May 12, 2023 — Hugh Revell Barbour, Christian publishing visionary who grew the Fleming Revell Company, founded Barbour Publishing and helped start ECPA, died on May 5.  He was 93.

In addition to serving as a publishing leader of his own company, Hugh Barbour distinguished himself with broader industry leadership through long-term service to ECPA. He was a part of the first ECPA board of directors when it was formed in 1974, serving alongside Dr. Robert L. Mosier (chair/president), Muriel Dennis, Wilfred Frykman, William Greig, Jr., Robert Kregel, Walter Poff, and Doug Ross.

He returned to ECPA board service for two additional terms, from 1974 to 1976 and again from 1985 to 1991.

“When I came into the Christian book retailing and publishing industry in 1983, I quickly learned about the giants on whose shoulders I was standing,” Jeff Crosby, current ECPA president and CEO, said. “Hugh Barbour was one of those people. At CBA conventions in July and January annually and at ECPA trade shows that supplemented CBA’s work with retailers, Hugh never failed to extend his hand, his heart, and his encouragement to young booksellers like me. All of us in the work of Christian publishing are indebted to Hugh for his example of faithful, joy-filled service.”

Hugh Revell Barbour was born in Manhattan on November 6, 1929 and raised in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, NY by William R. Barbour and Mary Alice McKelvey Barbour. He was the youngest of three children: Mary Clark, his older sister and William Rinehart, his older brother. He attended Horace Mann School in Riverdale, NY, graduated from Northfield Mt. Hermon in Northfield, MA. and attended Stevens Technological Institute in Hoboken, NJ before joining the Air Force in 1950.

On May 30, 1953, he married Eva Marie Cox and soon after moved to Southern California to begin his book publishing career with the Fleming H. Revell Company, which was founded in 1870 by his grand uncles Fleming H. Revell and Dwight L. Moody. He learned the book business as the West Coast sales representative, calling on bookstores from San Diego to Seattle.

After his time on the West Coast, Hugh and Eva moved to Westwood, NJ to join his father and brother on the executive team, focusing on managing the sales and marketing groups. He was a visionary from day one, always looking for new opportunities to expand the distribution of Christian books. Over the next twenty-five years, the Fleming Revell Company grew into the largest publisher of Evangelical Christian books in America.

Early on, Hugh saw an opportunity to increase distribution beyond Christian bookstores and launched Spire Books, the first mass market paperback imprint specializing in Evangelical Christian Books. Partnering with other mass market paperback publishers, including Bantam, Simon and Schuster, and Ballantine, millions of Revell books were then available in both Christian and general bookstores all over America.

In the late 1960s, there was a huge growth in charismatic churches, whose pastors and leaders often found it difficult to get bookstores to carry their, mostly, self-published books. True to his form, Hugh saw an opportunity and partnered with Jim Lyons, a pastor in Greensburg, PA, to launch Manna Books, which became a significant portion of Revell business, selling millions of copies throughout the world.

In 1973, Hugh and Al Hartley, one of the original artists of Archie Comics, saw yet another opportunity to reach youth and young adults with the Gospel and created a new series of Archie Christian Comics. Revell went on to publish dozens of titles that sold millions of copies in the traditional bookstore market, as well as prisons and stationary stores all over America.

In 1974, Hugh and his brother Bill partnered with several leading Christian publishers and founded the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association to share expertise and to better define industry standards and practices.

In the late 1970s, Hugh saw another opportunity in the market, and he asked Dale Hanson Bourke to join the Revell team to launch Today’s Christian Woman, a national magazine that featured life-changing stories of Christian women and bestselling authors of Christian books.

Hugh worked with many bestselling authors including Corrie ten Boom, Eugenia Price, Marjorie Holmes, Ruth Bell Graham, Norman Vincent Peale, Rosalyn Carter, Francis and Edith Schaeffer, Helen Steiner Rice, Chuck Colson, Catherine Marshall, Rich DeVos, Hal Lindsay, Tim LaHaye and others. In 1974, Revell published Total Woman by Marable Morgan, which became the largest selling book in America that year. Her follow up book, Total Joy, was launched with a cover story in Time magazine.

The Fleming H. Revell Company was sold in 1978 to Scott Foresman and a few years later, Hugh decided to branch out on his own and launched Christian Book Bargains, a new company that featured overstock Christian books, which were primarily sold through Christian stores and through a direct mail catalog. This was a huge success and led to a new book publishing venture, The Christian Classics Library, a series of value-priced reprints, including In His Steps, Pilgrim’s Progress, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, and My Utmost for His Highest.

In 1984, Hugh launched Barbour Books with his nephew, Bruce Barbour, with a vision to publish Christian books that inspired readers around the world with life-changing Bible messages. The new imprint included Bible Promise Books, Inspirational Romance Books, Bible Games and Puzzles and several successful Christian Book Clubs. Millions of books were sold through the traditional bookstore channels, but also through discount outlets including Christian Book Distributors (now ChristianBook.com), and mass merchandisers like Dollar General, Sam’s, Costco, and BJ’s.

During Hugh’s time at Revell and Barbour Books, his innovative and creative vision to see trends resulted in industry-changing thinking about getting Christian books and content to the widest possible audience. Thousands of Revell, Spire, Manna, Christian Classic Library and Barbour titles were published and sold millions of copies throughout the world.

In 1999, Hugh retired from book publishing to continue his lifelong love of buying and selling hundreds of affordable homes in New Jersey and Southwest Florida; one more way he helped people realize their dreams.

Hugh never met a stranger and lived a life dedicated to being a faithful servant and disciple of Jesus Christ. His laugh was infectious, and his friendship was cherished. In addition to Christian book publishing and real estate, Hugh pursued other passions, including flying his private planes, playing tennis and bridge, and working in his flower and vegetable gardens. He will also be remembered for his philanthropic work with the Barbour Foundation and his service at Faith Church in Ft. Myers, FL.

Hugh was predeceased by his oldest daughter, Debbie Dietrich, grandson, Alex Morton, and granddaughter, Whitney Kugelman. He is survived by his loving wife, Eva Marie, of nearly seventy years, his son Steve Barbour (Karen), daughter Connie Barbour (Tom Kugelman), seventeen grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at Faith Church in Ft. Myers, FL on Sunday afternoon, July 16, from 3:00 to 5:00.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be mailed to Faith Church, 15690 McGregor Blvd, Ft. Myers, FL 33908 (239-482-2030) or made online at www.faithum.com.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family and viewed online at www.nationalcremation.com or faxed to 239-656-0585

 

Billboard’s Top Gospel Artist of the Decade and multi-GRAMMY award winning singer and songwriter, Tasha Cobbs Leonard’s Do It Anyway offers a revelatory and uplifting message about discovering the transformation unlocked when we show up to hard things with resilient faith and perseverance.  A deeply personal account of Tasha’s trials and triumphs, she offers practical steps for being courageous in risk and patient in discomfort, and shows the breakthrough is always worth it on the other side.

The book is scheduled for publication in Summer 2024.

World rights were acquired in a multi-book deal by WaterBrook Editor Estee Zandee from Esther Fedorkevich at The Fedd Agency.

For rights queries: Denise Cronin, decronin@prh.com

WaterBrook is an imprint of the Random House Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Deep End of the Lake by Carol Stratton won first place for General Fiction and The Stars in April won second place in the Young Adult category. The awards recognize outstanding Christian books by indie authors and small publishers. The Christian Indie Publishing Association sponsors the awards, and they were announced at The Well Conference in April.

1st Place

• General Fiction: Deep End of the Lake, Carol Grace Stratton

2nd Place

• Young Adult:  The Stars in April, Peggy Wirgau

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About Deep End of the Lake

Who Says Giving Up Dreams Isn’t Success?

Ally Cervantes has all she wants in life—an upcoming wedding, a chance to prove herself with a writing gig, and two great kids. But her life turns for the worse when the unexpected happens and she soon finds herself struggling with a rebellious teen daughter, a shaky job, and a shakier engagement. With her newfound faith acting as a life preserver, Ally discovers if you’re in the deep end of the lake, you’d better learn how to swim.

Although fiction, Deep End of the Lake, is written from the author’s personal compassion for families who have the privilege and responsibility to care for a child with a disability. Having worked with autistic students, Carol has seen firsthand the stress and demands these parents face and wanted to capture in a story those pressures, all while providing the encouragement that a beautiful hope and faith can bring into the struggles.

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About The Stars in April

“Sometimes we have to go a long way to find out who we are.”

The year is 1912. When doctors in India are unable to treat her baby brother’s illness, Ruth’s missionary parents decide there is one solution: move her mother and the children across the world—to Michigan. But India is the only home Ruth knows. In a matter of days, she must leave Papa and all she loves behind, abandon her dream of one day playing violin in the Calcutta Orchestra, and embark on a rollicking, four-week journey across the Arabian and Mediterranean Seas, followed by the voyage to New York aboard the luxurious, ill-fated RMS Titanic.

Ruth’s story is one of courage and self-sacrifice as she earns her sea legs and faces the unknown, culminating in a desperate, tragic night she will never forget.

“I feel as though I’m sitting in Ruth’s apartment and she is sharing her life story with me … so very well-written … one can hardly stop reading.”—Floyd Andrick, former Titanic Historical Society member and personal friend of Ruth Becker

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Iron Stream Media derives its name from Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

This sharpening describes the process of discipleship, one to another. Iron Stream Media provides a variety of solutions for churches, missionaries, and nonprofits that include in-depth Bible study curriculum, Christian book publishing, and consultative services. Iron Stream Media is the home of New Hope Publishers, Iron Stream Books, Ascender Books, LPC Books, and New Hope Kidz. Through the popular Life Bible Study and Student Life Bible Study imprints, they also provide web-based, full-year and short-term Bible study teaching plans as well as printed devotionals, Bibles, and discipleship curriculum.

Book these authors as guest speakers or for book signings by contacting
Kim McCulla at kim.mcculla@ironstreammedia.com.

Limited supply of giveaway copies available for special events and interviews. Books can also be ordered through your distributor or by emailing orders@ironstreammedia.com.

Iron Stream Media is overjoyed to announce four finalists in four different categories for the 2023 Selah Awards and Directors’ Choice Awards that will be presented at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in late May. According to the awards staff, there were more entries than ever before this year as the contests continue to grow. Conference directors have also announced this will be the last year for the Directors’ Choice Awards.

The finalists for the Directors’ Choice Awards are:

• Romantic Suspense/Suspense/Mystery: Laser Trap, Frank DiBianca
• General Fiction: By the Sweet Gum, Ane Mulligan
• Devotions/Bible Studies/Gift Books:  Meanwhile, Carol McLeod

The Selah Award Finalist is:

• Historical/Biblical:  By the Sweet Gum, Ane Mulligan

Iron Stream Media derives its name from Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” This sharpening describes the process of discipleship, one to another. Iron Stream Media provides a variety of solutions for churches, missionaries, and nonprofits that include in-depth Bible study curriculum, Christian book publishing, and consultative services. Iron Stream Media is the home of Iron Stream Books, Iron Stream Fiction, Iron Stream Kidz, and Brookstone Creative Group. Through the popular Life Bible Study and Student Life Bible Study imprints, they also provide web-based, full-year and short-term Bible study teaching plans as well as printed devotionals, Bibles, and discipleship curriculum.

Book these authors as guest speakers or for book signings by contacting:
Kim McCulla at kim.mcculla@ironstreammedia.com.

Limited supply of giveaway copies available for special events and interviews. Books can also be ordered through your distributor or visit www.IronStreamMedia.com.

WESTMONT, IL—The recent winner of a gold Illumination Book Award, The Unhiding of Elijah Campbell by Kelly Flanagan has also been honored with a 2023 Nautilus Book Award.

The Nautilus Book Awards have been around for more than twenty years and seek to celebrate and honor books that support conscious living and green values, wellness, social change and social justice, and spiritual growth. Centered around themes of personal growth, spiritual transformation, and the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, The Unhiding of Elijah Campbell was awarded the silver medal in the large-publisher fiction category of the Nautilus Book Awards.

This debut novel from psychologist Kelly Flanagan details the life of Elijah Campbell, who is on the verge of losing his writing career, his faith, and his marriage when a recurring childhood nightmare drives him back to his hometown, Bradford’s Ferry. There, his encounters with loved ones both past and present shed light on the reason his wife left him—and the meaning of his nightmare. However, beyond the light he begins to glimpse something even more terrifying—a decision he must make either to continue hiding the secrets of his past or unhide the only thing that can save his marriage: himself.

“I knew from the first page that Elijah Campbell was a special character,” said Susie Finkbeiner, author of The Nature of Small Birds and All Manner of Things. “Every chapter, paragraph, and sentence that I read proved me right. This novel is infused with gentle storytelling that reminded me of Wendell Berry, elegant prose that brought to mind Marilynne Robinson, and salt of the earth characters reminiscent of Leif Enger. The great delight that I found while reading, however, was what Kelly Flanagan brought to this story that only he could—a deep insight into what makes us human and how that makes us worthy of being seen and known.”

Flanagan (PhD, Pennsylvania State University) is a clinical psychologist and is the founder of a private practice in Naperville, Illinois, that offers services to teens, adults, couples, and families. The author of The Marriage Manifesto, Loveable, and True Companions: A Book for Everyone About the Relationships That See Us Through, he has also written for publications such as Christianity Today, Reader’s Digest, and Huffington Post. In 2014, a letter he wrote to his daughter led to their appearance on the TODAY Show. Flanagan is a popular blogger and speaks regularly on topics related to marriage, parenting, and spiritual formation.

For a complete list of IVP award winners, visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

May 2, 2023 —Iron Pen Poetry, an imprint of Paraclete Press, is pleased to announce the Spring 2024 publication of Reversing Entropy: Poems by Luci Shaw (ISBN 978-1-64060-870-2 | Pub date April 4, 2024 | Trade paperback, French flaps | 5.5X8.5 | 112 pages | $21).

The poet’s own words best describe the heart of this pinnacle collection of new work:

PROLOGUE: REVERSING ENTROPY (Definition and Description)

Entropy: A measure of the molecular disorder, or randomness, of a system, its lack of order or predictability, resulting in a gradual decline into disorder.

Our universe, and the systems within it, constantly shift from their created states of order towards disorder, or chaos. The second law of thermodynamics asserts that entropy, or disorder, always increases with time. Creative human activities such as art, architecture, music, story or film are human efforts to halt and reverse this loss of meaning. Thus, smaller systems, like individual poems, become highly ordered as they receive energy from outside themselves, from the poet. They reverse entropy because they are moving from a state of disorder (all the random ideas, words and phrases available to the writer) into an orderly form designed by the writer to create meaningful images and concepts in the reader’s mind (which is where the word “imag-ination” comes from.) This transfer of images, concepts and ideas into the mind of a reader is the task of poetry and the calling of the poet. Just as a composer of music gathers rhythms, notes, melodies, or harmony, organizing them into fugues or sonatas or concertos, so poets work and write to discover ways of arranging their responses to the world in words that introduce meaning and beauty in the mind of the reader.

Which is what I’ve been trying to do for most of my life.

As ECPA prepares to honor Luci Shaw with the Kenneth N. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award at their Leadership Summit on May 9, Iron Pen Poetry and Paraclete Press are privileged to present this forthcoming collection.

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Praise for Reversing Entropy: Poems by Luci Shaw 

“Most essentially—in a life that chooses energy over entropy—Luci Shaw celebrates creatures, creatives, and the Creator, vowing “to live like the cedar tree in the psalm/….to never/let the years hinder my going and my growing.” May it be so. Reversing Entropy astutely mentors us for a thriving and enduring life.” —Marjorie Maddox, author of Begin with a Question

“How often [Luci] has reminded us that what “seems mundane and trivial may show itself to be a holy, precious part of a pattern,” I think of the poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins when I enter her poems. How often she has captured the light shining in and through the things of our world, her scintillant music transforming what is there before us, there in the stars and at our feet in the sand and pebbles and motes around us. With her photographer’s trained eye she humbly reveals again and again the incredible abundance of God’s plentitude. And for that gift, so gracefully and abundantly bestowed, I thank and praise her.” —Paul Mariani

“Reversing Entropy incarnates what Luci Shaw’s long life gives record to: that all things are transformed, from leaf to dirt, from lost words to new poem; from shadow to light. For her the order of the universe is the re-ordering of disorder. As in the past, so these newest poems are almost preternaturally attuned to the changes and always changing natural world—the slow growth of lichens; the quick migrating flights of starlings. Luci Shaw’s poems and life have been lived in faithfulness to the gift of the world around us, a gift intimately connected to the gift of words, to the making and remaking that goes on and on. She is a woman utterly open to the annunciations of starlight, to the “music” of fragrant lilies of the valley, to the exuberance of spring green leaf-light. She has lived her life according to one abiding principle: let wherever you find yourself be a place of opportunity rather than disappointment. These new poems exemplify what it means to be present, to live in a state of readiness for whatever comes next.” —Robert Cording

“Those who love Luci Shaw’s earlier poems will find in these a familiar, welcoming openness to the light that shines from every leaf and the voice that speaks in wind. In these her attentiveness to the created order extends to other dimensions of awareness—of her own longings and losses, of the scope of small pleasures, of how acceptance gentles the challenges of aging and of the learning that happens in moments of letting go. Images and words linger long after putting the book down and widen like ripples on waters disturbed by a soft breeze.” —Marilyn McEntyre, author of Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, When Poets Pray, and Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict

“In Reversing Entropy, Luci Shaw takes a stand with eternity against the passing of mortal time. In poems that by turn lament and accept the evening of her many days, she is able to feel “the dark at its deepest” while remaining her “flush, fresh, living” self. She makes me hope that all of us, as we age and slow, will still be “like kids waiting / to go outside for recess.” There, on that far playground, “shadow will be consumed by the wide mouth of light.”” —Paul J. Willis, author of Somewhere to Follow

“Luci Shaw in Reversing Entropy, her new book of luminous poems, confronts chaos and plague, indeed, old age and death, and rolls them back on themselves, discovering when she does that “beauty will not be / always dimmed, no matter how long it waits.” Throughout the lyrical collection, Shaw “[p]airs the antonyms/energy and entropy,” as she tries to recapture each “lost word,” recognizes she’s “never been this old before,” and grieves the loss of her only sibling whose “jagged narrative of a life” is “a cold meal . . . flavored with bitter herbs.” In so doing, she explores the lichen’s underworld, mountain trails, whales and weeds, even a Sequoia “thick as God’s arm,” so that with her, we can see how “[g]reen/gushes from every notch and knot” and “sunlight winks its enchantment.” In reflecting upon all that she has weathered, Shaw’s signature voice invites us to feel the “torn tissues / ragged blemishes” of “[f]ailures” and “regrets,” yet pin our hope on the “gleaming fabric of / metaphors” and the “tenacious / truths . . . that will not fade like breath on a / mirror.” How can we possibly say no?” —Julie L. Moore, author of Full Worm Moon

“Luci Shaw is the patron saint of wonder. She writes of needing to be there, in creation, like a journalist taking field notes. And we need her to be there, too, “holding all the world-loveliness…by pinning it in print on paper.” Of all the loveliness she’s captured, over many decades, this might be her best collection yet.” —Sarah Arthur, author of A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L’Engle

For interviews or review copies, contact:
Publicist Rachel McKendree at rachelm@paracletepress.com, (508) 246-4700

 

May 5, 2023, WHEATON, Ill.—Crossway is pleased to announce the launch of phase 2 of an initiative to distribute one million English Standard Version (ESV) Bibles around the world. The focus of phase 2 is to freely distribute Bibles to children throughout the Global South, especially on the continent of Africa.

Crossway is grateful to partner with the Rafiki Foundation, Awana International, and other organizations serving in the Global South to distribute Bibles in this phase of the initiative. The goal is to raise $500,000 by June 30, 2023, in order to provide the Word of God to 100,000 children who may otherwise not have access to their own Bibles.

For the church to flourish and the gospel to faithfully pass from one generation to the next, God’s people must invest in the discipleship of young believers around the world. Karen Elliott, executive director of the Rafiki Foundation, says, “If we care about the future of the church—the future of the church is in Africa because the next generation of the church is going to be there—then we ought to help them by providing Bibles, study Bibles, and sound doctrine. We should flood the continent with God’s Word.”

The first phase of Crossway’s One Million Bibles Initiative was completed in December 2022, surpassing its $500,000 goal and providing more than 100,000 Bibles to Christians in the Global South. Distribution of those Bibles is underway.

More information can be found at crossway.org/OneMillionBibles.

Founded in 1938, Crossway is a not-for-profit global Christian publishing ministry that publishes gospel-centered, Bible-based content to honor our Savior and serve his church. Crossway seeks to help people understand the all-encompassing implications of the gospel and the truth of God’s word—for all of life, for all eternity, and for the glory of God alone. Crossway is the global publisher of the ESV® (English Standard Version®) Bible, more than 1,000 Christian books, and an extensive list of gospel literature. For additional information, visit crossway.org.

Contact: Lauren Susanto, lsusanto@crossway.org

Tempe, Ariz., May 8, 2023 — ECPA will continue its annual free ECPA member summer webinar series by presenting three webinars on three Fridays in June, July, and August at 10 am central for its members.

In addition to the three summer sessions, a fourth webinar is being planned for later in the year with Skot Welch, founder/president of Global Bridgebuilders and author of the upcoming book, “Unfractured” (Baker) on A Christ-Centered Action Plan for Cultural Change.  He will be joined by members of the ECPA DEI Committee to discuss organizational change and resources.  Information and registration for that webinar is forthcoming.

Registration is now open for the three summer ECPA FOCUS programs:

Friday, June 9  | Redefining the Publishers’ Role in the Digital Age

The digital revolution has transformed the publishing industry in ways far beyond simply a “print book versus digital book” paradigm. Most important of all, it has transformed the broader information and communication environment, creating new challenges and new opportunities for publishers as they seek to redefine their role in the digital age. ECPA president Jeff Crosby will be in conversation with sociologist and University of Cambridge professor emeritus Dr. John Thompson, author of “Merchants of Culture: Publishing in the 21st Century” and “Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing,” to shed light on our challenges and opportunities.   REGISTER

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Friday, July 14  |  Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Christian Publishing

Generative AI technology has ushered in a new period of disruption in our society, raising new ethical, political, and legal dilemmas. Join ethicist Jason Thacker, author of The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity for a wide ranging conversation with B&H publisher Devin Maddox on topics related to the intersection of generative AI technology and publishing.  REGISTER

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Friday, August 11  |  A Nonprofit Law Primer for Publishers

Key Topics for Ministries and Publishers Doing Business with Nonprofits: The IRS may not be front-of-mind when acquiring or editing a well-known pastor’s or ministry leader’s next book, but aspects of almost all resources published by ECPA houses are regulated by laws governing nonprofits.  Ministry publishers must stay up to speed with these laws as they direct board governance, annual Form 990 filings, fundraising, and other daily operations.  Meanwhile, for-profit publishers regularly sign agreements with pastors and their churches, often raising questions of private inurement and private benefit, excess benefits, conflicts of interest, who owns copyright to a sermon or video recording, and proper royalty income reporting.  And all religious organizations, for- and non-profit, face increasing scrutiny concerning their freedom to make decisions based on sincerely held religious beliefs.  Brian Flagler, managing partner of Flagler Law Group, will frame a series of common publishing scenarios for our guest Jonathan McCants, who has regularly advised Christian ministries and for-profits in the areas of non-profit law and governance for over 20 years.  REGISTER

Registrants will have access to the recordings of the sessions they sign up for.  The series is sponsored by ECPA’s discount partners, who provide ECPA members with discounted business solutions.  More information and registration is at ECPA.org/page/focuswebinars/.

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. For more information about ECPA: info@ecpa.org ECPA.org @ECPA

Media Contact:  Jeff Crosby, ECPA president & CEO, jcrosby@ecpa.org, 480-966-3998

Ada, Mich. (May 1, 2023)—Baker Publishing Group is pleased to announce the promotions of Michele Misiak, Raela Schoenherr, and Brianne Dekker. Michele will serve as the new executive vice president of direct to consumer and retail, filling the vacancy of Sue Smith who will retire June 1. Raela Schoenherr has been promoted to the role of fiction marketing director for Baker Publishing Group. Brianne Dekker will serve as the new fiction marketing manager for Revell.

Michele Misiak began her career at Baker Publishing Group in 2008 as the marketing manager for Revell. She later transitioned to the marketing director position. In 2022, Michele was promoted to vice president of fiction marketing for all of Baker Publishing Group. Before coming to Baker Publishing, she spent over 10 years with Walden Books in field management. In her new role, Michele will lead all aspects of retail operations both online and through the Baker Book House store and will work to build and strengthen direct-to-consumer channels.

“I am thrilled to take on the position of executive vice president of direct to consumer and retail,” said Michele. “With 25 years of experience under my belt, I’m excited to bring my expertise to this role and drive our direct-to-consumer efforts forward. As someone who loves books and book people, I can’t wait to lead our team toward success and growth.”

The president and CEO of Baker Publishing Group, Jesse Myers, stated, “Michele is a gifted and proven manager and leader. Her extensive experience in retail and specifically bookstore management combined with her years of marketing experience here at Baker make her uniquely qualified for this vital role. The Baker Book House store is in good hands, and I’m confident our growing direct-to-consumer business will continue to thrive under her leadership.”

Raela Schoenherr joined the fiction acquisitions team at Bethany House Publishers in 2008 and held various acquisitions roles before becoming marketing manager for Bethany House fiction. She’s had the pleasure of working with award-winning, bestselling, and acclaimed writers and enjoys supporting authors and helping readers find their next great read. A graduate of Bethel University in St. Paul, MN, with a degree in business marketing, she lives in Minneapolis, MN. In Raela’s new position as the fiction marketing director, she will be responsible for directing and managing all aspects of marketing and publicity for both the Bethany House and Revell fiction teams.

Brianne Dekker joined Baker Publishing Group in 2017, starting in marketing as assistant to the Baker Books and Revell fiction and nonfiction teams. She transitioned to working exclusively on Revell fiction when she was promoted to assistant marketing manager, which was exactly where her fiction-loving heart dreamed of being all along. It’s been her joy to continue working with the fiction team and Revell’s fantastic authors since then. Brianne has a bachelor’s degree from Calvin University and lives in Grand Rapids, MI, where she loves to read, crochet, and spoil her cat, Poppy. In Brianne’s new position as marketing manager, she will assume the role as lead marketer for all Revell fiction titles.

Mark Rice, executive vice president of marketing and publicity for Baker Publishing Group, stated, “Our fiction marketing team is the best in the industry, as demonstrated by these talented and skilled leaders. They are ready to step into their new roles, where their creativity will take our fiction program to even greater success.”

Bethany House is part of the largest independent Christian book publisher and seeks to uplift readers’ families, faith, and free time with our library of industry-leading fiction and bestselling, Christ-centered nonfiction.

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, publishes books that help bring the Christian faith to everyday life. Whether through fiction, Christian living, self-help, marriage, family, or youth books, each Revell publication reflects relevance, integrity, and excellence.

Baker Publishing Group publishes high-quality writings that represent historic Christianity and serve the diverse interests and concerns of evangelical readers.

Contact: Karen Steele, (616)676-9185 x100, ksteele@bakerpublishinggroup.com

What do you do when God doesn’t give you what you want?

When the people of Israel, those who had witnessed the most abundant and inexplicable acts of God, grew tired of waiting for Moses to come off the mountain, they made a calf of gold. It was easier for them to make a new god than to continue serving a God that didn’t conform to their schedule and expectations. In DISOBEDIENT GOD (FaithWords; ISBN: 9781546000563, April 25, 2023), Pastor Albert Tate leads people to discover the relationship with God that they were always meant for.

Just like the Israelites in the desert, we are all fundamentally longing for God… but who and what are we actually reaching for and serving? Disobedient God addresses the things we do when we feel inconvenienced and frustrated by God. What things are we reaching for in our life? Are we reaching for porn when we long for intimacy? Reaching for success when we long for security? We would never say that we have replaced God, but our actions tell a different story. Whether we are trying to replace God, trying to run away or trying to perform for Him, we have no mindset to deal with a disobedient God. Disobedient God is a book for people dealing with this disappointment and interested in properly understanding and love the God they’ve misunderstood.

This is not a step-by-step instruction manual for how to react when things are difficult; rather, it is a way of understanding God that will create an everlasting relationship that will continue to grow.

Albert Tate is the founding and lead pastor of Fellowship Church in Los Angeles County California.

Contact: Laini Brown, Director of Publicity, Hachette Nashville, Laini.Brown@hbgusa.com