The 17th annual Catholic Marketing Network (CMN) International Trade Show is set for Aug. 6-9. The show, returning to the East Coast after one year away, will be held at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, N.J., located 35 miles south of New York City.

The exhibition floor will feature the largest display of Catholic books, jewelry, art and religious materials, according to organizers.

"We're very happy to be returning to an East Coast location after a one-year hiatus," said CMN President Alan Napleton. "The East Coast has the largest concentration of Catholic stores in the country, and many have already expressed their happiness that we will be within a day's drive of their location."

Visit www.cmntradeshow.com for more information or call 800-506-6333.

Amy Grant is winning praise and national media attention for her first full studio project in 10 years.

Released May 14, her 18th studio album, How Mercy Looks From Here (Sparrow Records/Capitol Christian Distribution) features James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Will Hoge, Carole King, Eric Paslay and Grant's husband, Vince Gill.

Grant's "time away from music seems to have given [her] a renewed fervor for the job—a feeling that she doesn't plan to extinguish any time soon," Entertainment Tonight observed.

USA Today added that Grant's "singing has an easy grace that's well served by these songs of love, loss, faith and resilience, which benefit from Marshall Altman's spare, glowing production."

Grant, a six-time GRAMMY winner, is scheduled to appear May 17 on CBS This Morning, as well as The View and The Chew this summer.

To read our Meet the Artist conversation with Grant in the May issue of Christian Retailing, visit https://www.christianretailing.com/index.php/product-news/197-meet-the-artist/25504-meet-the-artist-amy-grant.

Gift suppliers aim to prepare stores with ministry resources ahead of the trick-or-treat season.

Children’s expert and best-selling author Mary Manz Simon thinks it wise for Christian retail stores to plan ahead for this season that has grown in popularity among the general population. 

“Halloween has catapulted to become the second-largest retail season of the year,” she said. “But while Christmas, the largest buying season, offers built-in opportunities to share the gospel, we need to look for ways to direct attention to the gospel message during autumn.”

Universal Designs has released new designs of its trick-or-treat Bible Basics bookmarks and Pass-It-On cards.

The National Stationery Show has recognized Ellie Claire’s The Simple Joys of Life Journal as a frontrunner in the 2013 Best New Product Competition in the Lifestyle category, which saw more than 500 entries this year.

A new imprint of Nashville-based Worthy Publishing, Ellie Claire aims “to share the unchanging truth of God’s love in irresistibly creative ways, infusing fresh expressions of faith into their gifts and journals.”

Thomas Nelson has released its first New International Version (NIV), a translation long associated with Zondervan, now a sister company under the HarperCollins Christian Publishing umbrella. The popular The Woman's Study Bible is the first NIV Bible from Nelson.

Nelson has sold more than 1.5 million copies of the Bible in the King James and New King James versions. Released in April, The Woman's Study Bible, NIV "marries this well-liked study format with the best-selling NIV translation," which has sold more than 400 million copies since the translation's first full publication in 1978, company officials said.

In addition to call-out boxes that give context to Jewish culture, cross-referenced Scripture and topical commentary, The Woman's Study Bible, NIV features more than 100 character portraits of women in the Bible; 300-plus articles on topics for women; hundreds of quotes by inspiring women throughout history; and articles by Anne Graham Lotz, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Roberta Hromas, Linda Dillow and Kathy Troccoli.

For more information, visit http://www.thomasnelson.com/the-woman-s-study-bible-niv-4.html.

Aspire Press, an imprint of Rose Publishing, is releasing what it calls "the only Christian divorce-recovery program created just for women."

Available May 29, Live Again: Wholeness After Divorce, created by Michelle Borquez, is an eight-session DVD-based kit discussing topics such as accepting reality, loneliness, forgiveness, sex and dating, respect and wholeness.

"No matter how much pain and loneliness you feel right now, these videos will help you live again and find hope," said Borquez, author, speaker and national spokeswoman for Beth Moore's Loving Well TV special.

It is estimated that between 38% and 50% of divorces each year involve Christians, which means about 400,000 to 500,000 Christian marriages end annually.

In each session of Live Again, Borquez interviews a woman who tells her story of divorce. She also interviews an expert or licensed counselor in each session who gives practical advice on how to heal.

Live Again is available in the DVD Home Edition; Complete DVD Study; and DVD Deluxe Edition. Visit www.LiveAgainDVD.com for more information.

Steven Curtis Chapman, Laura Story and Matthew West are among the major music artists who will kick off the first day of the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), to be held June 23-26 at America's Center Convention Complex in St. Louis.

The artists are part of the lineup for the Worship Him service and New Voices Showcase concert, both to be held at the Ferrara Theater and open to the public. Worship Him is set for 7 p.m., Sunday, June 23, followed by the New Voices at 8:30 p.m.

Story, whose song "Blessings" was named Top Christian Song earlier this year during the Billboard Music Awards, will open the Worship Him service. She will be followed by Max Lucado, the keynote speaker of the service whose newest book, You'll Get Through This, will be released by Thomas Nelson on Sept. 10.

Chapman, who is working on a new Reunion Records album to release in October, will lead worship following Lucado's message.

"It's an album of hope," said Chapman, who with his wife, Mary Beth, lost their 5-year-old daughter, Maria, in an accident in May 2008. "It's an album about being through hard things, and never forgetting those hard things, but knowing now what it looks like on the other side—the depth of relationship with Jesus it brings, the trust and comfort in Christ you find, and the hope for all that's ahead because of God's faithfulness."

West will host the New Voices Showcase, featuring American Idol contestant Danny Gokey, As One, The Vespers, Thi'sl, Todd Ballard and Red Roots. In October, NavPress will release Gokey's Hope in Front of Me, in which he shares his American Idol experience, his wife's unexpected death and new beginnings after devastating loss.

Visit www.christianretailshow.com for more information on ICRS.

To submit your company's booth listing, free of charge, visit www.christianretailing.com/icrs.