Five-time GRAMMY winner Larnelle Harris will be presented with the 2014 Kentucky Governor’s Artist Award in October. He will receive the award in a public ceremony in the capitol rotunda in Frankfort, Kentucky.

The prestigious award is given to Kentuckians who have made significant contributions to the arts in the Commonwealth, across the country and around the globe. Harris will be the first Christian vocalist to receive the Artist Award since its inception 29 years ago.

Abingdon Press was honored by the 2013 Foreword Reviews’ IndieFab Book of the Year Awards with three awards and an honorable mention recognition. The awards were judged by a select group of librarians and booksellers from around the country and announced at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Las Vegas in June.

The publisher garnered top honor Gold awards for Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible by Debbie Blue in the Adult Nonfiction: Religion category and An Illustrated Guide to the Holy Land for Tour Groups, Students, and Pilgrims by Lamontte M. Luker in the Adult Nonfiction: Travel Guides category. Called to the Fire: A Witness for God in Mississippi: The Story of Dr. Charles Johnson by Chet Bush won Bronze in the Adult Nonfiction: Biography category. The awards also recognized When the Morning Glory Blooms by Cynthia Ruchti with an Honorable Mention award in the Adult Fiction: Religious category.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) announced Tuesday the hiring of Paul G. Martino as vice president and senior policy counsel, and the elevation of Beth Provenzano to vice president for federal government relations.

Martino and Provenzano will work with the NRF Government Relations Department and focus on emerging public policy priorities, including data security, payments, mobile and e-commerce, privacy and patent reform.

“The National Retail Federation looks for world-class talent within our ranks and beyond,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Beth and Paul have been valuable members of our team for a number of years whose in-depth knowledge of the retail industry and relationships on and off Capitol Hill will go a long way in advancing the retail industry’s public policy priorities.”

Martino joins NRF from the Washington office of the national law firm Alston & Bird LLP, where he served as a partner and co-chair of the firm’s privacy and data security practice. He has worked with the retail community as a consultant to NRF on a number of retail industry issues since 2008. Before joining the firm, Martino served as majority counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee and principal advisor on privacy and e-commerce to its chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Provenzano has been with NRF since 2011. She has been leading the retail industry’s efforts on patent litigation reform and continues to play a crucial role in the debate over swipe fees. Before joining NRF, she served as deputy chief of staff for the Office of the Secretary of the Senate and staffed Senators John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Bob Graham, D-Fla.

“As public policy and regulation advance in the technology and privacy realm, NRF is primed and ready for the challenge,” Shay said. “Beth’s promotion and Paul’s hiring send a strong signal that retail is a technologically driven and innovative industry, and that NRF is the voice of this consumer-driven industry.”

Christian Writers Guild (CWG) and its 1Source partner BelieversPress are expanding the Operation First Novel contest. The annual competition will now award three prizes consisting of publication packages with a combined value of more than $30,000.

“The traditional model has changed, and most publishers are taking fewer risks with new authors,” said Guild co-owner Jerry B. Jenkins.

California-based Scents of the Spirit by Ego Eimi offers two different fragrances. Each is accompanied by a Scripture verse that corresponds with its name: Hopeful (Ps. 37:4-5) and Renewed (Is. 40:30-31).

Laci Corzo is founder of the company located in Chino, California. The fragrance line is designed to uplift women as it reminds them of God’s promises and promotes positive thinking.

Dallas Market Center and the producers of the American Made Show announced Wednesday their plans for the American Made Show to debut in Dallas as part of the Total Home & Gift Market. The American Made Show will be held June 25-28, 2015 as part of Dallas’ summer market, June 24-30, 2015.

“Welcoming the American Made Show to Dallas will offer our buyers the largest collection of quality, American-made merchandise in the southern U.S.,” said Bill Winsor, president and CEO, Dallas Market Center. “As champions of unique product and small business, the partnership is a perfect fit, and we look forward to more than 200 independent designers joining us for market in June 2015.”

Thumbs up:

• Convivial atmosphere—friendly retailers, vendors and publishers at the show.
• Many publishers were eager to meet and work with international companies.
• Meet the Authors of Our Daily Bread: The well-planned and well-advertised event gathered more than 500 guests.
• Plenty of high-profile authors to draw lines at book signings.
• Christian Fiction Trends—Interesting presentation and a nice touch to have authors meet directly with guests for a half-hour.
• To kids’ gift company Oodles World for introducing “His Armor,” a line of products for tween and teen boys, an underserved demographic. The line debuted titanium sports necklaces, carabiners, sports socks and other fun products.
• To Dr. Mary Manz Simon for 20 years of educating retailers on the latest trends in children’s products, for always recruiting lots of suppliers to send retailers home with free products and for receiving honors from CBA and Logos Bookstores.
• To Dusty Wells, senior vice president of national accounts for Word Entertainment, for 32 continuous years at CBA shows—and for still having every one of his name badges!
• To CBA for hosting several events that went beyond retailing, including a filmmakers summit and a pastors’ gathering in partnership with RBC Ministries that saw great attendance from the surrounding area.
• To Dr. James Dobson for receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from CBA for his groundbreaking work through Focus on the Family and for his sense of humor as he posed with his life-sized standee on the show floor.
• To Affirm Films for creating a comfortable screening suite that offered groups of up to 20 retailers screenings of upcoming films, not to mention the fun take-home favors like T-shirts, mini footballs and snacks.
• To publishers, distributors and film companies for bringing more personalities to the show. It is important for retailers to meet their customers’ heroes, and ICRS 2014 had plenty of “star power.”
• To Good Works Make a Difference owner Helena Cho for making her CBA debut with wrap bracelets and soy candles that are fashion-forward, priced competitively and displayed on modern fixtures. Even better, the Los Angeles-based Cho donates 25% of her net profits to charity.

Thumbs down:

• Convention center location—Hall C was far enough away as to be a problem for some show attendees getting there at times.
• Shuttle service—Shuttle didn’t ever show up at one hotel supposedly on the ICRS route.
• Unattended workshops—The Selling Christian Rap workshop had no one in attendance--except two reporters. Too early? Too far from the exhibit hall? No interest?
• Overwrought security: Good security is crucial at a convention, but when security doesn’t let in ticketed attendees to events and replies with gruff “no’s,” perhaps it’s a bit too much.
• One new product showcase presented the history of Gospel Light. Where was the new product?
• To a couple of the Christian films that still look, well, pretty cheesy. Just because the door has opened at the box office doesn’t mean that we should subject the public to sub-par plots and production quality.
• For exhibit floor stages that were stuck in the corners of the exhibit hall. These stages offered everything from valuable workshops to award programs to fashion shows—and would have generated show excitement had they been placed in the middle of the floor.
• To slightly overzealous CBA workers who scolded children’s character Rippy for standing in the aisle just outside his booth.
• For poor social media promotion about the show. Correct hashtags and Twitter handles were not promoted adequately.