May 8, 2017 Edition
Industry News
ECPA presents Dr. Melvin E. Banks, Sr. with the Kenneth N. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award
On behalf of the Christian publishing industry, the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) presented its inaugural Kenneth N. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Melvin E. Banks, Sr., founder and chairman of UMI (Urban Ministries, Inc.), on May 2nd at the ECPA Awards Celebration in Colorado Springs, among 150 Christian publishing leaders and industry professionals. Dr. Banks was recognized for his crucial contributions to contextualize the Gospel to the African American community. Recognizing the dominance of Eurocentric images and ideas in Christian publishing, Dr. Banks identified the unique opportunity to serve African Americans and people of African descent with relevant, contextual resources. He founded UMI to further this idea of an African American Christian publishing house that would uniquely serve this audience. Under Dr. Banks’ direction, UMI has grown to be a leading publisher of Christian education and other resources for churches in the African American community and throughout the world.
View tribute video of Dr. Banks legacy
Harrison House CEO acquires multiple Family Christian stores
Christian Retailing — Harrison House President and CEO Troy Wormell and his wife, Joyce Wormell, announced in April the acquisition of 15 Family Christian Stores location. The new chain of Christian retail stores has the working name of Empowered Life Christian Books & Gifts. The stores are in well-established locations in states across the U.S., including New Jersey, Arizona, Illinois and Florida. The headquarters, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will serve as the stores’ distribution center.
HarperCollins Christian Publishing expands its focus on Spanish Bible Publishing
HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP) announced today a specific initiative to expand its efforts in Spanish Bible publishing. To lead the Spanish Bible initiative, the company has promoted David Coyotl to associate publisher for Spanish Bibles, and will dedicate additional personnel to help drive the program forward.
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Bookmasters welcomes new director of publisher services
Larisa Elt has been named director of publisher services at Bookmasters, one of the largest providers of customized book publishing services in the United States. Elt will lead efforts to service and sell Bookmasters and Baker & Taylor supply chain services with an emphasis on print-on-demand (POD) and third party distribution services.
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Tough year for indie Christian stores, but good news reported on the horizon
Despite a tough 2016 for Christian stores and the recent demise of a major Christian-store chain, there is good news on the horizon for Christian-product providers, according to the 2017 CBA State of the Industry Report, available this week. The Conference Board, a New York-based public interest business association, reported key Christian-store customer segments will grow as a percentage of the population, have more disposable income, and could boost print-book sales by $2 billion during the next eight years.
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Milestones
ECPA Announces the Winners of the 2017 Christian Book Awards®
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) announced last night the winners of the 2017 Christian Book Awards® in 11 categories and the 2017 Christian Book of the Year®. The winning titles represent the best Christian book and Bible releases of the year. The 2017 Christian Book of the Year went to New York Times bestseller SHAKEN: Discovering your true identity in the midst of life’s storms (WaterBrook) by Tim Tebow, Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion. Other winning titles include: daily devotional A Spectacle of Glory by Joni Eareckson Tada (Zondervan) — who has written 50 books since her accident 50 years ago — and memoir Courageous Faith (Howard Books) by Charles Stanley, whose InTouch Ministries celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
HarperCollins Christian Publishing receives eight awards at 2017 ECPA Leadership Summit
HarperCollins Christian Publishing announced today the company’s two publishing groups, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, were given three 2017 Christian Book Awards®, cumulatively, as well as one Platinum and four Gold Awards for sales achievement. At this year’s conference, held in Colorado Springs, CO, both Thomas Nelson and Zondervan were also recognized at the ECPA Awards Celebration on Tuesday evening, May 2, 2017, for accomplishing two major sales milestone achievements.
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Baker Publishing Group title wins Christian Book Award®
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association recently announced the winners of the 2017 Christian Book Awards® during their Leadership Summit in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This award recognizes the highest quality in Christian books and Bibles and is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in Christian publishing. "75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know" by Terry Glaspey won in the Faith & Culture category.
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Cindy Woodsmall honored with Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Inspirational Fiction
Romantic Times Book Reviews has honored author Cindy Woodsmall with the 2016 Career Achievement for Inspirational Fiction. The Awards Ceremony took place on Friday, May 5 at the 2017 RT Booklovers Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. Woodsmall’s most recent novel, Fraying at the Edge, was also a nominee for the Reviewer’s Choice Inspirational Novel of 2016.
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Media Announcements
Churches across America to immerse in Scripture this Fall
Tyndale House Publishers announces Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience, ™ a bold new campaign to help communities of believers truly know and understand the Bible. Participants will use Immerse: The Reading Bible,™ a new six-volume reading Bible developed by the Institute for Bible Reading and Tyndale. This innovative new Bible features today’s most readable Bible translation, the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Each of the six volumes provides the base for an eight- week reading experience.
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Bible Gateway interviews Anne Graham Lotz, author of "The Daniel Prayer"
What is the secret to the revival of the church? To spiritual restoration? How can you renew your own relationship with God? How did the ancient prayer of Daniel move heaven and change a nation? Bible Gateway interviewed Anne Graham Lotz (@AGLotz), the National Day of Prayer Task Force chairman, about her book, The Daniel Prayer: Prayer That Moves Heaven and Changes Nations (Zondervan, 2016).
Bible Gateway interviews Mark Reddy, executive director of the JUSTICE conference, sponsored by NIV God's Justice: The Holy Bible
The annual JUSTICE Conference (@thejusticeconf), sponsored by NIV God’s Justice: The Holy Bible (Zondervan, 2016), rests on the belief that “true life is found when we give our lives away on behalf of others.” The motivation of the conference is a “theology of justice”—the idea that an understanding of God should compel love for others and engagement in social justice issues. Bible Gateway interviewed Mark Reddy (@markreddy1), executive director of the JUSTICE Conference.
Product News
Will Smith writes foreword for memoir by Dr. Bennet Omalu
Will Smith pens the foreword for Truth Doesn’t Have a Side: My Alarming Discovery About the Danger of Contact Sports by Dr. Bennet Omalu (Zondervan,August 8, 2017, 9780310351962). Smith played Dr. Omalu in the major motion picture Concussion and writes how a Nigerian-born forensic pathologist taught him what it means to be an American.
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Study Guide and DVD now available for bestselling Tactics by master apologist Gregory Koukl
Since its release in 2009, Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by apologist and radio host Gregory Koukl has engendered a devoted following and has sold over 100,000 copies. Now Zondervan has partnered with Koukl to create the Tactics Study Guide with DVD (on sale May 9).
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Other News
INDUSTRY
- PW: Tim Tebow Wins Christian Book of the Year Award
- Guideposts Names John F. Temple III President and CEO
- CBA’s inaugural Global Market News & Trends bi-annual report now available
- Author, speaker, and minister to open Words of Wisdom Bookstore near Nashville
- 2016 RT Reviewers’ Award winners announced
- The Word Guild Releases Short List for The Word Awards, honoring the best of Canadian Christian writing
- Steven Curtis Chapman performs at White House during National Day of Prayer ceremony
PUBLISHING
- NPD: Online channels account for about 40% of U.S.book purchases in 2016
- HarperCollins Launches Literacy Campaign #WhyIRead
- Amazon Publishing Launches New Author Portal
- TNG Acquires Ingram Periodicals LLC's Magazine Sales and Distribution Business
- 5 Tips for Using Swag to Bond with Readers And Increase Book Sales
- 5 Easy Steps to Create Captivating Book Titles
- New Aura H2O Waterproof E-Reader Coming from Kobo
- Ebooks aren't dying but their quest to dominate the reading world has hit a speed bump
- E-reader Sales Slack as Paper Books Reclaim Market Share
- Amazon Books to Open in Georgetown in D.C.
- NYC bookstores are making a comeback
INTERNATIONAL
- European Commission Makes Amazon Antitrust Commitments Official
- INTERQUEST Announces 2017 London Digital Book Printing Forum
- Children's fiction helped drive UK book sales to a record £3.5bn last year
- Children's Books in China 2017: An Overview of the Children’s Book Market in China
- Readers In China Prefer Reading E-Books More Than Ever
- IPO and WIPO launch global publishing industry survey
