January 22, 2018 Edition
Industry News
ECPA Leadership Summit to be held May 1-2 at Museum of the Bible, Washington, D.C.
Executives and management teams in Christian publishing are invited to the ECPA Leadership Summit, held May 1-2, 2018 at the newly opened Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Speakers include:
- BARRY C. BLACK, Chaplain of the U.S. Senate
- ALAN JACOBS, Professor and author of The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction
- MICHELLE SANCHEZ, Executive Minister of Make and Deepen Disciples, Evangelical Covenant Church
- MONTSE ALVORADO, Executive Director, The Becket Fund
- BRYAN LORITTS, Author, Pastor of Abundant Life Church in Silicon Valley, President of the Kainos Movement
- MARIA A. PALLANTE, President & CEO, AAP (Association of American Publishers)
Early bird registration will open soon with additional discounts for ECPA members. Sign up for updates here. More at ECPALeadership.org.
The bestselling Christian books and Bibles of 2017
The results are in on the Bestselling Christian Books and Bibles of 2017 published by ECPA members. There are several ways to analyze the POS data compiled by NPD BookScan so ECPA executive director Stan Jantz has provided an analysis by category, author, publisher, release date, etc.
ECPA posts bestseller lists of 2017 Christmas titles
ECPA’s annual Christmas Bestsellers for 2017 are based on NPD data from November and December. ECPA curates the data into three different lists: Nonfiction, Fiction, and Juvenile. An astounding 21 titles in the Top 50 Nonfiction Christmas list were published by Abingdon—five by one author, Adam Hamilton. Ann Voskamp (Tyndale House), Max Lucado (Thomas Nelson), and Mike Slaughter (Abingdon) each have three titles in the Top 50.
ECPA remembers “The Best Books” of 2017
In 2017, ECPA recognized 86 Christian books and Bibles as the best in 20 categories through two industry award programs. The Christian Book Awards® recognized the best non-fiction and children’s titles in 11 categories, and The Christy Awards™ recognized the best Christian fiction titles in 9 categories. Book of the Year honors were awarded to Charles Martin’s novel, “Long Way Gone” and Tim Tebow’s Christian Living title, “Shaken.”
View the Christian Book Award finalists and winners…
View The Christy Awards finalists and winners…
Learn to automate royalties at free ECPA member webinar with MetaComet
MetaComet Systems, the pioneering provider of royalty management solutions for the publishing industry, is delighted to announce a new webinar hosted by company President David Marlin for members of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. The free webinar at 1pm EST on Wednesday February 7 2018 will show publishers in the ECPA community how MetaComet’s services can make their royalty processes simpler, faster and more accurate.
Read More...Publishing veteran Geoff Dennis joins Kregel Publications as Director of Sales
Jerry Kregel, president and CEO of Kregel Inc., is pleased to announce that Geoff Dennis has joined Kregel Publications as director of sales. As director of sales, Geoff will seek to grow the sales of Kregel Publications and its publishing partners by developing effective sales strategies and building and maintaining strong relationships with Kregel’s retail and distribution partners, thereby helping to extend the reach and impact of the mission and ministry of Kregel Publications. Kregel’s publishing partners include US publisher Gilead Publishing and UK publishers Lion Hudson, Muddy Pearl, and Instant Apostle.
Read More...Concordia Publishing House implements knkPublishing
Concordia Publishing House has signed a contract to implement the publishing software knkPublishing. knkPublishing Editorial Office and Production (including the knk Media Library and Metadata Management), Rights and Royalties, Book Order Management, and Subscription Management will replace existing publishing and CRM systems at Concordia. The publishing house will leverage knkPublishing’s integration with Microsoft Dynamics NAV to meet Supply Chain, Finance and Accounting functional requirements.
Read More...Media Announcements
Harvest House author Rodney D. Bullard featured at pre-Golden Globes event
Harvest House author Rodney D. Bullard recently attended GBK Productions “A Golden Affair” Luxury Lounge honoring the 75th Golden Globe Awards. During the two-day event, Bullard interviewed celebrities such as Randy Jackson, Anthony Anderson, and Dinah Jane regarding their own stories of everyday heroes. He also gave away copies of his new book, “Heroes Wanted.”
Read More...Bible Gateway interviews Kathryn Slattery, author of “365 Bible Answers for Curious Kids”
Children ask such questions as, “How do I know the Bible is true?” “What does it mean when the Bible talks about the kingdom of God?” “How can God be three persons at the same time?” “Why couldn’t Jesus just stay on Earth forever?” “What is baptism?” “Who invented time?” Bible Gateway interviewed Kathryn Slattery about her book, “365 Bible Answers for Curious Kids” (Tommy Nelson, 2017).
Bible Gateway interviews Alli Worthington, author of “Fierce Faith”
Sometimes Jesus’ call to “fear not” seems like the hardest instruction to follow. Some days you faultlessly juggle everything that is your life—kids, husband, house, job, church, friendships, school, pets, appointments, and on and on. Other days the very thought of which ball you’re going to drop puts your anxiety level through the roof. Bible Gateway interviewed Alli Worthington (@alli) about her book, “Fierce Faith: A Woman’s Guide to Fighting Fear, Wrestling Worry, and Overcoming Anxiety” (Zondervan, 2018).
Lisa Whittle recognizes what it is to be pursued by God in Jesus Calling podcast
Author, speaker, Lisa Whittle joins the Jesus Calling podcast to share how God had to gently pursue her to show her what she was called to be. Her frustration over her own prayer life sourced the writing of her latest devotional: “5-Word Prayers – A 40-Day Devotional” (Harvest House Publishers). More at http://www.jesuscalling.com/podcast/
Product News
Nelson announces bestselling ‘The Women’s Study Bible’ is now available in NIV
Since the publication of the first edition of "The Woman’s Study Bible," over 1.5 million copies have been sold. Now “The Woman’s Study Bible” is available in a beautiful full-color redesign in the NIV translation, inviting women to receive God’s truth for balance, hope, and transformation.
Read More...Other News
INDUSTRY
- Saving Christian Fiction: publishers hunt for fresh voices and new genres
- Christian retail holiday sales hold, look to increase in 2018
- YouVersion celebrates a decade
- LifeWay stores teach Bible study
- PW bestseller list of 2017: “Jesus Always,” “The Magnolia Story,” "Uninvited" and "The Shack" among longest running bestsellers
- PW ranks publishers on 2017 bestsellers list: ECPA houses/imprints represented
PUBLISHING
- PW: 2017 Bestsellers by Format
- PBS Reveals Authors, Stars On ‘The Great American Read’
- Amazon Narrows HQ2 List to 20
- NYT: How Technology Is (and Isn’t) Changing Our Reading Habits
- Census Bureau: Bookstore Sales Down 6% in November
- At HarperCollins: Morrison Leaving; Burnham, Stehlik Promoted
- HarperAudio Goes Retro with New Vinyl Audiobook Series
- A Record Year for Publishing Stocks—With a Caveat
- Let's Talk About Sensitivity Readers
- It’s Time for Publishers to Join the Fight for Net Neutrality
- Why Data Quality is King in 2018