Difference Media—home to some of the leading names in Southern Gospel music and a division of John Hagee’s Cornerstone Church in San Antonio—recently signed an exclusive distribution agreement with EMI CMG Distribution, now called Capitol Christian Distribution.

Capitol will oversee worldwide retail distribution at both Christian and mainstream outlets, as well as digital distribution, for upcoming releases from artists including Aaron & Amanda Crabb, Canton Junction, Matthew Hagee, Tim Duncan, The Cornerstone Sanctuary Choir, John Hagee and The Hagees.

Lori March Scourby, wife of well-known Bible narrator Alexander Scourby, died in her sleep March 19. She was 90.

Scourby was born in Hollywood, Calif., on March 6, 1923 to actor Theodore Von Eltz and screenwriter Peggy Prior, and she attended Beverly Hills High School. She moved to New York in 1939 to study acting and got her first role in 1940, working under the pseudonym "Lori March."

Scourby went on to become a well-known actress on television, Broadway and film, working on serials such as The Brighter Day and The Secret Storm. During the height of her career, she was called "the First Lady of Daytime Television."

While living in New York, she met Alexander Scourby, an established actor, whom she married May 12, 1943. He died in 1985 at age 71.

Litchfield Associates recently released the KJV Audio Bible App, featuring Alexander Scourby, who the Chicago Tribune said had "the greatest voice ever recorded." He was the first to narrate a recording of the King James Version Bible in the 1950s on long play records, said officials for U.K.-based company. Since then, millions of cassettes, CDs, DVDs and MP3s featuring the work of the Shakespearean-trained narrator have been sold.

Taking place in the fall for the first time, the 44th Annual Gospel Music Association (GMA) Dove Awards will be held Oct. 15 at Allen Arena on the campus of Nashville's historic Lipscomb University, and will be nationally televised on GMC TV. In another first, GMA has added a feature film category to the awards in response to the rise of inspirational films.

In a letter sent to association members just before Christmas, GMA Executive Director Jackie Patillo wrote that the organization was moving the Dove Awards back to Nashville after a two-year run in Atlanta, and switching its marquee event from April to October.

The "bold move from spring to fall was an intentional shift" by the association to make this year's event "an unforgettable celebration of the message and artistry that defines the gospel/Christian genre leading into the industry's most significant retail sales season," GMA said.

"This year we will not only pay tribute to the music and its makers, but we will shine a light on those who have experienced the music as a lifeline," Patillo said.

GMA has partnered with The Dove Foundation, known for its Dove Seal of approval for filmed entertainment, to develop the new film category and to ensure the creditability of this award.

"I am delighted that such a highly respected organization as the GMA is recognizing Christian films," said Dick Rolfe, The Dove Foundation's co-founder and CEO. "GMA has been a big part of my life ever since my years in Christian radio and television."

Food for the Hungry, which provides emergency relief and long-term development programs to help the world's poor and needy, is this year's Dove Awards ministry partner.

Dove nominees are scheduled to be announced Aug. 22. The event's hosts and performers, and Dove-related events will be announced in the coming months.

Click here for more information on the Dove Awards.

Tyndale House Publishers has joined forces with Christian retail chains and independent retailers to distribute more than 200,000 Bibles to students in Ghana.

In a partnership with Scripture Union, Family Christian Stores, Mardel Christian & Education and a number of independent stores in the U.S., Tyndale launched the Ghana Student Edition Bible project in the spring 2012, aiming to see 500,000 special editions presented to high school students in Ghana. The project was the brainchild of the country's former president, Dr. John Evans Atta Mills and First Lady Dr. Ernestina Naadu Mills, who penned an introductory letter that was included in the Bible.

With a glossy, faux leather cover featuring the Ghanian national colors of red, yellow and green, the Bible was offered to stores with a display case inviting customers to donate a copy for $5.99 and sign their name on a book plate.

Fifty percent of Ghana's population of 17 million is under 18. Schools in the West African nation are allowed to read and teach the Bible as well as share the gospel with students.

"While the door of opportunity remains open to the gospel in Ghana, we must act," said Mary Chapman, brand and product director at Tyndale, who recently traveled to Ghana to kick off the Bible distribution with Scripture Union. "We cannot take this open door for granted. Seeing the faces of the young people who were anxious and excited about receiving the Word of God was truly a sight to behold."

In the past five years, Tyndale's Christian retail channel exclusives have distributed nearly 2 million Bibles to those in the military, prison and crisis pregnancy centers through various Bible campaigns.

Joel C. Rosenberg's Damascus Countdown, "The Twelfth Imam" No. 3 (Tyndale House Publishers) debuted at No. 2 on the Fiction best-sellers and at No. 6 on the General best-sellers from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), tracking sales for the week ending March 9, according to Pubtrack Christian data. The novel was released March 5.

The rest of the Top 20 General best-sellers were: 1. Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); 2. Jesus Calling, Sarah Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 3. Pursued, Jud Wilhite (FaithWords); 4. Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 5. The Chance, Karen Kingsbury (Howard Books; 6. Damascus Countdown; 7. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing/Moody Publishers); 8. The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, Kevin and Alex Malarkey (Tyndale House Publishers); 9. Jesus Calling, Young, large print deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 10. Jesus Today, Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 11. The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn (FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group); 12. Jesus Calling, Young, women's edition (Thomas Nelson); 13. Jesus Calling, Young, deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 14. Gods at War, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); 15. The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren (Zondervan); 16. Daily Wisdom for Women: 2013 Devotional Collection (Barbour Publishing); 17. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C Cook); 18. Praying God's Word, Beth Moore (B&H Books); 19. Love Does, Bob Goff (Thomas Nelson); and 20. One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp (Zondervan).

The Top 10 Fiction best-sellers were: 1. The Chance; 2. Damascus Countdown; 3. The Harbinger; 4. Sacrifice, "Abram's Daughters" No. 3, Beverly Lewis (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 5. The Bible: A Story of God and All of Us, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (FaithWords); 6. The Icecutter's Daughter, "Land of Shining Water" No. 1, Tracie Peterson (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 7. The Last Disciple, "The Last Disciple" No. 1, Hank Hanegraaff and Sigmund Brouwer (Tyndale); 8. Abducted, "Pacific Coast Justice" No. 2, Janice Cantore (Tyndale); 9. Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers (Multnomah Books); and 10. The Shack, Young (Windblown Media/Hachette Book Group).

The top five Bibles were: 1. The Story, NIV, deluxe, hardcover, New International Version (Zondervan); 2. NLT God Sightings, softcover, New Living Translation (Tyndale); 3. NLT New Believer's Bible, softcover (Tyndale); 4. NIV Teen Study Bible, leather, Italian Duo-Tone, mud splat moss (Zonderkidz); and 5. ESV Thinline Value Edition Bible, TruTone, chestnut, filigree design, English Standard Version (Crossway).

Grupo Nelson recently launched—and sold out—of the Spanish version of the award-winning Glo Bible, a first for the Thomas Nelson Spanish imprint.

In addition to five Bible translations and an atlas, Glo features more than 7,500 encyclopedia articles, 2,300 high-resolution photos, approximately 500 virtual tours of ancient biblical sites and 140 maps of the Holy Land.

Immersion Digital's Glo was voted best in the Bible category in the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's annual Christian Book Awards in 2010—the first interactive digital Bible to win in the category. The Glo Bible is published by Zondervan, now a sister company to Nelson under the HarperCollins Christian Publishing umbrella.

"Zondervan took a smart, strategic risk when [it] originally launched the English version of Glo in 2010," said Mark Schoenwald, president and CEO of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. "The company discovered a consumer need. Grupo Nelson realized that the Spanish Bible market also had shown a digital shift and partnering with Immersion Digital ensured that we would be the first to meet the consumer demand."

The original Spanish Glo is for computers using a Windows-based system. In the next few months, the Spanish version of Glo will be made available for Mac and iOS devices.

Click here for more information on the Spanish Glo.

Continuing an upward trend in e-book sales, religious presses reported a nearly 23% increase for the first 11 months of 2012 versus January-November 2011, with sales of more than $53 million, according to the latest figures available from the Association of American Publishers (AAP). The association has also seen double-digit growth in religious digital books in recent months.

Overall, religious book sales for the year-to-date versus the same time frame in 2011 saw a 3.7% drop to more than $542 million. AAP has seen a decrease in overall religious book sales during recent reports.

Religious paperback sales experienced a more than 15% decrease for the year-to-date versus January-November 2011, with sales of $162 million. In the same date range, religious hardcover sales were down 1%, with sales of more than $274 million.

For the month of November, though, religious presses saw hardcover sales rise more than 25% compared to November 2011. Religious paperback sales also rose 6.6% in November 2012, as did e-books, which were up 16%.

With nearly 1,200 publishers reporting, AAP's Monthly StatShot report included data from Concordia Publishing House, Gospel Light, Moody Publishers, NavPress, Thomas Nelson and Tyndale House Publishers, among others represented by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.