Barbour Publishing has announced that its bestselling author of Amish fiction, Wanda E. Brunstetter, has sold more than one million books in each of the past two years. Her lifetime sales have now exceeded 8 million copies. In other news at Barbour, the press is partnering with Back to the Bible to create the new goTandem line of books--devotionals and Christian living titles designed for church and small group study--the first, Growing in Christ by Arnie Cole and Michael Ross, releases in November. Four more titles—on dating and abstinence; family finances; overcoming suffering; and dealing with worry--release in February 2015. According to Mary Burns, v-p of marketing, “The goal of goTandem is to provide quality nonfiction resources developed specifically for churches. We anticipate that church bulk sales will be a large part of the sales mix.” She added that Barbour is “developing programs to work with Christian bookstores so they can reach out and supply their local churches.” GoTandem books will be available through all sales channels and from distributors; plans are to publish 12 books per year. The goTandem mobile app also is now available for devotional use.
HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP) is taking over direct and trade sales in the U.S. and Canada of Biblica’s low-cost outreach Bibles. Zondervan’s Bible division has partnered with Biblica in marketing and development of NIV translation Bible products for more than 40 years, according to Scott Bolinder, executive v-p of Biblica, which was formerly known as the International Bible Society. Biblica translates and publishes Bibles in more 100 languages; the low-cost Bibles are sold in bulk to be used by churches and ministries around the world. In a statement, HCCP said, “The two companies will immediately enter into a transitional period that is expected to be finalized by the end of the calendar year. Biblica and HCCP hope to provide a seamless integration for its customers.”
