Zondervan has named former Guideposts executive David Morris as vice president and publisher of nonfiction trade books, effective Aug. 19.

Morris joins Zondervan after leaving his position as vice president and editorial director for Guideposts Books. Guideposts announced earlier this month that its trade books program, which is mainly nonfiction and some fiction, will be discontinued.

Most recently, Morris oversaw Guideposts' acquisitions for the Christian trade as well as direct-to-consumer distribution. During his 17-year tenure at Guideposts, Morris held various editorial positions, working with marketing, design, sales and finance. Before Guideposts, Morris worked with Chatham House Publishers in New Jersey.

"We are thrilled to welcome David to Zondervan," said Annette Bourland, senior vice president and group publisher for Zondervan. "His expertise both in publishing and the Christian industry will serve as a great foundation for growth."

Mark Schoenwald, president and CEO of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Zondervan's parent company, added: "We believe that David is the right leader to continue this area of growth for our business. He believes in our mission to inspire the world with content that honors God and is committed to our authors' purposes."

Morris, who has a Ph.D. in religion and society from Drew University, will replace Tracy Danz, who is moving to backlist development for Zondervan's nonfiction trade titles. Morris will relocate to Grand Rapids, Mich.

B&H Publishing Group President Selma Wilson has appointed Amanda Sloan as senior vice president of marketing, following the May appointment of her interim role to the position.

"Amanda is a servant leader and is committed to the continued success of B&H," Wilson said. "We are grateful for the leadership she has shown in the past several months, and her excellent work in the interim role cemented our decision to ask her to accept the position in a longterm capacity."

Sloan came to B&H as marketing manager of trade books in 2010, and headed promotion efforts on New York Times best-sellers The Vow by Kim and Krickitt Carpenter; The Resolution for Men by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Randy Alcorn; The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer; and Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure. Sloan was previously national marketing manager for LifeWay Christian Stores, the retail division of LifeWay Christian Resources, B&H's parent company.

In her role, Sloan will oversee the daily operations of the B&H marketing team, which includes trade books and Bibles as well as church supplies. She will also continue to develop the company's "Every Word Matters" rebranding brand initiative.

Sloan took over for Mary Katharine Hunt, who joined Justice of Mercy International as executive director of operations June 1.

Steve Laube, president of The Steve Laube Agency, has announced the hiring of Dan Balow as director of publishing development and literary agent.

“I’ve been looking for ways to increase the services our agency provides to current and potential clients,” Laube said. “By adding Dan to our agency, we can expand our role in helping to maximize our client’s sales, work with ministries to develop their publishing efforts and expand our reach internationally. Dan’s strengths are his understanding of book marketing, what it takes to be successful in the current publishing environment and how all the pieces of the publishing ‘puzzle’ fit together. All in all, it helps us to fulfill our mission to help change the world, word by word.”

Bryan Norman, associate publisher at Thomas Nelson, has announced that he is leaving the Nashville publisher to become a literary agent with Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Alive Communications. Norman will start Aug. 2, and he and his wife, Suzanne, and their two children will relocate to Colorado.

"Bryan is one of the young all-stars in the publishing industry, and I am delighted to sign our No. 1 draft pick," said Rick Christian, founder and president of Alive Communications. "He is an immense editorial talent with strong leadership and new media skills, and brings to us a network of deep relationships, together with a wealth of spiritual insight and wisdom. He will continue nurturing authors and their ideas from inception to publication, using his many gifts and abilities to help authors flourish."

Norman served at Nelson for nine years. For the past four years, he has led the day-to-day operations of the nonfiction publishing division under Brian Hampton, senior vice president and publisher of Nelson Books.

"Though I'm sad to leave my friends at Nelson, my family and I anticipate great things in Colorado and look forward to living in the Rockies," Norman said. "My life as an Alive agent will allow greater focus on two of my key strengths, content development and author relationships. Working for a smaller company will also allow greater flexibility for me as a husband and young father."

Norman has worked with numerous best-selling authors, including John Eldredge, Donald Miller, Bob Goff, John MacArthur, John Maxwell and Sheila Walsh.

Alive needed another agent after Lee Hough left the company last month because he is battling cancer. Hough, 58, who started at the agency in 2001 and in 2010 was named vice president, was honored June 24 with the first Christy Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis.

Rich Peluso has been promoted to senior vice president of Affirm Films, the faith-based label of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Peluso, who was vice president of Affirm Films, will continue to oversee the development, production, acquisition and marketing of Sony's Christian and inspirational films. He will continue to report to Steven Bersch, president of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA).

"Over the past several years, Rich has been key to creating Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions' outstanding slate of faith-based films, including such titles as Soul Surfer and Courageous, and upcoming releases, including Moms' Night Out and The Remaining," Bersch said. "His understanding of the genre as well as his strong relationships within the faith community and with filmmakers has been key to our success, and I am delighted to be able to acknowledge his contributions with this promotion."

Peluso added: "The opportunity to work with quality storytellers that are called to both entertain and inspire people through visual media is deeply rewarding. I'm thankful for the support and recognition from Sony Pictures and look forward to the reach and impact our future projects will have over the next several years."

In a separate move, Tana Evans will take on additional duties as vice president of marketing and distribution for Affirm Films. She will also continue as vice president of distribution for all SPWA products.

Prior to joining Affirm, Peluso served 15 years at EMI Christian Music Group/EMI Music, most recently as the president of EMI CMG Distribution—now known as Capitol Christian Distribution. He was also president of The Safe Side Company, a children's entertainment venture.

Peluso was honored in the business category of The Champions of the Faith Awards during the International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta in 2010.

Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) has announced the promotions of Greg Bays and Steve Blair. Previously Capitol Christian Distribution's senior vice president of sales and marketing, Bays will serve as executive vice president of CCMG's distribution arm, and Blair will serve as vice president of sales and catalog development.

"Greg has effectively led our distribution company as its senior vice president through the digital market transformation, while maintaining a steady focus on Christian retail, including paradigm shifting initiatives moving the company into home video and book publishing distribution," said CCMG President and CEO Bill Hearn. "Under Greg's direction Capitol Christian Distribution has become the market leader and innovator in Christian products distribution in addition to being named Billboard magazine's Christian Music Distributor of the Year 15 of the last 18 years."

In his new position, Bays, who spent seven years in Christian retail, will continue to lead the sales function, strategic retail market development initiatives, catalog development and liaison with Universal Music Group Distribution on behalf of CCMG's proprietary label groups and more than 25 third-party music, home video and book publishing partnerships. Bays will continue to report to Hearn.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue to contribute to this team and our vision to impact culture and resource the church with exceptional music, movies and books," Bays said. "I'm excited about the future of the Christian products industry and the new challenges, opportunities, and relationships each day brings. We have an outstanding team focused on growth through the development of innovative ways to serve our people, retailers, creative partners, and the consumer."

Blair, who joined CCMG in 2000 and since 2011 has served as CCMG's director of catalog sales and marketing, will oversee the Christian retail major accounts and independent retail sales teams, while continuing to lead the company's catalog team.

"I'm honored to have the opportunity to continue to serve our artists, labels, studios and publishers in this new role," said Blair, who will report to Bays. "The CBA market has a tremendous opportunity for growth and cultural impact with the products they sell."

David C. Cook has announced the resignation of Eric Thurman as president of Global Mission for the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based nonprofit publisher.

Under Thurman's leadership, which started in 2009, Global Mission experienced its largest and most rapid growth in the organization's 137-year history.

"Eric's four years of leadership produced priceless contributions to our global ministry efforts," said Cook President and CEO Cris Doornbos said.

Doornbos noted Thurman's key accomplishments: The Story of Jesus evangelistic tool now reaches 30 million people in 67 nations, 42 languages and dialects; The Children-at-Risk program covers 10-plus million children in 15 countries in eight languages; J127 Clubs across India impact nearly 3,000 children who have endured extreme trauma or are at risk of exploitation and abuse; and thousands of Indian pastors and small group leaders in 11 Hindu-speaking states have been provided with audio copies of Warren Wiersbe's "Be" series Bible commentaries.

"Eric is gifted in finding voids in our world—deeply underserved areas —then equipping the local Church to care for the least of these, and for the long haul," Doornbos said. "The leadership team and board of trustees are grateful for the amazing work God accomplished through Eric during his time at Cook. And we pray God's richest blessings over him in this next season of his life and ministry."

"Until a new president is found, we will diligently come alongside the capable people on David C Cook's Global Mission team," he added. "The incredible momentum in Global has not diminished. God is continuing the work He began, reaching millions with the gospel, whole life discipleship and soul care."

Thurman is widely regarded as an expert in international philanthropy, both Christian and humanitarian. Before joining Cook, Thurman was CEO of Geneva Global, which researched and placed grants in more than half of the countries of the world, company officials said.