The Association of Catholic Publishers (ACP) has announced the winners of its Lifetime Achievement and Outstanding Service Awards for 2012. Mary Prete, v-p of parish services of World Library Publications and Lauretta Santarossa, retiring director of sales and marketing for Novalis are being recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards “for the many years of dedication to working professionally in the Catholic book publishing industry and their significant accomplishments that have advanced the industry,” according to ACP. Jill Adamson, books marketing director for Our Sunday Visitor, is receiving the Outstanding Service Award for her service as an ACP board member during its reorganization, and for her work in the Catholic publishing industry during more than 20 years at OSV. The Outstanding Service Award is not presented annually, but “only when the board of directors identifies an individual whose contribution to Catholic publishing warrants recognition.” The awards will be presented at the 2012 Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit in St. Charles, Ill., May 29-31.
Swedenborg Foundation Press’s Tiffany’s Swedenborgian Angels: Stained Glass Windows Representing the Seven Churches from the Book of Revelation pictures seven stained glass windows created by Louis Comfort Tiffany for a Swedenborgian church in Cincinnati more than 100 years ago. The church was destroyed in 1964, but the windows were saved and are now part of a traveling exhibit called “In Company with Angels: Seven Rediscovered Tiffany Windows.” The windows and book were featured last summer at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati; they are now featured at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno (February 11-May 20). The book includes 85 color photographs in an oversized paperback with French flaps.
Baker Publishing Group has announced that Tim Peterson, marketing director for Bethany House nonfiction and Chosen Books for the past nine years, has been appointed acquisitions editor for nonfiction books. Carra Carr, a member of the marketing team since 2006, is being promoted to marketing manager for Bethany House nonfiction and Chosen Books. Both personnel changes are effective immediately. Chosen Books and Bethany House are divisions of Baker Publishing Group.
Moody Publishers has a launched a blogger review program as part of a redesign of its online newsroom. Moody tells RBL the review program is a response to increased requests for blogger review copies and to site users’ expressed desire for regular book reviews. Stated site administrator Andrew Allen, “We set up a very nice and simple process for users to request books, eliminating the need to send lengthy e-mails.” It should also improve efficiency and shipping times for Moody, he added. The revamped newsroom itself will be a resource for media as well, through tracking book requests and reviews. Bloggers’ reviews will be posted on the site and might be featured on the Inside Pages blog.
The Episcopal Church Office of Communication also has launched a reviews program for its Sermons That Work site, “a lectionary-based preaching resource for lay and ordained preachers and worship leaders.” The focus will be on Episcopal or Anglican titles, as well as any books on preaching, church leadership and growth, and pastoral care. Sermons That Work offers archives of material on lectionary-based research projects, sermons, presentations and small groups. It is part of the Episcopal Digital Network, an ad-supported media network operated by the Episcopal Church with125,000 monthly page views, 33,147 unique monthly visitors, and 11,000 opt-in e-newsletter subscribers. Review copies should be sent to Sarah Johnson at Episcopal Church headquarters in New York.
Tommy Nelson’s Read and Share®brand has sold one million units worldwide, the company announced this month. Since the release of the Read and Share® Biblein 2007, Bible content in this line for children has been published as Bible story books, DVDs, CDs, and apps for mobile devices. The new Read and Share® Bedtime Bible and Devotional, a hardcover book, will release October 2012.
The Jewish Book Council has announced the winner of the 2012 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, which “recognizes the important role of emerging writers in examining the Jewish experience.” The award of $100,000, one of the largest literary prizes in the world, has been given annually since 2007 and considers works of fiction and non-fiction in alternating years. The 2012 winner for non-fiction is Gal Beckerman for When They Come for Us We’ll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt); the runner-up, for a $25,000 prize, is Abigail Green, for her biography, Moses Montefiore: Jewish Liberator, Imperial Hero(Harvard/Belknap). Beckerman and Green will be honored at a gala awards ceremony in Jerusalem on April 11, 2012. The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literaturewas established in 2006 by the family of Sami Rohr with the Jewish Book Council. For more information about the award and the Sami Rohr Jewish Literary Institute, and to see a list of previous winners, go to www.JewishBookCouncil.org
Abingdon has added new features and improved functionality to its church resource Web site Ministry Matters. Starting February 15, the site began offering introductory subscription pricing for pastors, worship planners, and Christian educators. Many premium resources now will be available exclusively by subscription for $14.99 a month or $149 annually. Ministry Matters will continue to add free content to the site, with premium subscribers having unlimited access to Ministry Matters exclusive digital library, which currently includes New Interpreter’s Bible and related resources, as well lectionary materials and a variety pastoral resources. Launched last spring, Ministry Matters has more than 203,000 unique visitors to date and over 9,000 subscribers to its weekly e-mail blast. Abingdon has also announced that due to strong early orders and positive reviews, it has gone back to press for the novel The Dog That Talked To God in advance of its publication in March. Abingdon plans to ramp up advertising and promotion for the title.
American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) has created ACFW Journal, a full-color print magazine launching in April, with Michael Ehret as editor. In a statement Ehret said the magazine would be “a tool [readers] can use to improve their writing, enhance their marketing efforts, and deepen their knowledge about the industry.” The ACFW Journal will be published quarterly and distributed to more than 3,000 Christian fiction authors, aspiring writers, editors, agents, publicists, readers, and industry professionals. The publication is accepting articles, features, and other submissions from authors, making it “a magazine for writers, written by writers.” The 2012 ACFW Conference will be held September 20-23 in Dallas. Learn more about the annual conference, as well as the Genesis and Carol Awards, visit www.acfw.com/conference.
InterVarsity Press authors Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom have received the 2012 John Pollock Award for Christian Biography for Clouds of Witnesses: Christian Voices from Africa and Asia. “Over half of all Christians now live outside the West,” stated Andy Le Peau, associate publisher for editorial at IVP. Clouds of Witnesses tells the stories of seventeen key Christian leaders from Africa and Asia. The Pollock Award, named for Christian biographer John C. Pollock, is presented annually by Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. The award will be presented to Noll and Nystrom at Beeson on April 3; Noll also will speak that day as part of Beeson’s World Christianity Focus week.
The Munce Marketing Group’s www.munce.com Christian Products Expo, held January 29-31 in Lancaster, Penn., brought together 219 retailers, 128 vendors, and 23 artists and authors at the Lancaster Marriott and Convention Center, a new location for the show. Retailers were offered workshops and sessions on such topics as growth strategies for independent Christian stores and social networking. There were also publisher presentations and training sessions on Bookstore Manager software. CPE is free to retailers and has a reimbursement program for expenses, based on buying at the show.
Crossway author John Piper (Bloodlines: Race, Cross and the Christian, 2011) will speak at “Race & The Christian: An Evening with John Piper and Tim Keller” hosted by Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 28 and held at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Keller wrote the foreword to Bloodlines, which urges racial reconciliation through a biblical worldview. “Conservative evangelicals seem to have become indifferent to the sin of racism,” stated Keller. Piper writes in Bloodlines, “The good news is that racial justice and reconciliation are possible.” Piper’s and Keller’s addresses will be followed by a Q&A streamed live at 7:00 p.m. EST at www.desiringgod.org/live. Crossway also has launched The Explicit Gospel Tour: An Evening with Matt Chandler and Worship by Shane and Shane. In conjunction with the release of Chandler’s debut book, The Explicit Gospel, he will tour to seven locations in the East from April 16-21. Chandler is lead pastor of The Village Church, a congregation of over 10,000 in Dallas.
WaterBrook Multnomah author Gabe Lyons is
launching a campaign to help churches use ideas from his book, The Next Christians, to work locally for cultural change instead of engaging in ideological culture wars. His organization, Qideas.org is holding a in Washington, D.C., April 10-12, for religious and political leaders and experts to address the issues challenging Americans in this election year. Speakers will include David Brooks, Andy Crouch, Roberta Ahmanson, Miroslav Volf, Jonathan Merritt, and Ed Stetzer, as well as major political figures. The church campaign, which launches April 18, will offer a six-week program for some of the largest churches in the country; Qideas.org will guide them in planning and in using educational materials such as sermon aids and discussion group resources.
