Ten years into its run of honoring the best in Christian fiction, the Christy Awards, held as a pre-ICRS event Saturday evening, continue to evolve to maximize its exposure and reception.

Nine awards were handed out in a variety of genres. Winners included Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky (The WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group) for Contemporary Romance; You Had Me at Good-Bye by Tracey Bateman (FaithWords) for Contemporary Series, Sequels and Novellas; Dogwood by Chris Fabry (Tyndale House Publishers) for Contemporary Standalone; Blue Hole Back Home by Joy Jordan-Lake (David C. Cook) for First Novel; Until We Reach Home by Lynn Austin (Bethany House Publishers/Baker Publishing Group) for Historical; From a Distance by Tamera Alexander (Bethany House Publishers/Baker Publishing Group) for Historical Romance; The Rook by Steven James (Revell/Baker Publishing Group) for Suspense; Vanish by Tom Pawlik (Tyndale House Publishers) for Visionary; and I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires by Cathy Gohlke (Moody Publishers) for Young Adult.

Donna Kehoe, executive director, explained the downsizing of the event from a dinner to a dessert reception by pointing out that less than a month before the awards, only 35 had registered.

"We had Kindle desires on a used-paperback budget," she said. Downsizing the awards helped keep the crowd "at almost the same" number of attendees at 160, she said. In her opening remarks, Kehoe also said the number of submissions had been reduced, with this year's numbers at nearly 140.

Emcee Susan Brouwer opened the evening, pointing out the popularity of Christian fiction as noted by general market media attention and the growth of new genres. The keynote was delivered by Richard J. Foster, co-author of Longing for God (IVP Books/InterVarsity Press), whose comments centered on "The Spiritual Disciplines of a Writer."

Kehoe announced at the awards that the Christys' board of directors would be meeting  Sunday to discuss the future of the event and welcomed input from publishers.

"We are working on ways to keep (the awards) meaningful," she told Christian Retailing. "We're open to ideas."

This year, in keeping with new technologies, the first-ever live blog event was conducted, bringing in 209 additional participants. Another change included the division of romance into the contemporary and historical categories and dropping the "Lits" category. Kehoe said Lits was a "genre whose time had come and gone."

In a pre-ICRS event, New Hope Publishers was named Publisher of the Year at the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) 2009 Golden Scroll Awards for Publisher, Editor, Fiction Editor and Member of the Year as well as its Lifetime Achievement Award, Sunday afternoon at the Denver Athletic Club in Denver.

The Golden Scroll Awards go to editors and publishing houses best demonstrating outstanding ministry partnerships with their authors. Approximately 90 were in attendance at the awards event.

The Editor of the Year Award went to David Kopp of The Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group, and the Fiction Editor of the Year Award was presented to Jan Stob of Tyndale House Publishers.

Thelma Wells, known best for speaking at Women of Faith Events, received the Golden Scroll Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Carol Kent and Pam Farrel. "Thelma is the real deal, a Christian author who lives out her love for the Lord in a way that inspires and transforms her readers, audiences and friends," Linda Evans Shepherd, AWSA founder, said.

The Member of the Year Award was presented to Annetta E. Dellinger, who was honored for "her encouragement, enthusiasm and helpful spirit," Shepherd said.

AWSA awarded a special "Thank You" award to author and Internet marketing expert Michele Washam, for her development and design of the AWSA Web site, www.AWSA.com.

Jennifer Kennedy Dean keynoted the banquet with author Connie Cavanaugh as the emcee. Gail Hayes presented the special music, including a parody written by humorist Martha Bolton.

Members of AWSA, an outreach of Right to the Heart Ministries, number more than 300 top Christian women authors who publish and speak nationally.

IBS-STL is launching a new identity, including a new name-Biblica-to reflect its expanding vision and focus for transforming lives through God's Word. The new name is part of a re-branding process that began with the merger of the International Bible Society (IBS) and Send the Light (STL) in 2007.

Keith Danby, global president and CEO of Biblica, said the new name was born out of 18 months of planning and developing a vision for the organization's third century of ministry. "Because the Bible is central to our ministry purpose, we felt it was essential to expressly mention it as being the heart of our organization-in our name, our mission, our vision and our values," he said. "The name Biblica clearly reflects an emphasis on the Bible, and it communicates our focus on helping transform lives through the power of God's Word."

"This year we're celebrating our 200th anniversary, and we see that as a springboard to a new era of Bible ministry," Danby added. "We believe Biblica-the name and the organization-are well-positioned to engage and evangelize people and to help equip the global church with biblical resources."

Re-branding includes a new name, a new logo and key messaging: "Transforming lives through God's Word." The re-branding process will be phased to ensure a seamless transition for all of Biblica's ministries and partners.

After Search for Samson's Hairbrush, the best-selling DVDs were: 2. The Best of The Crabb Family by The Crabb Family (Spring Hill Music Group/EMI CMG); 3. The Climb; 4. Fireproof (Provident Films/Provident-Integrity Distribution); 5. Flywheel (Provident Films/Provident-Integrity); 6. Faith Like Potatoes (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment/Provident-Integrity); 7. The Retrievers (GT Media/EMI CMG); 8. Hermie the Common Caterpillar, Hermie & Friends (Thomas Nelson/Thomas Nelson); 9. Left Behind Trilogy, DVD Collection (Cloud Ten Pictures/E1 Entertainment Distribution); and 10. The Second Chance (Provident Films/Provident-Integrity).

Following Jason Crabb were: 2. Portable Sounds; 3. Gospel Truth Presents Gospel Mix Vol. III by various artists (Worldwide Music/E1 Entertainment Distribution); 4. Over and Underneath by Tenth Avenue North (Reunion Records/Provident-Integrity); 5. A Cross the Earth: Tear Down the Walls by Hillsong United (Integrity Music/Provident-Integrity); 6. Hello Love by Chris Tomlin (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG); 7. Wow Hits 2009 by various artists (Wow Gospel/Provident-Integrity); 8. My Paper Heart by Francesca Battistelli (Fervent Records/Word); 9. In the Hands of God by Newsboys (Inpop Records/EMI CMG); and 10. Ending Is Beginning by Downhere (Centricity Records/Word).

The video listings, drawn from a national sample of mainstream and Christian store sales, with music listings based on sales solely at Christian stores, were produced for the Christian Music Trade Association by Nielsen SoundScan.

The GoBible Traveler is a lightweight, hand-held portable device preloaded with the entire audio version of the Bible, featuring more than 70 hours of material. The GoBible Traveler is offered in English in either the King James Version--narrated by Alexander Scourby--or the New International Version, read by Charles Taylor.