Managing director of Kingsway was ‘a dedicated visionary’ who mentored and developed songwriters

Christian music pioneer John Paculabo died Jan. 22 in Eastbourne, England, after a six-month battle with cancer. Managing director of Kingsway for more than 20 years, Paculabo was 66.

“The impact of his vision and legacy will continue to be felt through the worship of local churches on a global scale,” said officials for Kingsway, a worship music company in Eastbourne that is now part of David C Cook. “Even though we know he ran a good race (2 Tim. 4: 6-8), we miss him dearly.”

Originally from Liverpool, England, Paculabo was signed by Kingsway in 1971 as an artist/writer with his band Parchment. A year later, the group enjoyed mainstream success with “Light Up the Fire,” a song still used in school assemblies.

In 1976, Paculabo was appointed A&R manager of Pilgrim Records, where he produced hundreds of albums. In the 1980s, he moved into copyright acquisition and management, relocating to Eastbourne in 1988 to accept a position at Kingsway as director of music.

Within two years, he became managing director. In 2008, Paculabo received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Christian Booksellers Convention in the U.K.

“John’s gentle spirit, relaxed approach, great sense of humor and love of people was matched by his desire to live with purpose and passion, with a tenacity to see lives transformed,” Kingsway officials said. “John was much loved and respected, particularly for his ability to empower, support and serve others with humility. … He was a dedicated visionary who was determined to mentor and develop songwriters.”

Paculabo established Thankyou Music as a global publisher, working in partnership with Capitol CMG Publishing. He is credited with helping inspire songs such as “In Christ Alone,” “All Heaven Declares,” “Here I Am to Worship,” “Everlasting God” and “Heart of Worship.”

Paculabo is survived by his wife of 33 years, three children and one grandchild.

Publishing agency Somersault Group reports on tech trends affecting stores

Seventy percent of Christian store shoppers say they would buy an e-book at a Christian retail store, according to publishing strategy and services agency Somersault Group. A three-person panel from the Grand Rapids, Mich., agency reported on “Tech, Trends and Retail Success” during CBA’s NEXT 2013 training event held Jan. 9-10 at AmericasMart in Atlanta.

Observing that Christian consumers are adopting tablets and e-readers at a faster pace than the general population, the panel noted the recent introduction of the Myeebo tablet from ACM Digital and the presence of Kobo tablets in the bookstore market. E-books and mobile were two of the five tech trends that are impacting retail, the others being print on demand (P.O.D.), augmented reality and cashless culture.

Mardel is one chain using P.O.D. with the Espresso Book Machine. Titles from Baker Publishing Group and Zondervan, among others, are available through Espresso.

Augmented reality—such as the use of QR codes—mean more connectivity than ever.

Society is moving toward a cashless culture, the panel said. PayPal is accepted at store registers using a mobile number and PIN, and major retailers have created a Merchant Customer Exchange for checkout with cell phones.

Four retail trends—showrooming; SoLoMo (Social, Local, Mobile); omni-channel; and personalization—were also highlighted as significant to retailers.

With showrooming—using a smartphone in-store to conduct product research and price comparisons and possibly buying elsewhere—retailers must consider whether it is a threat or an opportunity. Somersault made several recommendations, including providing free in-store Wi-Fi and offering a coupon on the sign-in screen and promoting a store’s videos with QR Codes.

Spelled out, SoLoMo means Social, Local, Mobile. Taking into account social media, local on-the-spot consumer presence and mobile technologies, the panel offered solutions such as creating a mobile-friendly website, participating in social couponing such as Groupon or LivingSocial, and incentivizing customers to opt-in to the store’s email and texting communications.

The panel urged retailers to cultivate a relaxing atmosphere, provide real-time marketing and offer information openly that reassures customers in their purchase decisions. Stores were also encouraged to assign a staff member to event management and another to digital communication.

“Be the Christian hub of your community,” the panel told NEXT attendees. “Christian booksellers are no longer only in the bookselling business. You are in the community-building, personalized-service, outcome-based-solution-provider, experts-in-all-things-publishing-related and technology business with a spiritual emphasis.”

After hearing the Somersault report, George Thomsen, CBA chairman and director of the Harvest Bookstore and Café in Riverside, Calif., wrote “Why my store is irrelevant” on the top of his handout.

“It’s not that we don’t have what’s relevant,” Thomsen said. “The Bible is always relevant and good Christian books are always relevant, but we’re not communicating with people in a relevant way.”

Along with supplier-retailer speed meetings and workshops on topics ranging from e-books to customer relationships, NEXT featured as one of the speakers Mike Ashcraft, author of My One Word: Change Your Life With Just One Word (Zondervan), who challenged attendees to resolve to focus on one word this year  that reflects what they most hope God will do in them.

More than 90 retailers and 35 people from 11 sponsoring companies attended NEXT, held just prior to the Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market.

Retailers can access online Somersault’s customer survey developed for their stores at <a href="http://www.scribd.com/SomersaultGroup" target="_blank">www.scribd.com/SomersaultGroup</a>.

Gospel music’s 28th annual event at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry also named special honorees Bishop T.D Jakes, the late Inez Andrew and Kurt Carr

Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago and sister duo Mary Mary were the most awarded artists, each topping five categories at the 28th Annual Stellar Awards, with Marvin Sapp close behind with four wins. Celebrating gospel music at its best, the Stellar Awards were hosted by Kirk Franklin and Mary Mary on Jan. 19 at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, and were broadcast live on the Gospel Music Channel.

Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago won Song of the Year for “Awesome” (The Best of Both Worlds); Traditional Choir of the Year; and Choir of the Year, and took home two awards for The Best of Both Worlds (Inspired People): CD of the Year and Recorded Music Packaging of the Year.

Sister duo Mary Mary was named Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year and Group/Duo of the Year, and won two awards for Go Get It (Columbia Records/Provident): Contemporary CD of the Year and Special Event CD of the Year. The duo also won Urban/Inspirational Single or Performance of the Year for the title track, “Go Get It.”

Sapp was named Artist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Traditional Male of the Year, and also took home Traditional CD of the Year for I Win (Verity Records/Provident).

Other honorees included Kierra Clark Sheard, Albertina Walker Female Vocalist of the Year; Le’Andria Johnson, New Artist of the Year and Contemporary Female of the Year; Fred Hammond, Contemporary Male of the Year; and The Williams Brothers, Traditional Group/Duo of the Year and Quartet of the Year.

Special honorees were also named: Bishop T.D Jakes, Thomas A. Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award; the late Inez Andrews, Ambassador
Dr. Bobby Jones Legend Award; and Kurt Carr, James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award.

GRAMMY-winning artist’s latest release is only the fourth Christian album on the national chart

GRAMMY-winning and multi-Platinum recording artist Chris Tomlin’s latest album, Burning Lights (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG Distribution), landed on the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart Jan. 16.

The achievement marked only the fourth time ever that a Christian album hit No. 1 on the main U.S. album chart, but the second time in a six-month period as TobyMac’s Eye On It (ForeFront Records/EMI CMG) debuted at No. 1
in September.

With more than 72,000 units sold, Burning Lights marks the biggest first-week sales of Tomlin’s two-decade career, reflecting a 60% increase compared to first-week sales of Tomlin’s last studio album, 2011’s And If Our God Is For Us (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG), which sold 45,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Released Jan. 8, Burning Lights also claimed the No. 1 spot on the iTunes Christian & Gospel Albums chart. The album’s first single, “Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies],” also claimed the No. 5 spot the Top 5 on Billboard’s Christian AC, No. 6 on the National Christian Audience, No. 7 on the AC Indicator and No. 16 on the Hot Christian Songs charts the week of Jan. 14.

Tomlin’s Burning Lights Tour began Feb. 19 in Charleston, W.Va., visiting 34 cities, including New York, Seattle and Dallas, before wrapping at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver on May 4.

Besides TobyMac, Tomlin’s chart-topper puts him in the company of country star LeAnn Rimes, whose inspirational record You Light Up My Life reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart in 1997, and Bob Carlisle, who notched two weeks on the top spot in the same year with Butterfly Kisses (Shades of Grace).

New direction seen as ‘necessary’ for Gospel Music Association as the organization does ‘a lot of retooling’

The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is moving the Dove Awards back to Nashville after a two-year run in Atlanta, and is switching its marquee event from April to October.

“We have spent a lot of time talking to our members and industry leaders across the board in an effort to assess our environment and create a plan to meet current needs,” GMA Executive Director Jackie Patillo wrote in a letter sent to association members just before Christmas. “Many of you have inquired about the 44th Annual GMA Dove Awards, and I am happy to report that it is corning back home to Nashville. In order to maximize its potential, the Dove Awards will be moving to a new October date in 2013. We are in discussion with strategic partners that will bring needed strengths to the table.”

Patillo told Christian Retailing that “in order to maximize the potential of the Dove Awards, it was necessary to make the moves.”

“It’s necessary for all businesses to not play to the status quo and do things the way they’ve always done it,” added Patillo, noting that the specific Nashville location has not yet been finalized. “We want to be effective for the current economic climate. GMA is doing a lot of retooling right now and this is just a part of it.”

Held for the first time outside of Nashville in April 2011 at Atlanta’s historic Fox Theatre, the Dove Awards sold out in record time, attendance was up 50% from the 2009 show and the event garnered its highest ratings on the Atlanta-based Gospel Music Channel—with more than 1.5 million viewers, GMA officials said.

The showcase event was again held at the Fox and televised on GMC in 2012.

GMA has been working to bounce back since the association experienced a financial crisis in 2009 that threatened its very existence. The association posted a profit in 2010 for the first time in three years, reduced a total debt of $921,000 to a manageable amount and sold its Nashville facility for $697,000 in October 2010.

Meanwhile, GMA has formed a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources to host Immerse, the organization’s annual industry music conference.

GMA’s fifth annual Immerse will be held May 26-29 at LifeWay’s headquarters in Nashville. LifeWay’s 21-acre campus allows the conference to be held in one location, with more than 1 million square feet of space for concerts, conferences, networking events and meals, GMA officials said.

“I am grateful to the leadership at LifeWay for opening their extensive campus to Immerse,” Patillo explained. “Their commitment to excellence and willingness to facilitate this conference is exciting. This partnership is in keeping with GMA’s goal is to bring the music industry together to pour into the lives of our future leaders.”

Mike Harland, director of LifeWay Worship, added: “The heart of our calling is to serve churches in their mission of making disciples that will take the gospel to the world. We believe Immerse does that by equipping young creatives with the tools to spread the gospel through music. We are thrilled to be part of it.”

Immerse offers up-and-coming songwriters and business professionals to get hands-on training from music industry leaders. Programming for this year’s event will include classes in music business, songwriting, artist development and “reVIEWyou,” which combines mentoring with a songwriting and performance competition, feedback and on-stage opportunities.

Sister retailers Hobby Lobby and Mardel Christian and Education discover a way to avoid fines in a separate case on the abortion mandate

Tyndale House Publishers celebrated in November when a federal court stopped enforcement of President Obama’s abortion-pill mandate, but the battle continues. Not to be outdone, the Obama administration filed an appeal in the case Jan. 15.

In a separate but related case, Hobby Lobby Stores and sister retailer Mardel Christian and Education have “discovered a way” to avoid being penalized by the federal government for not covering abortion-inducing drugs in their employee healthcare plans.

The administration argued that the Carol Stream, Ill.-based publisher doesn’t meet the criteria for religious exemption from the mandate, despite the fact that Tyndale House is the world’s-largest privately held Christian publisher of books, Bibles and digital media—directing 96.5% of its profits to religious nonprofit causes worldwide.

“Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” argued Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman, who is representing Tyndale. “Regrettably, the administration does not want religious freedom to stand in the way of imposing Obamacare.

“The district court rightly halted Obamacare’s abortion-pill mandate against Tyndale House, but the administration continues to argue that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer,” he added. “For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is startling. We will continue to argue on appeal that the administration cannot disregard the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom to achieve certain political purposes.”

The publisher is subject to the mandate because Obama administration rules say for-profit corporations are categorically non-religious, even though Tyndale House is strictly a publisher of Bibles and other Christian materials and is primarily owned by the nonprofit Tyndale House Foundation. The foundation provides grants to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of people around the world.

In its opinion accompanying a preliminary injunction order in Tyndale House Publishers v. Sebelius, the court wrote that “the beliefs of Tyndale and its owners are indistinguishable. ... Christian principles, prayer and activities are pervasive at Tyndale, and the company’s ownership structure is designed to ensure that it never strays from its faith-oriented mission.

“The court has no reason to doubt, moreover, that Tyndale’s religious objection to providing insurance coverage for certain contraceptives reflects the beliefs of Tyndale’s owners,” the court continued. “Nor is there any dispute that Tyndale’s primary owner, [Tyndale House] Foundation, can ‘exercise religion’ in its own right, given that it is a nonprofit religious organization; indeed, the case law is replete with examples of such organizations asserting cognizable free exercise and RFRA [Religious Freedom Restoration Act] challenges.”

Meanwhile, an attorney for the Green family, which owns the Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby and Mardel, said the chains could avoid fines for several months.

Starting Jan. 1, when the new healthcare plan was to take effect, Hobby Lobby and Mardel were to face fines of up to $1.3 million daily for defying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ abortion-pill mandate, a regulation under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).

However, Peter Dobelbower, an attorney and vice president for Hobby Lobby, said in a Jan. 10 statement that that the effective date had been postponed, but he didn’t elaborate.

“Hobby Lobby discovered a way to shift the plan year for its employee health insurance, thus postponing the effective date of the mandate for several months,” Dobelbower said. “Hobby Lobby does not provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs in its healthcare plan. Hobby Lobby will continue to vigorously defend its religious liberty and oppose the mandate and any penalties.”

In December, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied the request by Hobby Lobby and Mardel for an injunction while the case is pending, saying the stores did not meet the legal standard for blocking the requirement on an emergency basis. However, she said, the companies may still challenge the regulations in the lower courts.

In November, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton said that although churches and other religious organizations had been granted constitutional protection from the abortion mandate, “Hobby Lobby and Mardel are not religious organizations.”

Hobby Lobby eventually could still face fines, despite for-profit organizations having a record of nine wins and five losses in federal court against the mandate, according to a tally by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the chain.

Hobby Lobby—the largest business to sue the federal government on the issue—is among the five for-profits to have lost in court. So far, each of the nine victories has been limited to the businesses that sued, although if those wins stand on appeal, they could cover Hobby Lobby, Becket Fund said.

Australian worship leader and pastor has become ‘part of the fabric of contemporary worship’ in the church

Christian retailers would be not be surprised if worship leader Darlene Zschech has prayed the prayer of Jabez—“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!” (1 Chron. 4:10). There is no doubt that, in fact, God has done just that for the recording artist who is now known around the globe.

As a pastor and worship leader, Zschech has led millions of Christians in worship around the world. With her songwriting skills, she has penned more than 80 songs, including anthems such as “Shout to the Lord,” a song covered by at least 20 other artists and sung by an estimated 30 million churchgoers every week.

Integrity Music—now owned by David C Cook—has served as the label Hillsong’s U.S. distribution partner from 1995 to 2010 and has signed a long-term songwriting/music publishing agreement with
Zschech. The first album Hillsong and Integrity partnered on was Shout to the Lord, on which she was featured as worship leader.

“To date, over 3 million copies of that album have been sold around the world, not to mention her other recordings, and Integrity Music continues to resonate with the 80+ songs she has written and recorded,” said Steve Nicolle, vice president of sales at Integrity Music.

“Darlene is a true worshiper of God at heart, and also a tremendous singer and songwriter,” Nicolle said. “She is also a pastor, author and communicator who is very exuberant and authentic. When you put all of those gifts together, you have something very special and rare.”

Nicolle sees the Easter-themed “Victor’s Crown” on Zschech’s new album as a standout song. Releasing March 19, Revealing Jesus: A Live Worship Experience (Provident Distribution), is the first album on RGM-NEW BREED Music, which also plans a follow-up album.

“We think it, like ‘Shout to the Lord,’ will be one of those that will be sung around the world for years to come,” he said. “It’s just that good.”

Through Israel Houghton, “we negotiated this live recording of Darlene’s, which Israel produced, wrote songs and lent his voice and incredible talents to,” Nicolle said. “Michael W. Smith and Kari Jobe are also featured on the project, and we couldn’t be more thrilled on how it has turned out. The strength of the songs on the recording, the quality of the production of audio on the CD and stunning visuals of the DVD, together with the guest appearances all combine to make this one of the most significant worship releases we have ever had the privilege of bringing to the marketplace.”

While serving as a worship leader and pastor for Sydney’s Hillsong Church, Zschech wrote for, performed on and helped produce 16 Gold- and one Platinum-selling Australian Recording Industry Association live Hillsong albums.

Shout to the Lord was nominated as Album of the Year and the title song was nominated as Song of the Year in the Dove Awards. In 2000, she was nominated for Songwriter of the Year and received the Gospel Music Association International Award for her impact on the global church.

Dan Michaels, senior vice president marketing and promotions for Fair Trade Services, has worked with Darlene and her husband, Mark, on past recording projects.

As for why she is so successful in music ministry, Michaels said: “Darlene executed the basics with remarkable results. Timeless songs that made a connection to the heart of an individual. Superior performances and production. A vision to serve with passion and purpose that is clear to see whether you are listening to her CDs, experience her live or are fortunate enough to know her personally. Darlene has a burden for global reach with the gospel and charitable efforts, and a work ethic second to none.”

Beyond music, Zschech has written several books published by Bethany House. Extravagant Worship (2004), The Kiss of Heaven (2005) and The Art of Mentoring (2012) have been translated into 19 languages combined.

During the period when she didn’t have any books published, Zschech and her husband, Mark, planted a church in New South Wales, Australia. She was also engaged in some significant mission ventures, including traveling with Compassion International, and with her husband created a new nonprofit.

“They also made a commitment to do whatever they could to bring relief to human suffering,” said Steve Oates, vice president of marketing at Bethany House. “Through this desire, HOPE: Global (www.hope-global.org) was born, a nonprofit organization that helps restore hope and justice to countries devastated by war, genocide and poverty.”

Her latest book with Bethany House, Revealing Jesus, releases this month, with the CD and CD/DVD deluxe set releasing simultaneously with the book. A floor display (pictured) houses the products, and the header from the display can be used as a header for an endcap.

“This devotional was poured out from the pages of Darlene’s personal journals,” Oates said. “Honest, raw and beautifully written, it contains meditations and scriptures revealing the heart of Jesus.”

Revealing Jesus is a fitting title for the project, as she has made it her heart’s quest “to know more about Jesus, to be more like Him and to make Him known, to show His love like I should,” Zschech told Christian Retailing. “The more I read the Word, I continue to read about the authority that we have in the name of Jesus; that the cross was enough, that Jesus paid it all for you and me. And this has caused me to be more bold in my approach to writing songs for congregations to lay hold of, declaring the finished work of Christ and declaring that God is here—that greater is He that is living in me than he that is in the world.”

Because her music is “part of the fabric of contemporary worship within the church,” Michaels said: “Her history with Hillsong, touring and success at radio certainly have played a role connecting to lives of a CBA retail customer.”

Zschech has come a long way from singing jingles for McDonald’s, Special K, KFC and Diet Coke, which she did as a teenager.

“Now that we are pastoring Hope Unlimited Church at the Central Coast, sometimes it feels like I’ve gone full circle,” she said. “My children range in age from 24 to 11. My grandchildren are 3 and 18 months old. My husband and I are now senior pastors, and in our 27 years of marriage, we had never said to each other that we had that desire. We write, travel, teach, lead, but I think I am still the same person deep down—so grateful to Jesus for rescuing me, so grateful to God for my family and friends and so grateful to God for His church that welcomed me home 32 years ago.”

Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, Mich., hit a home run with its 2012 Bible Sale, continuing its annual tradition.

Held Nov. 17, the promotion offered by the recently renovated independent store offered a 50% discount on all in-stock Bibles. The sale also included 50% off Bible covers and accessories.

"We sold 219 Bibles along with many other things," Sue Smith, store manager of Baker Book House, told Christian Retailing. "Best of all, quite a number of new customers walked through our doors. To me, that's the best part."

Louis McBride, Bible and academic book buyer for Baker Book House, said the store started receiving calls a week from people before asking, "When is your Bible sale?"

"This is a sale that we have really come to enjoy," McBride said. "As I expected, the top translations shopped were NIV (New International Version) and ESV (English Standard Version). I saw one lady with four ESV Study Bibles along with some other Bibles. A surprising number of people were interested in the New American Standard. I usually sell quite a few copies of The Message, but there wasn't that much interest in it. The NLT (New Living Translation) seemed to do fairly well, too."

"We had just slightly lower sales than last year, which is not bad, given we just moved into our new space," he said. "There were a few times when you couldn't fit another person down the aisle. ... It seemed as soon as one group of people was done browsing, another group would take their place."McBride added that it was "a great sale" overall.

The store sold 96 NIV and 39 ESV Bibles during the sale. Interestingly, Baker Book House's annual Bible sales by translation in 2012 followed the same trend with its top five sellers the day of the sale. Last year, the store sold 4,152 NIV (including sales of The Story), 893 ESV, 576 KJV (King James Version) Bibles, 555 NLT and 321 The Message Bibles.

Publisher recognized with awards in the Apologetics/Evangelism, Missions/Global Affairs and Theology/Ethics categories

Oxford University Press books has topped the Christianity Today Book Awards, the magazine announced.

Sixty-eight publishers nominated 455 titles published last year for the publication’s annual list of best books. Christianity Today selected the top books in each category, with panels of judges then choosing 10 winners and selecting nine awards of merit.

Oxford University Press was recognized three times, with awards in the Apologetics/Evangelism category for Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism by Alvin Plantinga; the Missions/Global Affairs category for Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation by Daniel Philpott; and the Theology/Ethics category for The Theology of Jonathan Edwards by Michael J. McClymond and Gerald R. McDermott.

Other winners in the 24th annual listing were: A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New by G. K. Beale (Baker Academic/Baker Publishing Group) in Biblical Studies; Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics by Ross Douthat (Free Press) in Christianity and Culture; Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good by Amy L. Sherman (InterVarsity Press) in Christian Living; Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry In Your City by Timothy Keller (Zondervan) in Church/Pastoral Leadership; Evangellyfish by Douglas Wilson (Canon Press) in Fiction; Summoned from the Margin: Homecoming of an African by Lamin Sanneh in History/Biography; and Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren F. Winner (HarperOne) in Spirituality.

Number of entries in the sixth annual program topped previous years with submissions

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced the winners of the ECPA/dp Book Cover Award program. The publishers’ group reported its best year with 101 submissions from 19 publishers for the sixth annual program, which is sponsored by Dickinson Press. 

Launched in 2007, the awards aim to educate, promote and recognize superior cover design in Christian publishing. This year, the program presented two awards, one for design and one for research-based marketability.

“We were very pleased to continue the valuable component matching design to consumer behavior—while adding more criteria related to design merits,” said ECPA President and CEO Mark Kuyper. “The industry responded enthusiastically and we saw a record number of entries from a record number of publishers this year.”

Managed by Faceout Studio and highlighting the art aspect of book covers, the ECPA Book Cover Design Award was introduced last year and focused on the design merits of a cover, including the level of conceptual thinking, the quality of the execution and appropriateness for the market.

Announced Dec. 12, Design winners were: Love Does by Bob Goff and designed by Connie Gabbert (Thomas Nelson) in the Large Publisher category; Daddy, Is That Story True or Were You Just Preaching? by James W. Moore and designed by David Carlson (Abingdon Press) in the Mid-Sized Publisher category; and The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung and designed by Josh Dennis (Crossway) in the Small Publisher category.

Managed by RISC AmeriScan and highlighting the science aspect of covers, the Consumer Research award is based on the consumer-buying research of the Research Institute for Social Change (RISC), which measures consumer motivations as it relates to cover design and book sales. Covers were judged and analyzed on how well their design elements match characteristics of their intended audience.

Consumer Research winners were: Soul Detox by Craig Groeschel and designed by Curt Diepenhorst (Zondervan) in the Large Publisher category; What Every Man Wishes His Father Had Told Him by Byron Forrest Yawn and designed by Koechel Peterson & Associates (Harvest House Publishers) in the Mid-Sized Publisher category; and Spark by Jason Jaggard and designed by Kristopher Orr (WaterBrook Press) in the Small Publisher category.

“The book cover is advertising what the book is all about,” said Rick Hamm, director of RISC AmeriScan Research, who pointed out that the judges looked at the full book cover, not just the front. 

The art and science aspects of the awards were judged separately and operated independently from each other.

The winners received a black glass plaque with a metal plate exhibiting the colors of the book cover winners.