Christian publishing veteran Dan Balow has been appointed vice president of business development and publisher of Barbour Publishing. Balow, who previously served as publisher of eChristian, will report to Executive Vice President George Kourkounakis.

Balow will be responsible for "generating new and sustainable revenue streams to achieve projected sales growth, acquisitions and product development for all book and media products, and instrumental in long-term publishing plans and strategy development, company officials said.

"His skill set aligns perfectly with Barbour's mission statement and his strong publishing background will provide the vision to grow both print and e-books," Kourkounakis said.

Balow joined Carol Stream, Ill.-based Oasis Audio in 2006 after 14 years with Tyndale House Publishers, where he held positions in marketing, sales and international rights and licensing. He resigned from Oasis in June 2010 and joined eChristian later that year.

Oxford University Press books has topped the Christianity Today Book Awards, the magazine announced.

Sixty-eight publishers nominated 455 titles published last year for the publication's annual list of best books. Christianity Today selected the top books in each category, with panels of judges then choosing 10 winners and selecting nine awards of merit.

Oxford University Press was recognized three times, with awards in the Apologetics/Evangelism category for Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism by Alvin Plantinga; the Missions/Global Affairs category for Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation by Daniel Philpott; and the Theology/Ethics category for The Theology of Jonathan Edwards by Michael J. McClymond and Gerald R. McDermott.

Other winners in the 24th annual listing were: A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New by G. K. Beale (Baker Academic/Baker Publishing Group) in Biblical Studies; Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics by Ross Douthat (Free Press) in Christianity and Culture; Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good by Amy L. Sherman (InterVarsity Press) in Christian Living; Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry In Your City by Timothy Keller (Zondervan) in Church/Pastoral Leadership; Evangellyfish by Douglas Wilson (Canon Press) in Fiction; Summoned from the Margin: Homecoming of an African by Lamin Sanneh in History/Biography; and Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren F. Winner (HarperOne) in Spirituality.

Berean Christian Stores has contracted for a chain-wide operating systems upgrade for improved business performance and store growth.

"We are making a very significant investment in replacing all of our current operating systems, including store P.O.S. systems, home office merchandise system and financial operating systems, as we see this as a foundational part of our strategic plans to grow our ministry and business as we serve both today's and tomorrow's customer," said Bill Nielsen, chief operating officer of Berean.

Berean has selected Radiant/Counterpoint and Great Plains as its software providers for the project, which is due for completion in March.

"The project will enable us to look at store growth in the summer and fall of 2013," Nielsen said. "In addition to opening additional stores, we will also be relocating some of our stores to ensure we are in the optimum location to reach our customers."

Berean's first relocation will be its Temecula, Calif., store.

"California is a strong market for us and we are in the process of finalizing a new location for this store," Nielsen said. "The current [shopping] center we are in recently went into receivership, so we are being forced to move out on Jan. 30, which is sooner than we had hoped.

"Unfortunately, this means this store will be closed for a month or two before it can re-open in its new location," he added. "By the end of 2013, we anticipate having a net single-digit increase in the number of stores in our chain."

Based in Cincinnati, the 18-outlet chain—which dates back to 1934—joined Covenant Group last June, increasing the country's second-largest independent Christian chain's membership by approximately 50%.

Canada’s regional Blessings chain based in Chilliwack, British Columbia, is offering its “Cash for Clunkers” promotion for the third straight year, allowing shoppers to trade in their old CDs and DVDs for $4 toward new ones in stock valued at $14.99 or more. 

Mark Hutchinson, president of Blessings, said the promotion has “gone well” in the past. Charities also get a boost from the promotion.

Arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby and sister retailer Mardel do not plan to carry insurance that covers abortion pills, said an attorney for the Green family, who owns the Oklahoma-based companies.

“Hobby Lobby will continue their appeal before the Tenth Circuit,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel, in a statement on the website for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “The Supreme Court merely decided not to get involved in the case at this time. It left open the possibility of review after their appeal is completed in the Tenth Circuit. The company will continue to provide health insurance to all qualified employees. To remain true to their faith, it is not their intention, as a company, to pay for abortion-inducing drugs.”

Nominating the top books, Bibles, gifts, music, DVDs and more

Christian Retailing is restyling its award honoring what are deemed to be the best products in the Christian market. Formerly known as the Retailers Choice Awards, this year’s awards program has been rebranded as “Christian Retailing’s Best.”

Introduced in 2001, Christian Retailing’s awards have been increasingly acknowledged as an important way of recognizing some of the most significant new, life-changing products in the industry.

NOMINATION DEADLINE

Suppliers are asked to enter what they consider to be their best releases of the prior year in more than 50 categories of books, Bibles, gifts, music, DVDs and more. The nomination period runs Jan. 2, 2013, to Feb. 15, 2013, but if products are entered by Jan. 25, companies will save with the Early Bird option (for every five paid nominations, get one free).

This year’s nomination fee is raised slightly to just $60 per item entered, but suppliers will save as they are no longer required to supply their physical products.

The 2013 winners will be announced in June at the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis.

MORE CATEGORIES

A number of new categories have been added, including Games/Toys and Seasonal/Holiday gifts and Fiction: Amish and Fiction: Biblical books. The youth book category has been split into two, Young Adult Fiction and Young Adult Nonfiction.

OFFICIAL RULES

Products nominated for the 2013 awards must have been published or newly on sale in stores in 2012, with the exception of nominations in the Backlist category. 

Nominations must include clear Christian content, message or worldview. In the Gift category, “inspirational” items not specifically Christian will be considered, although those contrary to orthodox Christianity will not be included. Entry fees for products not accepted will be refunded.

Nomination fee is $60 per item. Those nominating (authors, public relations firms, publishers and other suppliers) may take advantage of the Early Bird discount. 

Each nomination is to be entered in one category only. All Spanish-language products are to be entered in the Spanish category. All audio products (books, Bibles, drama) are to be entered under Audio. 

We reserve the right to revise or eliminate categories. If less than five products are entered in one category, suppliers will be contacted to move their products and the category will be closed.

New this year: Along with Christian retailers, others who work in the industry are invited to vote, including authors, publishers, literary agents, gift company employees and book packagers. Voting is not open to the general public. Nominating companies shall not canvass for votes.

Voting will take place using an online ballot. Products are to be judged on their impact, including their ability to speak to people’s hearts and evoke emotion; open people’s minds to new ways of thinking; and encourage and affirm Christ-like living.  

Results will be verified by an independent firm of certified public accountants.

For more information, e-mail Christian Retailing at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

U.S. publishers report strong interest in inspirational fiction, youth fantasy at international gathering

U.S. Christian publishers reported brisk business during the world’s biggest annual book exhibition.

Held Oct. 10-14 in Frankfurt, Germany, the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF) marked its 64th anniversary, attracting more than 150,000 professional visitors and around 7,400 exhibitors from 100-plus countries, according to organizers. The event had a major focus on children’s publishing as well as digital publishing.

Significant news from Frankfurt included Book Industry Study Group and representatives from 16 countries announcing the formation of Thema, a new global standard to categorize and classify book content by subject. 

The new standard is flexible, allowing “each market to retain its unique cultural voice while still presenting a unified hierarchy that rationalizes book categorization,” organizers said. “The goal of Thema is to reduce confusion about subject codes for both upstream and downstream trading partners in order to facilitate the sale of more books.”

Meanwhile, BookShout!, a social e-reading platform developed during the past two years for the Christian market, announced what it called “revolutionary technology” that will allow users to legally import and aggregate all of their previous and future digital book purchases from any source, including Kindle and Nook, at no cost. 

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has represented Christian publishers at the event for more than 25 years through the Christian Collective exhibit. 

“Frankfurt continues to be one of the most important shows for rights marketing,” said Cindy Riggins of Riggins International Rights Services. “Relationships are very important in rights sales, so these in-person meetings are critical to a successful rights program.”  

Riggins met with 65 international publishers and saw increased interest in fiction and youth fantasy fiction among European rights buyers. 

“Our re-launch of best-selling [authors] Brock and Bodie Thoene’s works for the international market was well-received,” she said. “Film tie-ins October Baby and Unconditional were popular from B&H Publishing Group. Abingdon Press and New Hope Publishers’ contemporary fiction titles that also address social issues were frequently requested, too.  

“After years of promoting youth fantasy fiction from category leader AMG Publishers/Living Ink, it appears now is the time that international publishers are finally looking seriously at this growing area,” added Riggins, who along with fellow rights agent Fred Rudy represented nearly 20 publishers of the Christian Collective. “In the nonfiction category, the most requested titles outside of Christian Living were on marriage, family and personal growth from a biblical perspective.” 

Representatives from 10 other Christian publishers, including Zondervan, David C Cook, Tyndale House Publishers, Baker Publishing Group, Harvest House Publishers and Crossway met with international rights buyers.  

“The show was a wonderful success for us, and it may have been our busiest ever,” said Jim Elwell, director of international publishing at Tyndale House. “We had many quality meetings and lots of opportunities coming out of our time. Having ECPA handle this service for us enables us to focus on the business we are handling rather than the logistics.” 

ECPA manages the business arrangements on behalf of the publishers. 

“By establishing the Christian Collective at both the Frankfurt and London Book Fairs each year, ECPA provides a collaborative presence for Christian content, while providing member publishers a professional, convenient booth and meeting space,” said ECPA President and CEO Mark Kuyper.