Thomas Nelson’s Design MultiMedia group won a silver ADDY®award at the 2010-2011 National ADDY® Awards for advertising excellence for the book cover for The Revolve Devotional Bible (art director, Mark Cowden; designer: Emily Keafer). The awards ceremony in San Diego on June 4 was part of ADMERICA!, the national conference of the American Advertising Federation the federation’s national advertising conference. In other news at Thomas Nelson, Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir…Of Sorts by Ian Morgan Cron has been selected as a featured title in the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers program.
Self-Realization Fellowship was awarded first prize in the “Best Religious Book” and “Best Spiritual/New Age Book” categories for its Spanish-language edition of the Bhagavad Gita by Latino Literacy Now at its 13th Annual International Latino Book Awards (ILBA) ceremony held at BookExpo America in New York in May. El Yoga del Bhagavad Guita - Una introducción a la ciencia universal de la unión con Dios originaria de la India by Paramahansa Yogananda was recognized by the organization as a positive contribution to the world of Latino literature, according to SRF. First published in English in 2007, the book offers “step-by-step guidelines to yoga meditation and right action toward a higher consciousness” using the classic Indian text. SRF is the official publisher of Yogananda’s work, including the seminal Autobiography of a Yogi.
Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA) has announced a new book review program for bloggers called BookCrash. BookCrash offers free review copies of new books from small Christian publishers to bloggers who post reviews. In a statement, Sarah Bolme, director of CSPA,said, “We chose the name BookCrash because, once in a while, a good book crashes into your life and changes your world. We believe that Christian small publishers have those types of books for readers.” Any blogger with a regular following can sign up for the program. Bloggers are asked to write “a fair review” and post it on their blog and one other consumer book site.
Inner Traditions/Healing Arts reports selling 400 copies of Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Lifethrough Barnes & Noble alone the week of June 20. Author Nora Gedgaudas was on the Coast to Coast radio show to talk about the book, which reached as high as number 8 on Amazon's top 100 and was number 1 in the health/nutrition category for a few days. Said sales and marketing director John Hays, “Amazon has orders for over 2,900 copies since May 27 and shipped 2,174 copies before they ran out of stock. They will receive their re-order shipments this week." Mind-body-spirit publisher Inner Traditions sold through a first print run of 7,800 units in three weeks, a 10,000 copy reprint is due off press July 7.
CBA, the Association for Christian Retail, and On Demand Books, the company behind the Espresso Book Machine® (EBM), have inked an agreement to market the EBM to CBA members and encourage Christian publishers to make their books available for POD on the system. An Espresso Book Machine will be showcased at the International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta July 10–13. According to CBA, “The patented EBM and its EspressNet® software systems link to a network of content enabling the instant distribution of books on demand at point of sale. With the push of a button, the technology prints, binds, and trims a bookstore-quality, perfect-bound paperback book, in any language, with a full-color cover, in minutes. It is an environmentally friendly technology since it eliminates shipping, returns, and the pulping of unwanted books.”
Zondervan’s Dancing with Max has been chosen as winner of the 2011 Outstanding Literary Work Award in the Family/Social Division by the National Autism Society. The award “is given to a book that has made a significant contribution to the autism community,” according to Zondervan. Dancing with Max (2010) is Emily Colson’s account of life with her autistic child; her father, Chuck Colson, wrote the prologue and epilogue. The award will be presented at the National Autism Society Conference on July 8, 2011, in Orlando, Fl.
Robert L. Kregel, former president of Kregel Inc., died on June 24, 2011, at the age of 92. At the age of 20, after his father died in 1939, Robert Kregel took over the family used-book business and expanded the Grand Rapids, Mich., company into a publishing house and bookstore chain. Kregel Inc. now includes Kregel Publications, Editorial Portavoz (a Spanish-language imprint), Kregel Parable Christian Stores, and the former Kregel Used Books. In a statement, current Kregel, Inc. president Jim Kregel said, "My dad loved connecting people with books. He loved books, and he loved sharing them with others.” Robert Kregel was a founding member of the Christian Booksellers Association (now CBA) and served a two-year term as the association's president. He was active in local nonprofits and received numerous awards and commendations, including the the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. In 2004, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary awarded Robert Kregel an honorary doctorate of letters.
