Baker Publishing Group has announced that Shaun Tabatt has joined the Bethany House and Chosen divisions as the new publicist of nonfiction.

Tabatt most recently served as the community development manager for Fortress Press, where he hosted their Fortress Press live podcast. He also hosts the growing Author Talks with Shaun Tabatt podcast and is the founder of Cross Focused Media, an agency that provides social media and literary publicity services to the Christian publishing community. Tabatt has worked on projects for a number of publishers, including Zondervan and B&H. He and his family live in Cottage Grove, Minnesota.

“With Shaun’s background and online and social media savvy, he has brought a fresh perspective and energy to our team,” said Carra Carr, marketing director for Bethany House nonfiction and Chosen. “As we look to the future and the shifting priorities of media, he’s already helping to realign and revitalize our core publicity strategies—and I’m excited to see the positive impact this will have on our authors and their books.”

Warner Press has announced that 12-year company veteran Kevin Spear has been named its new marketing manager.

Spear joined the company in 2002 as a graphic designer. He designed Warner’s marketing materials as well as wrote, illustrated and designed many of its children’s products.

In 2012, Kevin was promoted to director of digital marketing.

“Technology has changed the way we communicate, especially within the church,” said Eric King, president of Warner Press. “Kevin’s experience in digital marketing, and his decision to attain his MBA, makes him a great choice for this new position.”

Before coming to Warner Press, Spear was a marketing designer for Creative Converting and a book designer for Pearson Education in Indianapolis. He has also contributed to publications such as Leadership Journal, Kidzmatter, and Alpha Books. Spear earned his bachelors and MBA degrees from Anderson University.

Icon Media Group announced today that Katie Powell Bell has joined the firm as senior publicist. Bell most recently served as senior publicist for children’s and gift books at HarperCollins Christian Publishing, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.

“Katie’s publishing experience expands our firm into new areas and her media contacts are top notch. We are excited that she has joined our team,” said Icon Media Group Co-founder and President Shanon Stowe.

During her 2 1/2 years at HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Bell launched several New York Times best-sellers and worked with several authors, including country music star Josh Turner, pastor Matthew Barnett, Jesus Calling writer Sarah Young, Christian musician and actor Matthew West, and popular blogger Mandy Hale.

“I am thrilled to join such a powerhouse team. I look forward to my future with Icon,” Bell said.

Icon Media Group serves publishing, film and non-profit clients. Icon served as the publicity firm behind the No. 1 independent film of 2014, Pure Flix’s “God’s Not Dead,” which shocked the film industry by grossing more than $100 million worldwide. In the fall of 2014, the firm launched two top-five New York Times bestsellers: You Can, You Will by Joel Osteen, and The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeust.

Icon’s client roster has included: Sony/Affirm Films, Provident Films, One Media, Pure Flix, Red Entertainment, Salt Entertainment, Joel Osteen Ministries, Zondervan, American Bible Society, Thomas Nelson, Random House, Bethany House, Baker Books and David C Cook.

Bell can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Midwest-CBK LLC, national designer and manufacturer of holiday, gifts and home and outdoor décor, announced the addition of Scott Wehrs as general manager and chief administrative officer, effective immediately.

In his new role, Wehrs will oversee all aspects of day-to-day operations and manage the growth of the Midwest Seasons, CBK and G! brands. Wehrs brings more than 13 years of experience as the former president of Midwest-CBK and MVP Brands, and former president and chief operating officer of Ty Inc., creator of the successful Beanie Babies brand.

“Scott’s knowledge, experience and passion for the gift and home décor industry and independent specialty retailers is outstanding,” said Howard Ganz, president of Ganz, parent company of Midwest-CBK. “We’re excited to welcome back Scott’s enthusiasm and breadth of experience to the company and our customers.”

Wehrs served as the president of Midwest-CBK in 2012, negotiating the sale and overseeing the transition of Midwest-CBK to Ganz. As the MVP Brands president, he also led the operations and sales of the Colonial Candle, Everybody’s Ayurveda and Monkeez Makes a Difference brands. Prior to that, Wehrs served as president of Ty Inc., running the successful Beanie Babies business.

He also held titles of director of credit, vice president of Internet, vice president of business development, vice president of marketing and chief operating officer at Ty.

“Midwest-CBK represents three industry-leading brands—Midwest Seasons, CBK and G!—with the best designs and highest quality product, backed by the most talented team and excellent infrastructure and drive for rapid and successful growth,” Wehrs said. “In addition to these outstanding brands, Midwest-CBK customers also have access to Noelle, the No. 1 fashion line in the industry.

These synergies present significant growth potential, and I look forward to continuing the success of the company and helping our customers succeed, starting with the winter market launch of exciting, new and most sought-after products available in the market.”

B&H Publishing Group, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources has added depth and experience to its sales leadership team with the hiring of Rick Shear, former head of CBA and Ministry Sales at Harper Collins Christian Publishing.

Shear is a veteran in CBA, ministry, and church sales with over 25 years of experience leading teams in the publishing industry. In this new role, Shear is tapped to lead the B&H CBA sales team and also is charged with expanding service to ministries. Over the years he has gained a reputation for developing strategic relationships in the CBA, and also entrepreneurial thinking to better serve the person entering a CBA bookstore.  

“I have known Rick Shear for many years and have a deep respect for who he is and what he has been able to accomplish” shared Fred Evans, B&H Sr. Vice President of Sales. “Our goal at B&H is to continue serving the CBA and ministries with extraordinary service and we believe Rick can us help move to the next level.”

 B&H Publishing has experienced year over year growth in multiple markets, especially CBA in the past few years. Specifically in CBA, B&H has experienced tremendous success with number one best-sellersincluding The Love Dare, The Resolution for Men, and I Am a Church Member, as well as other books to impact the industry like the award-winning HCSB Study Bible, The Big Picture Interactive Storybook Bible and Beth Moore’s Whispers of Hope and Portraits of Devotion.  

“We are blessed to have Rick Shear on our team and we look forward to his servant leadership to our CBA and ministry team,” said B&H President Selma Wilson.

Katie Broaddus has joined the Hachette Nashville division of Hachette Book Group as senior publicist. Broaddus will develop and execute national publicity campaigns and book tours for the FaithWords, Center Street and Jericho Books imprints.

Broaddus spent the last 10 years serving the faith-based publishing industry as an independent public relations consultant. Her client roster included HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Tommy Nelson, Zonderkidz, Blink, WestBow Press, Propeller Consulting and Cool Springs Press. She carried out comprehensive promotional strategies for a wide variety of brands and products from some authors including Max Lucado, Anne Graham Lotz, Jim Cymbala, Terri Blackstock, Karen Kingsbury, John MacArthur, Donald Miller, Charles Stanley and Sheila Walsh.

WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group has announced that Andrew Stoddard will be joining the Random House division as editor. Stoddard started with the company today, reporting to Editorial Director Laura Barker.

Most recently Stoddard was an acquisitions editor at David C Cook. At Cook, he edited, developed and acquired books with authors such as Matt Chandler, William Lane Craig, Tim Chaddick and J. Warner Wallace.