May 18, 2020 Edition
In recognition of Memorial Day, next week’s issue of Rush to Press will be published on Tuesday, May 26.
Industry News
S&S CEO Carolyn Reidy dies of heart attack
Publishers Weekly — Carolyn Reidy, president and CEO of Simon & Schuster since 2008, died of a heart attack last week on May 12. She was 71.
ECPA presents free webinar on digital marketing on Thursday: Reaching readers in a time of crisis
ECPA continues the Virtual Summit Series this Thursday, May 21, with Peter McCarthy and Kelly Gallagher of Ingram Content Group, discussing Reaching Customers in a Time of Crisis: Digital Marketing Innovations. The ECPA Virtual Summit is a weekly webinar series for ECPA members featuring conversations with publishing experts on trends and best practices in the wake of COVID-19. Registration is free and open to ECPA members only. Those registered will receive a recorded version of the webinar.
ECPA members can register for Thursday’s free webinar here.
More on the ECPA Virtual Summit Series
ECPA relaunches Career Center with Resume Bank and Career Services Center
The new ECPA Career Center, just relaunched this month with a new professional design and interface, now includes a robust Career Services Center for job seekers with a resume bank, career resources, job searching tips & tools, and more! The relaunch also includes special pricing for ECPA members posting job opportunities.
Read More...
Freight Forwarder Meadows Wye becomes ECPA business solutions provider
ECPA announces the addition of a new business solutions program for its members through Meadows Wye freight forwarding and US customs brokerage. Meadows Wye will now provide an exclusive discount package for ECPA members in need of freight and customs services.
Read More...
Christianity Today call for submissions for CT Book Awards
Christianity Today is calling for submissions for the 2021 Christianity Today Book Awards. The CT Book Awards, along with our “Beautiful Orthodoxy” Book of the Year, will be announced in December at ChristianityToday.com. Winners will be featured prominently in the January/February 2021 issue of CT and widely promoted in CT newsletters and on the site. Publishers of the winning books will also have the opportunity to participate in a promotion organized by CT’s marketing team.
Read More...
Nominations open for Christian Indie Awards
Nominations are now open for the 2021 Christian Indie Awards. The Christian Indie Awards honors outstanding Christian books produced by small publishers and independent authors. Nominations are accepted in 18 categories.
Spotlight: Publisher Response To Pandemic
An Interview with Devin Maddox, Trade Group Publisher for B&H Publishing Group
THE CHURCH, COVID-19, AND WHAT HAPPENS NEXT FOR CHRISTIAN PUBLISHERS:
Recently ECPA president Stan Jantz had a conversation with Devin Maddox, Trade Group Publisher for B&H Publishing Group. Stan asked Devin about the ways publishers can serve pastors and the church during the current crisis, as well as in the next few months and years when the world emerges from the pandemic.
Devin Maddox will be part of a webinar on “Responding to the Needs of the Church” next Thursday, May 28, with Faithlife CEO Bob Pritchett and Lexham Press associate publisher Jesse Myers as part of the ECPA Virtual Summit Series. Register here.
Milestones
Ten Tyndale House Bibles receive ECPA Milestone Sales Awards; Third Bible receives Diamond Award
ECPA recently presented Milestone Sales Awards to ten Bibles published by Tyndale House Publishers for achieving Diamond, Platinum, Gold and Bronze level sales. The Life Application Study Bible is the third Bible from Tyndale House to receive an ECPA Diamond Award for more than 10 million sold.
In addition, the Platinum Award was presented to three Bibles for surpassing 1 million in sales:
• The One Year Chronological Bible NLT
• Abundant Life New Testament NLT
• The One Year Bible NLT
The Gold Award to two Bibles for 500,000 sold:
• NIV Life Application Study Bible, 2nd Edition
• Hands-On Bible NLT
The Bronze Award to four Bibles for 100,000 sold:
• Inspire Bible NLT
• Abundant Life Bible NLT
• Every Man’s Bible NLT
• Teen Life Application Study Bible NLT
Louie Giglio’s “How Great is Our God” surpasses 100,000 books sold in less than seven months
Thomas Nelson has announced that “How Great is Our God,” by Louie Giglio, has surpassed more than 100,000 copies sold. How Great Is Our God is a resource for faith and science to come together in a conversation. Written for elementary-age kids, it is packed with amazing scientific facts, scriptures, beautiful photography, and cool illustrations.
Read More...
Sadie Robertson’s “Live” surpasses 100,000 sales in less than three months
Thomas Nelson announced that “Live,” by Sadie Robertson, has surpassed more than 100,000 copies sold. The book is the follow-up to her national bestseller, “Live Fearless” which has sold nearly 200,000 copies.
Read More...
Word Guild selects four IVP books and one cover design for 2020 Awards shortlist
InterVarsity Press was pleased to have four titles and one book cover selected for the 2020 Word Awards Shortlist. These honors are given out by the Word Guild each year to encourage the pursuit of excellence in writing and to help to raise the profile of Canadian writers who are Christian. The winners in each category will be announced at an online event on June 13.
Read More...
“Unsettling Truths” wins 2019 ASM Book Award for excellence in missiology
InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that “Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery” by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah won the 2019 American Society of Missiology Book Award for Excellence in Missiology.
Read More...
Media Announcements
Show off your award-winning and favorite Christian titles in #ReadGoodBooks campaign
With the announcement of the Christian Book Award® winners and in the spirit of the wider industry’s #BooksAreEssential campaign through Publishers Weekly, ECPA encourages readers, authors, and publishers to get on their social media channels with a photo of you with your favorite Christian read using #ReadGoodBooks that #FeedYourSoul.
Pictured: ECPA president Stan Jantz with his favorite 2020 read by Eugene Peterson, “A Long Obedience In The Same Direction.”
Jesus Calling Podcast welcomes Lisa Leonard
Lisa Leonard’s designs have captured the hearts of women everywhere. She recently joined the Jesus Calling podcast to discuss how she started making jewelry – initially inspired by her son David, who was born with a severe disability. She also takes the opportunity to take us through her process of restoration and how she found healing for herself and her marriage after her climb to success brought such stress and anxiety to her life – and had a major impact on her marriage. Leonard’s book “Be You: 20 Ways to Embrace Who You Really Are” is available from Zondervan.
More…
Bible Gateway interviews K.J. Ramsey, author of “This Too Shall Last”
When your prayers for healing haven’t been answered, the fog of depression isn’t lifting, your marriage is ending in divorce, or grief won’t go away, it’s easy to feel you’ve failed God and, worse, he’s failed you. If God loves us, why does he allow us to hurt? Bible Gateway interviewed K.J. Ramsey (@kjramseywrites), author of “This Too Shall Last: Finding Grace When Suffering Lingers” (Zondervan, 2020).
Bible Gateway interviews Abdu Murray, co-author of “Seeing Jesus from the East”
What are the cultural insights Westerners often miss when the Eastern context of the Bible is ignored? What were the ways Jesus taught that were thoroughly Eastern—rooted in story, honor, and community—yet appeal to Western thinking—based in reasoning and linear process—today? How does understanding Eastern idioms and customs make mysterious or seemingly confusing Bible passages understandable? In this Q&A, Abdu Murray (@AbduMurray), co-author with Ravi Zacharias (@RaviZacharias), talks about their book, “Seeing Jesus from the East: A Fresh Look at History’s Most Influential Figure” (Zondervan, 2020).
Product News
‘Biblical love is key to enduring marriage,’ says Bob Lepine, author of upcoming new book with B&H
In a culture where love is defined by pop songs and romantic comedies, it’s not surprising that many marriages don’t last, and many married couples are struggling to stay together. Bob Lepine, marriage and family expert and host of the nationally syndicated radio program “FamilyLife Today®,” gives couples a biblical understanding of genuine love in his new book, “Love Like You Mean It: The Heart of a Marriage That Honors God” (B&H Publishing, July 2020).
Read More...
Popular novelist Jon Coon returns with exciting new public safety / police diver thriller
Jon Coon has released his latest novel “Ghost River” with Iron Stream Media. Ghost River is the thrilling supernatural story of badly constructed bridges based on actual events of collapsed bridges. It follows the impact of an underwater criminal investigator whose partner is murdered and whose life is threatened when he discovers a multistate conspiracy responsible for bridge failures and several deaths.
Read More...
Other News
INDUSTRY
- Faith-Based Books Multiply on Covid-19 Crisis
- Christian Retailers Offer a Status Update Amid Covid-19
- Religion Book Deals: May 13, 2020
- April Religion Bestsellers: Books on Hope and Peace Dominate
- “Grieving Racial Violence through Lament” from Christian Book of the Year author Mark Vroegop
- Why Gideons International Is Scaling Back Bible Printing
- New Jen Hatmaker Book Tops 17K Sales in First Week
- AccessMore - from Parent Company of K-LOVE, Air1 and WTA Media – features Podcasts from Top Names in Spiritual Growth & Inspiration
- The Unite714 Global Prayer Initiative Announces Live Webcast and TV Special
- Barna webcast on May 20: Caring for Souls in a New Reality
PUBLISHING
- Print Unit Sales Post Another Double Digit Gain
- PRH Continues Digital Consumer Outreach with #BooksConnectUs Campaign
- AAP Honors Jeffrey Rosen With Its Public Service Award
- Book Revenue Fell 21% in Q1 at LSC
- In Pandemic, Dystopian Fiction Loses Its Luster for Editors
- NYT: Publishers Snap Up Corona Books, From Case Studies to Plague Poetry
- AIGA, professional association for design, announces 50 book design winners
RETAIL
- Bookstore Sales Plunged 33.4% in March
- B&N Slowly Reopening Stores to Customers
- HBG Launches Indie Bookstore Assistance Program
- Booksellers Look to Curbsides and Online Sales, Not In-Store Customers
- BISG to hold fundraiser Trivia Contest for BINC to support booksellers
- Bloomberg: Bookstore Browsing Can’t Become a Victim of Coronavirus
- German Bookstores Rebound After Reopening
