Signature Marketing Network retailers reported sales and margin gains for 2015 in their year-end wrap-up.  

“We were able to bring in more customers and increase sales in 2015,” said Rodney MacKrill, owner of Divine Truth in LaVista, Nebraska. “Our promotions with customer savings to 50 percent featured on our endcaps and supported with our website and emails really helped us fulfill our commitment to compete in service and price every month, with strong profitability.”

Zonderkidz announced Saturday that The Jesus Storybook Bible has reached a milestone of 2 million copies sold. The storybook Bible by New York Times best-selling author Sally Lloyd-Jones was also recently included on the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) Top 100 Best-sellers of 2015 list. 

The title has won many awards, including the 2007 Moonbeam Award, the 2009 NAPPA Award, the 2010 Mom’s Choice Award, the 2010 ALA Notable Award, the 2011 ECPA Gold Book Award, the 2014 Rodda Award and the 2014 Best in Children’s Media Award from the Association of Christian Booksellers Group-U.K. The book has had eight editions since its debut in 2007, including a Spanish bilingual version, a deluxe edition (with audio narrated by British actor David Suchet), a collectors’ edition (with animated videos) and a curriculum. The storybook Bible is now available in over 30 languages.

Warner Press announced Friday that Rev. Joe Allison is retiring from his position as editorial director, discipleship resources and curriculum. He was responsible for overseeing the editorial development of curriculum, periodicals and discipleship resources.

Allison is retiring from a career of nearly 45 years in spent Christian publishing. He was first hired by Warner Press in 1971 and later worked for Thomas Nelson Publishers, Zondervan Publishing House and Evangel Publishing House. In 2004, he went back to Anderson, Indiana, to become the publishing and creative services coordinator for Church of God Ministries, where he coordinated the publishing ministry of Church of God Ministries. Allison returned to Warner Press in 2014.

David C Cook (DCC) announced Friday that Lindsay Black has joined DCC as publisher of traditional children’s resources. Black previously spent 13 years working for Standard Publishing.

DCC recently acquired Standard Publishing and will continue Standard’s legacy of Bible-based, high-quality Sunday school curriculum under Black’s leadership. Black will be publisher of Standard’s HeartShaper children’s curriculum and the Encounter curriculum for teens. She will also be publisher of Gospel Light’s traditional children’s resources, which DCC acquired in fall 2015.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s search for the new publisher for InterVarsity Press (IVP) officially began Friday. Last October, Publisher Bob Fryling announced he would retire in June 2016.

InterVarsity seeks a new publisher who is inspired by IVP’s rich publishing heritage and excited to lead innovation and growth in a rapidly changing publishing environment.

InterVarsity Press (IVP) authors Amy Simpson (Troubled Minds) and Timothy Jennings (The God-Shaped Brain) have been honored for their books and contributions to the field of health.

Simpson is the Hope and Healing Center’s 2016 Chrysalis Award winner. The center, in Houston, Texas, annually honors an individual who has significantly advanced the cause of those with mental health problems and battled the stigma of mental illness. Simpson received the award for her book Troubled Minds and her speaking ministry. 

U.S. toy sales grew by 6.7 percent in 2015, according to retail sales data from The NPD Group. The toy industry generated $19.4 billion and marked one of the strongest performances the industry has seen in a number of years.

Content was a key driver behind the growth of the toy industry in 2015. Whether it be a movie (Star Wars, Jurassic World, Minions and Avengers), television show (Paw Patrol), app (Minecraft) or a strong YouTube following (Shopkins), all of these properties with ties to content were top contributors to the growth of the category. Movies in total outperformed the market in 2015, growing by 9.4 percent. With the early release of Star Wars toys on Force Friday, Star Wars managed to become the No. 1 property for the year, with over $700 million in sales. It also brought in more sales and contributed more growth than Jurassic World, Minions and Avengers combined.