Pain/Faith Intersection to NavPress
Jevon Bolden of Embolden Media Group has negotiated a world rights deal with Deborah Gonzalez at NavPress, for Dominique Young’s tentatively titled God, Where are You? The book invites readers to journey through the intersection of faith and pain to discover God’s presence even in in life’s most agonizing moments. Young is the visionary behind Faith Moms, a community of over 6,000 Christian women she encourages to forge deep connections with God. A spring 2026 release is planned.
Shame Addressed in IVP Title
Cindy Bunch, v-p of IVP editorial, has signed a world-rights contract with Toni Huang Kim, who is unagented, for Shame Unshackled. “Through Scripture, stories and spiritual practices and conversations, readers will experience God’s love in redemptive ways,” according to the author. Kim is director of spiritual care for the National Association of Evangelicals The book is scheduled for spring 2026 release.
Evangelical Brand History to Brazos
Brazos Press senior acquisitions editor Anna Moseley Gissing has acquired world rights to the unagented Brand Evangelicals by Joey Cochran, a visiting assistant professor at Wheaton College and fellow at the Center for Pastor Theologians. The tentatively titled book, to release in summer 2026, offers a history of the development of evangelicalism as a brand and when people began to identify themselves as such.
IVP Signs Cross-Culture Expert
Kristen Terrette of Martin Literary & Media Management has negotiated world rights with Cindy Bunch, IVP Editorial/Associate Publisher, Trade, for the tentatively titled Dim Sum on Sundays by Jenn Suen Chen. The author is a speaker and leader in the spiritual formation and cross-cultural ministry arena. Her book invites readers to discover God in the midst of their culturally specific stories. A spring 2026 release is planned.
Chosen Signs Influencer, Speaker
Kim Bangs, editorial director at Chosen Books, has taken world rights via Jevon Bolden of Embolden Media Group to It Will Be God: Live in the Out-of-the-Blue, Jaw-Dropping Realities of God’s Goodness by Sophia Ruffin Wilson. Wilson—speaker, author, and influencer—shows readers through biblical exposition and narrative that while current challenges may make a case against them, victory is the only option. A September 2025 release is planned.
Picture Books to Paraclete
Paraclete Press, via publishing director Lillian Miao, has taken world rights to God of Wonders by Dominique Okonkwo, an IT professional and storyteller for children. Jevon Bolden of Embolden Media Group negotiated the deal. The picture book for ages 4-8 takes young readers on a beach adventure, merging the beauty of God’s creation with scientific wonders. An April 2026 release is planned.
In a second deal, Paraclete’s director Lillian Miao has acquired world rights to Barnaby The Runaway Sheep by Maria Antonia and illustrated by Sayani Mukherjee, a picture book for ages 3-6, in which a young sheep named Barnaby runs away to avoid getting sheared and must learn to trust his shepherds. Publication is set for March 2025. Stephanie Cardel at Lighthouse Literary represented the author and Alex Bushell at The Plum Agency represented the illustrator.
Bread for the World Author Signs with IVP
Donna Barber, executive director and cofounder of The Voices Project and author of Bread for the Resistance, has signed a world rights contract with Al Hsu at IVP for her second IVP book, tentatively titled Living on Manna. Barber was unagented in the deal. IVP said the book is "a devotional designed to provoke the reader to pursue again the God they first knew while navigating the present and sometimes frustrating space between the church that was and the one that is not yet." A fall 2025 release is planned.
