The move is part of the newly formed eC Publishing Group, consisting of eChristian's two current audio imprints—Christianaudio and Mission Audio.

Company co-founder and President Cory Verner said that publishing books was "a natural extension" for the company. "We are book lovers who in the past have only focused on audio," he said. "Now, we will add this new publishing effort and take the company several steps further in content development and marketing."

EC Publishing Group will be headed by Christian publishing veteran Dan Balow, who joined eChristian a year ago and will serve as publisher for both the audio and print divisions at the company's Wheaton, Ill., office.

"Is this the right time for a new publishing model?" Balow asked. "We think so. With all the changing realities of publishing, it seems like the entire industry is on shifting sand. It is much easier to start a new company with a future mindset."

The first titles of eChristianBooks and Mission Books will come out in the fall with a variety of nonfiction and fiction books available in both print and digital versions. Titles will include eChristianBooks' The Disciplines of the Christian Life by Eric Liddell—the Olympic runner who was depicted in the 1981 Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire—and Mission Books' The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the 19th-century Russian writer.

Christianaudio began in 2004, with the company changing its name earlier this year and launching eChristian.com—an e-book and digital retailing site. Earlier this year, in April, eChristian signed an agreement with digital marketing services company Innovative to make e-book downloads available for Christian stores.

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