New book offers wisdom and relatable stories to help women discover their purpose

MAY 10, 2023 — Confidence coach and QVC host Kim Gravel is now a bestselling author, as Collecting Confidence: Start Where You Are to Become the Person You Were Meant to Be (Thomas Nelson) claims the No. 9 spot on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list during its first week of eligibility.

Collecting Confidence showcases the confidence Gravel has gathered from her own life journey. The book invites readers to examine their lives with a fresh new lens and encourages them to start where they are and become the person God created them to be. In Collecting Confidence, Gravel reminds you that you are not your current circumstance. You are not your current habits. Where you are right now is, in fact, simply your starting place to become who you’re meant to be and find God’s calling for your life.

Collecting Confidence has been received with critical acclaim. Publishers Weekly named it a bestseller, ranking #8 for Hardcover Nonfiction, and SRQ Magazine reviews it by saying, “I found myself copying the handful of pages with larger quotes to give to women I know, who also struggle with being undervalued and consequently self-limiting. Her slogans were not only catchy, but deeply effective due to their provocative deep thought resonance.”

“If you’ve lost your way and forgotten who God made you, this book will equip you to glean empowerment from life’s lowest moments,” Gravel says. “You’ll start to change your perspective to realize mistakes can be stepping stones.”

Kim’s passion is seeing people rise to their God-given calling. She wrote the book to encourage women to realize who they are, embrace their gifts and talents, the things they like to do and do well – and then learn to operate and walk in confidence.

The book is available everywhere books are sold.

About The Author:  

Bold. Audacious. Warm. Funny. Real. These are just a few words that describe Kim Gravel, entrepreneur, podcaster, TV personality, and host of several number-one hit shows on QVC. The minute she says, “Hey, ya’ll,” you can feel her authentic personality shining through–but she felt pressure to conform for a stretch of her life. She hid her light and lost her shine.

In the aftermath of the pressures of the pageant scene and a toxic failed marriage, Kim found herself alone in a run-down apartment, and it was there that she began her journey to change her life and she began to discover her purpose, including her first gig as a talk-show host at a community TV station just a few blocks from her apartment. Her purpose was just steps away.

Now Kim’s mission as a global voice is to build up women with words of encouragement, reminding them to stop struggling, embrace the beauty of who they are, and step into their power and purpose.

MAY 10, 2023 — Reformed Free Publishing will release a new children’s book on the Ten Commandments on May 16, 2023.  Written by by Ron Cammenga and illustrated by Ana Sebastian, “The Ten Commandments for Children,” is an in-depth dive into the heart of the Christian faith at a pace that kids can easily follow. The book is intended to be read as a devotional with kids age 6-9.

This book is the first in a three-part series by the author, Ron Cammenga of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The three books will follow the format of the original Catechism of the Church of Geneva written by John Calvin. This catechism used the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Apostles’ Creed to teach the basics of the Christian religion to children.

• First, “Of the Law, That is the Ten Commandments of God”
• Second, the Lord’s Prayer for kids (“Of Prayer)
• And third, the Apostles’ Creed (“Of Faith”)

If you have children or grandchildren, Ten Commandments would make a great devotional to close out the school year or start the summer off right. Chapters include discussion questions (“Let’s talk it over”), a Bible memory verse (“Let’s read the Bible”), and a related psalm to be sung (“Let’s sing”).

MAY 8, 2023 — Elk Lake Publishing, Inc. authors took home six Christian Indie Awards and one Honorable Mention.  They are:

Children’s 8-12:
No Bones About It—Annette O’Hare – 1st Place
Into the Great Marinara—Nicolas C. Day – 2nd Place

Children’s Picture Books:
Do Your Best, Tess—Janet Morris Grimes – 3rd Place

Bible Study:
Bible Briefs—God’s Will, Unraveling the Mystery—L. G. Westlake – 3rd place

Novella:
Awakened—T. E. Bradford – 2nd Place

Speculative:
Beneath the Deep—Andrea Chatman – 2nd Place

General Fiction:
Into the Room—Steven Rogers – Honorable Mention

TEMPE, Ariz., May 15, 2023 — At the ECPA annual member meeting held on May 10 during the Leadership Summit in Nashville, ECPA members voted on two new board members and a slate of executive committee members. Chriscynethia Floyd, vice president and publisher of Our Daily Bread Ministries; and Devin Maddox, trade books publisher of B&H Publishing Group were voted in for a first, three-year board term.

Their positions replace outgoing board members Dan Kok (Crossway) and Dan Baker (Baker Publishing Group) who completed their term.

The new executive committee officers will be Paul Santhouse (Moody Publishers) as board chair, Jeff Johnson (Tyndale House Publishers) as vice chair, and Jerry Kregel (Kregel Publications) as treasurer. Barb Sherrill (Harvest House Publishers) will continue as secretary, and Tina Constable (WaterBrook and Multnomah) will continue as director at large.

Completing the board are members Dr. Ladonna Boyd (RH Boyd), Terumi Echols (InterVarsity Press), Daisy Hutton (Hachette Nashville), and Doug Lockhart (HarperCollins Christian Publishing).

 

 

May 15, 2023 — ECPA honored the impact and imprint of two great writers at the ECPA Awards Celebration held on May 9:  Philip Yancey and Luci Shaw.  Both gave moving presentations that had the audience of industry leaders, attending the annual Leadership Summit, on their feet in standing ovations.

Award-winning author PHILIP YANCEY received the industry’s Pinnacle Award in special recognition of the outstanding contribution of his body of work to the industry, church, and society at large.  Yancey also delivered aheartfelt keynote reflecting on his writing life.

In his presentation, ECPA president Jeff Crosby expressed, “I am not only grateful but honored to present to you our Pinnacle Award for your body of literary, spiritual work that has guided readers all over the world toward a deep, resilient, authentic, grace-filled understanding of Christ, of the gospel, of what it means to follow in the Jesus way. You have been an inspiration to so many of us.”

Also honored with the industry’s Kenneth N. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award, was renown writer and poet LUCI SHAW, in recognition of her innovative, influential and enduring work in Christian publishing.  The 94-year old poet, author, editor and former publisher, wrote and presented apoem for the occasion, called “The Quickening.”

Crosby presented on behalf of the industry: “Throughout your lifetime adventure in publishing, you have planted, watered and sowed seeds of beauty, truth and goodness. Where those seeds have gone! And where they will continue to go, for years to come.”

More on their impact:
https://rushtopress.org/edition/for-immediate-release-march-2-2023/

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.