. That premiere had 5.7 million viewers tune in for the 2-hour special.

Brian and Michelle were invited to be guests on the Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family show to share about When God Calls the Heart.  http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/home-and-family/videos/when-god-calls-the-heart-home-family

BroadStreet Publishing President, Carlton Garborg, said he is thrilled by the partnership with Brian Bird and Michelle Cox and views this as the beginning of a long and exciting relationship.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

BRIAN BIRD is executive producer and co-creator of the Hallmark Channel original series When Calls the Heart. In his three decades in Hollywood, he has written or produced two dozen films, including most recently, The Case for Christ, Captive, and Not Easily Broken, and more than 250 episodes of such shows as Touched By An Angel, Step By Step, and Evening Shade.

His films have garnered awards from the New York Independent Film Festival, New York Festivals, Heartland Film Festival, the Movie Guide Awards, the Telly Awards, and the Christopher Awards.

He has spoken widely on the intersection of the arts and the church, and his professional blog, BrianBird.net, serves as a lively exchange in the best practices of storytelling. Beyond Bird’s professional achievements, he considers his top productions to date his thirty-six-year marriage to wife, Patty, and his five children.

MICHELLE COX is a speaker and an award-winning, best-selling author. She is a member of the blog team for Guideposts, and her “Life with a Southern Grandmother” column runs twice each week at Guideposts.org.

She has written for Focus on the Family, FoxNews.com, Christian Cinema, WHOA Magazine for Women, Leading Hearts Magazine, and the website of Fox News’ radio host Todd Starnes. Michelle is the creator of the Just 18 Summers® brand of parenting products and resources, and has been a guest on numerous television and radio programs, including Hannity and Focus on the Family. She and her husband, Paul, have been married for forty-three years and have three sons and six perfect grandchildren.

Connect with Michelle at just18summers.com and GodGlimpses.com, on Twitter @MichelleInspire, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/MichelleCoxInspirations.

For Interviews Contact: Suzanne Niles
213-434-3331  suzanne.niles@broadstreetpublishing.com