Offering retailers a total savings of $11,000 on their normal business, 79 companies presented show specials through CBA's "Real Help for Your Business" campaign--which was also the theme of the event in Denver in July.

Robertson's lead surgeon said he expected Robertson, 79, to make a full recovery from surgery to correct an irregular heartbeat, CBN officials said. Dr. Andy Kiser said Robertson underwent the 10-hour procedure to repair atrial fibrillation. In a separate but related procedure, doctors also removed an abnormally enlarged left appendage on Robertson's heart. They believe the growth contributed to his atrial fibrillation.

"We're implementing a plan that I drafted and recommended to our GMA board last week, and we all agree this is a fiscally responsible direction to go," Styll told the newspaper. "We've been tightening our belts for some time in this economy, and now we're at a point where I think it's wise to take my own salary off the books. I remain a permanent board member of the GMA and look forward to continuing our work.

The major development was announced earlier this week by Zondervan--which publishes both the NIV and TNIV--the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) and Biblica, holder of the NIV copyright. With more than 300 million copies sold since its first publication in 1978, the NIV will be updated to reflect changes in English usage and advances in biblical scholarship.

Places to be given away through online Virtual Christmas Showcase

Stores are being given the opportunity to qualify for free registration for The Gathering 2010, Christian Retailing magazine's annual conference and trade show for church and other Christian retail stores, to be held April 21-23 next year in Louisville, Ky.

The free places at the event to be hosted by Southeast Christian Church are being offered to stores that participate in the Virtual Christmas Showcase, the publication's latest online initiative.

Featuring details of suppliers' holiday season promotions, with some special offers, the virtual presentation will run Sept. 30-Nov. 16 at the magazine Web site, www.christianretailing.com.

It follows a "very positive" response to the Virtual Christian Retailing Show that ran July 20-Aug. 31, featuring 25 exhibitors who presented new products and some special offers to buyers. The initiative attracted more than 3,400 visits—including 2,000 visitors—from 61 countries in the first month.

"While we knew this was an idea that stores would love, the response has far exceeded my expectations," said Christian Retailing Publisher Dave Condiff. The virtual event also included new release spotlight interviews with artists and Webinar training for stores.

Kerusso Vice President of Marketing Chris Rainey said the company received "great feedback" from the Webinar.

"We love being a part of something that is new and fresh for our industry," he added. "The ability to interact with retailers through this channel is exciting and we're looking forward to even more involvement with it."

Carpentree Marketing Manager Sherry Morris called the virtual tour a "great out-of-the-box idea," which has increased Web traffic, phone calls and interest in the company's specials.

The free registrations for The Gathering 2010 will go to stores that place qualifying orders during the Virtual Christmas Showcase.

Up to 90 exhibitors are expected to be part of the live event at Southeast Christian Church, whose The Living Word bookstore won the Christian Retailing and The Church Bookstore Large Bookstore of the Year award for 2009.

The Gathering will also include training sessions, teaching, prayer for the industry and fellowship. Previously held in Texas and Florida, the event has been moved back from January to after Easter to avoid busier periods and make it easier for stores to send representatives, Condiff said.

"The fact that it will be located in the center of the U.S. should also make it easier for more stores to drive in for the event," he added.

'Fiction with redemption' targets customers interested in Stephanie Meyer's popular 'Twilight' series

Propelled by the recent book and movie success of Stephenie Meyer's general market "Twilight" series, vampire-themed titles and products with an evangelical vein are finding their way onto the shelves of Christian bookstores.

Christian books such as Tracey Bateman's Thirsty (WaterBrook Press), Beth Felker Jones' Touched By a Vampire (Multnomah Books), Eric Wilson's "Jerusalem's Undead" trilogy (Thomas Nelson) and Ted Dekker's Green (Thomas Nelson) are targeting customers interested in vampire stories.

Literary agent Chip MacGregor has welcomed the response, seeing a big need for Christians to address the growing vampire genre. He pointed to spiritual parallels such as eternal life being a blessing for Christians but a curse for vampires, the power held in the blood and Christians living in light, while vampires live in darkness.

"I've been saying this for a couple years—ever since the 'Twilight' stuff first hit—I think the natural tendency of Christians to dismiss vampire novels is all wrong," he said. "We need a Christian author to capture the vampire culture."

Shannon Hill Marchese, senior editor of fiction for The WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, said the desire to connect with "Twilight" readers was part of the inspiration for Bateman's Thirsty, releasing in October.

"We asked: 'What are the human instincts? What is the deeper need of the readers that the 'Twilight' books have tapped into?' " Marchese said. "How do we explore these themes, truthfully, not glorifying?"

To be released next month, Jones' Touched By a Vampire addresses the popularity of the "Twilight" series. But instead of focusing on vampires, the book focuses more on the broader themes that attract "Twilight" readers.

"I think the vampire element adds tension to the 'Twilight' story, but it's more of the danger of the romance behind it that got me thinking to start writing this book," Jones said.

Wilson's Field of Blood, which released last year, introduced readers to the fictional question of the blood of Judas resurrecting the dead buried in the ground after his death. The sequel, Haunt of Jackals, was released in August.

Allen Arnold, fiction publisher at Thomas Nelson, admitted that the book plays with vampire and even zombie mythology, but he did not want the series labeled as vampire novels.

"The biggest challenge has been helping retailers not immediately say, 'Christian vampire—not interested,' " he said. "Our covers don't have fangs on them. We don't want it to look like a vampire novel. People who love those kind of books will love this because it still hits the same drama, good versus evil, the undead. It plays into the mythology in a fresh new way, very grounded in a biblical world view."

Arnold noted that a human-bat character named Alucard—which spells Dracula backward—was introduced in earlier young-adult novels by Dekker and featured in Green, released earlier this month. "We've seen Ted play with that mythology in his own way," Arnold said.

Marchese admitted some "trepidation" on the part of Bateman because of her traditional romance readership, but she also dismissed possible criticisms of the book being a "Twilight" "tag-along."

"There's always a certain idea of looking at the market, we look at other comparables," she said. "Even of those who might have liked to explore those type of stories, you have to wait for your buying audience to show up, and I think we're finally coming to a maturing point."

The vampire trend has not been confined to Christian books. One of gift apparel company Kerusso's recent top-selling T-shirts has been "The Light" shirt, which ties into the popularity of "Twilight."

"Since a T-shirt is an expression of pop culture, it's important to stay relevant by addressing current trends," said Lorri Carter, vice president of creative development for Kerusso. She added that although the shirt has been a "great success," it has also been popular with those who don't follow the series because it features the message that "Jesus is the light of the world."

Christian retailers and customers are responding to vampire-themed products, although slowly. Arnold said that Wilson's series "isn't hitting huge numbers yet," but he expected it to have a long shelf life.

Chris Jager, fiction buyer at Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, Mich., has found a way to market the new genre, hand-selling Field of Blood to church librarians looking for "Twilight" alternatives and "readers who read anything and everything, and are looking for a good book."

Arnold said that engaging vampire readers with a Christian worldview was critical.

"At the end of the day, what we're trying to do is fiction with redemption," he said. "If we can redeem the vampire legend, not to scare or frighten or to be gratuitous, we've created a redemptive story out of something meant for evil."

CBA's promotional campaign with exhibitors 'a great example' of 'working together for mutual success'

Although attendance was down significantly for CBA's 60th summer convention, Christian publishers, gift vendors and distributors reported "great response" to promotions and specials during the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS).

Offering retailers a total savings of $11,000 on their normal business, 79 companies presented show specials through CBA's "Real Help for Your Business" campaign—which was also the theme of the event in Denver in July.

"Participating exhibitors that offered strong specials for the retailers saw great success with the program," said CBA President and CEO Bill Anderson. "Feedback we've received to date has indicated that retailers not originally planning to buy were persuaded by show—only specials to make purchases and that the campaign helped increase awareness of opportunities not available at any other time."

Kregel Publications, which also celebrated its 60th anniversary at the show, had a drawing for free product for a year for qualifying orders at ICRS. The Shrine of Christ's Passion in St. John, Ind., won the prize—which featured up to 60 books and had a $900 retail value.

Dave Hill, Kregel's director of sales and marketing, said the promotion helped boost traffic.

"We had a significant increase in the number of orders taken at ICRS over recent previous years," he said.

DaySpring Director of Communications Brenda Turner said the gift company had "some type of promotion each day"during the show, including Mary Manz Simon signing DayBrighteners calendars and planners and twice-daily drawings for big baskets of Really Woolly baby gifts.

"We offered a 5% first-day discount coupon," she said. "We feel that ad coupon helped make our first day so successful. … We think the ("Real Help for Your Business") partnership helped us. DaySpring had an excellent show, and we look forward to future CBA partnerships."

At New Leaf Publishing Group, the company offered more than 50% discount, free freight and 60-day billing. "We felt the attendance at the show was down, but we still had a great response to our product line as well as our specials," National Sales Manager Don Enz said. "We will continue ... to offer free freight for the year to help increase (retailers') profitability."

Meanwhile, Barbour Publishing offered a "Sales Rescue Package" for retailers at the show. Designed to help stores generate sales, the risk-free program featured a special introductory offer to Barbour's new DayMaker Gift Book Program, which included 180-day billing, 29 new gift items and 50% discount as well as free freight, returns and corrugate display.

"This was definitely the most exciting promotion that we offered at ICRS, but it also continues to be after the show," said Bill Westfall, vice president of sales at Barbour. "We did sell 60 packages at ICRS, and the response from customers has been extremely positive."

Prior to the convention, Barbour sold 375 packages and the company had sold more than 200 packages since, including 60 at ICRS, Westfall added.

At New Day Christian Distributors, the company offered specials on its new gift lines, including VeggieTales Jibbitz and Crocs shoes, as well as Allegro children's products. "It was a very successful show for New Day introducing these new lines, and our most successful show in several years," said Vice President of Sales Ed Leonard. Anderson said the "Real Help" campaign was successful on two fronts.

"Not only did this campaign help retailers save more money by attending the show than they can otherwise, it also was a great example of the strength in numbers that our industry can enjoy when we work together for mutual success," he said. "CBA looks forward to building upon this campaign and offering even more programs and benefits to help both suppliers and retailers increase the value they'll experience by attending the show next year in St. Louis."