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HarperCollins Christian expands backlist focus Print Email
Written by Jeremy Burns   
Monday, 01 June 2015 01:49 PM America/New_York

StephanieNewtonHarperCollins Christian Publishing has announced an expanded focus on its backlist titles. In a continued effort to highlight authors’ past works and bring attention to the relevancy these key titles have in the marketplace, veteran publicist Stephanie Newton will lead the initiative as marketing director of backlist.

Newton has been with the company for the past nine years, previously serving as the publicity director for W Publishing, a Thomas Nelson imprint. During her tenure, she led multiple publicity campaigns for award-winning titles and New York Times best-sellers, including Todd Burpo's Heaven Is for Real; Ron Hall and Denver Moore's Same Kind of Different As Me; and Billy Graham’s Nearing Home and The Reason for My Hope.

As marketing director for backlist books, Newton’s role will expand across the organization, working alongside publishing teams from the Thomas Nelson and Zondervan brands.

Newton will lead a team and will seek innovative opportunities that will continue to spread an author’s timeless message. The team’s expanded focus will work alongside the custom product development team to revitalize evergreen messages, build relationships with nonprofits that can utilize authors’ messages to serve their community, and search for unique social media engagement opportunities. In addition, Newton will bring her experience and concentration to new promotional opportunities with retail partners and discovering new outlets for authors to offer expert opinion to the media on pressing cultural and current events.

“So many of our books have greatly impacted my life, and I look forward to continuing to share their message,” Newton said. “I am excited about how this strategic focus will allow our backlist products to continually inspire others.”

This increased focus will concentrate, initially, on nonfiction backlist products. In the future, the team will expand into the company’s other publishing genres.

“We are thrilled to have Stephanie Newton lead within our company at this capacity,” said David Moberg, senior vice president and trade group publisher for HarperCollins Christian Publishing. “Stephanie’s publicity expertise and her media relationships will undoubtedly bring our authors’ content to even more people in a fresh and new way.”