February 24, 2025 Edition
Industry News

Christy Award submission period for fiction opens on March 1st
Nominations will be accepted March 1-31 in nine fiction categories for The Christy Award® program. Submissions are open to works of fiction written from a Christian worldview in nine categories, published traditionally or independently from March 2024 to March 2025. For program and submission information, visit TheChristyAward.com or contact Cindy Carter.

Leadership Summit early bird rates end in one week: Cultivating Wisdom in Leadership
Early bird registration discounts are available for one more week for the ECPA Leadership Summit. Held on April 29-30 in Nashville for executive teams in Christian publishing, the event will inform and engage the industry’s leaders on The Practice of Leadership: Cultivating Wisdom, Growing in Grace. Speakers include:
- Uli Chi, Senior Fellow, DePree Center for Leadership
- Jane Friedman, co-founder and Editor, The Hot Sheet
- Mark James, Performance Advisors Group, Inc.
- Andy Hunter, Founder & CEO, Bookshop.org
- Ben Mandrell, President and CEO of Lifeway
- Bryan Chapell, Ph.D., Presbyterian Church in America
- Expert panel on audiobooks with Michele Cobb, APA
- Expert panel on accessibility with Sam Richardson, SPCK
View complete program and register at ECPALeadership.org.
Staff Updates

PRH Christian Publishing Group names Madison Trammel Editorial Director
PRH Christian Publishing Group is delighted to announce the addition of Madison Trammel as Editorial Director of PRH Christian Publishing Group, reporting to Laura Barker, VP and Publisher, starting March 3, 2025. All nonfiction editors acquiring for the WaterBrook, Multnomah, Image and Forum imprints at PRHCPG will report to Trammel.
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Chip MacGregor joins Whitaker House as Executive Editor
Whitaker Corporation announces well-known literary agent and former publisher Chip MacGregor as new Executive Editor. A former publisher at Time-Warner and Hachette Book Group, he has more than twenty-five years’ experience as a literary agent and has completed more than a thousand book contracts.
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Whitaker Corporation announces Ned Clements as Vice President of Sales
Whitaker Corporation appointed industry veteran Ned Clements to shape the future of Sales as Vice President. Ned has held influential roles at leading publishing houses, including Multnomah Publishers, Charisma House, and Destiny Image.
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IPG announces promotion of Tim McCall to SVP of Sales & Marketing
Independent Publishers Group, the last remaining independent book distributor of significant size in North America, is pleased to announce the promotion of Tim McCall to Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing.
Milestones

Ross Douthat’s “Believe” hits New York Times Bestseller list
Zondervan Books is thrilled to announce that New York Times Opinion columnist Ross Douthat’s latest work, “Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious,” has made its debut on the New York Times bestseller list. “Believe” ranked as number eight in Hardcover Nonfiction and number ten in Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction after its release on February 11, 2025.
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“I've Got Questions” by Erin Hicks Moon hits Publishers Weekly Bestseller list
“I’ve Got Questions: The Spiritual Practice of Having It Out with God” (Baker Books) by Erin Hicks Moon has been featured on Publishers Weekly’s Bestseller list, ranking #19 on Print Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction, as readers embrace her guide to wrestling with faith.
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WaterBrook acquires Middle Grade series, Order of the Dragon Slayer
WaterBrook has acquired New York Times bestselling authors Candace Lee and Eric Newman’s GEORGE GRANT DRAGON SLAYER, launching the Order of the Dragon Slayer trilogy, a middle-grade adventure that reimagines the legend of Saint George in a fading West Virginia coal town for a three-book deal for publication in Spring 2026.
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Whitaker House partners with the Berean Bible to publish new, modern translation
Meant to be shared between people, cultures, and generations, the Berean Bible was created with the modern reader and the Great Commission in mind. Developed to push the frontiers of mission work, the hope is that it will reach people in the far four corners of the earth.
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Charisma House to release four titles on March 4
- Tough Topics by founder of Kelly K Ministries Kelly Kopp answers 25 controversial topics that the church chooses to ignore, seeking to tackle frustration by looking deeply, not superficially.
- In From Junkie to Jerusalem, Larry Huch, founder of New Beginnings, shares his incredible story from drug addict to prominent pastor.
- In Deliverance Defined, Don Dickerman shows readers how to discern the signs of demonic activity, close doorways through which demons enter, and walk in complete freedom.
- In The Mystery of the Red Heifer, cohost of Prophecy Watchers Mondo Gonzales unravels the connections between the red heifer, the third temple, the covenant of Daniel 9:27 and the “day of the Lord” in 2 Thessalonians 2:2.

New Growth Press to release “The Spiritually Healthy Leader” on April 28
“The Spiritually Healthy Leader: Finding Freedom from Self-Sabotage” by Dave Wiedis will be released on April 28 by New Growth Press and uncovers the core commitments that threaten to sabotage relationships and ministry.
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Other News
INDUSTRY
- Forefront Books announces Mickey Maudlin as new associate publisher
- Gloo Announces New AI Licensing Platform to Compensate Values-Based Content Creators
- Theological Book Network Sends Scholarly Works to Far-Flung Seminaries
- Publishers Weekly Call for Info on Lent, Easter, Passover Titles
- Religion Book Deals for Feb. 19: IVP, Tyndale
- bible.ai Launches World-First Christian App Powered by AI Technology
PUBLISHING
- Readerlink Will Stop Distributing Mass Market Paperbacks by Year’s End
- BISG webinar on Feb 25: AI & Manuscript Evaluation and Onboarding
- BISG webinar on March 4: Navigating Trends in Digital Printing and Finishing
- 8 Independent Publishers Form Cooperative to Share Resources, Cut Costs
- U.S. Paper Industry Asks Trump to Seek Lighter EU Deforestation Rules
- Bookwire OS Powers Podium Entertainment’s Global Audiobook Expansion
- EUDR Resources for the Book Publishing Industry