During the Audio Publishing Association's annual Audies award dinner Friday, Zondervan's celebrity-driven audiobook Inspired By …The Bible Experience New Testament was named Audiobook of the Year, as well as winning the Inspirational/Spiritual category.

Inspired By … The Bible Experience has sold more than 300,000 units in eight months to become Zondervan's fastest-selling Bible, outselling perennial best-sellers, company officials said.

Also during The Audies, Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's The Life of Jesus (Tyndale House Publishers/Focus on the Family) won Audio Drama of the Year.

According to Zondervan Vice President and Publisher Mark Hunt, Christian audiobooks have an annual revenue of approximately $50 million, with 49% of that from Bibles, 24% from fiction and 27% from nonfiction.

Christian-themed seminars at BEA focused on Christian audiobooks and evangelical fiction as well as a presentation by Thomas Nelson CEO Michael Hyatt, who explained the company's One Company Initiative, which took effect April 1.

While Christian publishers had a smaller presence this year compared to 2006, reports indicated that the overall traffic to their booths increased in 2007. In an effort to reach the multicultural Christian market, Nelson had a booth in the Spanish pavilion, while Baker Publishing Group set up shop in the African-American section.

Eye Witness: Acts of the Spirit (Head Press Publishing) by Robert James Luedke was awarded the silver medal in the Graphic Novel/Drawn Book (Drama/Documentary) category of the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards, also known as the IPPY Awards.

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