Pope Benedict XVI announced today that he will resign at the end of the month after eight years leading the Roman Catholic Church.

"After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," the pope told cardinals gathered for a meeting to approve the canonization of new saints.

Elected in April 2005, Pope Benedict is the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII did so in 1415.

William P. Young's Cross Roads (FaithWords) charted at No. 1 on both the General and Fiction best-sellers lists from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), tracking sales for the week ending Feb. 2, according to Pubtrack Christian data.

The rest of the Top 20 General best-sellers were: 2. Coming Home, Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 3. Jesus Calling, Sarah Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 4. Jesus Calling, Young, deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 5. Fight Your Way to a Better Marriage, Greg Smalley (Howard Books); 6. Draw the Circle, Mark Batterson (Zondervan); 7. The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn (FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group); 8. Jesus Today, Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 9. Jesus Calling, Young, women's edition (Thomas Nelson); 10. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing); 11. Jesus Calling, Young, large print deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 12. I Declare, Joel Osteen (FaithWords); 13. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C Cook); 14. The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis (Zondervan; 15. Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 16. Radical, David Platt (Multnomah Books); 17. Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); 18. The One Year Book of Hope Devotional, Nancy Guthrie (Tyndale House Publishers); 19. Love & Respect, Emerson Eggerichs (Thomas Nelson); and 20. Multiply, Francis Chan, Mark Beuving (David C Cook).

The rest of the Top 10 Fiction best-sellers were: 2. Coming Home; 3. The Harbinger; 4. The Screwtape Letters; 5. Vanished, "Private Justice" No. 1, Irene Hannon (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 6. Bees in the Butterfly Garden, "Gilded Legacy" No. 1, Maureen Lang (Tyndale ); 7. Abducted, "Pacific Coast Justice" No. 2, Janice Cantore (Tyndale); 8. Shattered, Alaskan Courage" No. 2, Dani Pettrey (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 9. The Last Disciple, "The Last Disciple" No. 1, Hank Hanegraaff, Sigmund Brouwer (Tyndale); and 10. Trauma Plan, "Grace Medical" No. 1, Candace Calvert (Tyndale).

The top five Bibles were: 1. The Story, NIV, deluxe, hardcover, New International Version (Zondervan); 2. ESV Pew Bible, hardcover, red, English Standard Version (Crossway); 3. ESV Pew & Worship Bible, hardcover, blue (Crossway); 4. The Story: Teen Edition, NIV, softcover (Zondervan); and 5. NIV Celebrate Recovery Bible, softcover (Zondervan).

Gary Chapman, author of the New York Times best-seller The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts (Northfield Publishing/Moody Publishers), appeared on Oprah’s Lifeclass to discuss the love languages. Timed just ahead of Valentine’s Day, Chapman appeared on the show yesterday and will appear again today. After the Oprah appearance, the book ranked at No. 2 on Amazon's best-sellers list.

On the show, Oprah takes a quiz to learn her love language, and Chapman explains how knowing which love language your spouse speaks can transform your relationship. The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck explains how the book changed her marriage, and couples demonstrate how considering their spouse’s love language brought their marriages back from the brink of divorce.

Companies and authors are invited to enter their top releases in the 2013 Christian Retailing’s Best awards, honoring the best products in the Christian retail market. This Friday, Feb. 15, is the deadline to enter this year’s awards program, which is sponsored by Christian Retailing magazine.

Entries are invited in more than 60 categories of 2012 products—books, Bibles, gifts, music, DVDs, children’s products and more—along with categories for Marketing/Promotion Campaigns and Backlist titles. Click here to nominate. Those nominating will be invoiced for the entry fee of $60 per nomination, and no sample product is required this year.

Click here to see a complete listing of the 2013 categories, which includes new categories such as Fiction: Amish; Curriculum: Sunday School; and Seasonal/Holiday gifts. First-time authors also have their own category.

Following the nomination period, Christian retailers and others in the Christian products industry—including authors, editors, literary agents and distributors—will be invited to vote. Voting details will appear in the March print issue of Christian Retailing (Click here to sign up for the digital issue) and in the Christian Retailing Update e-newsletter (Click here to sign up for Update).

Winners of the Christian Retailing’s Best awards—formerly known as the Retailers Choice Awards—will be announced at the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis in June.

For more information, e-mail Editor Christine Johnson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The July 2012 acquisition of Thomas Nelson by HarperCollins helped improve the earnings of the parent company.

In a statement regarding its "favorable" second quarter that ended Dec. 31, HarperCollins said: "Once again, the company benefitted from the acquisition of Nelson and the continued growth of e-book sales."

News Corp., which owns HarperCollins, said the book publishing business related to the Nelson acquisition more than offset lower advertising revenues from its Australian newspapers. The acquisition helped to boost the parent company's quarterly publishing income to $234 million, an increase of $16 million compared to the same period a year ago.

HarperCollins didn't elaborate on how specifically it received a boost from acquiring Nelson, which along with Zondervan comprises HarperCollins Christian Publishing, HarperCollins' Christian division.

In fall 2011, HarperCollins agreed to buy Thomas Nelson, but did not disclose the purchase price although it was reported by several media outlets to be $200 million. In mid-2010, an investor group led by Kohlberg & Co. bought majority ownership in the Nashville-based publishing company.

CBA and convention organizer Freeman have launched a new program for exhibitors to help improve return on investment (ROI) at the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), to be held June 23-26 in St. Louis.

CBA's "ICRS Cost Savings" will communicate tips, techniques and best practices to increase efficiencies, and boost sales and marketing impact. The program includes a weekly e-newsletter for suppliers and prospective vendors with links to resources and information on how to save money and increase sales.

CBA President Curtis Riskey said exhibitors often could make slight adjustments in operations and logistics to generate more leads, booth traffic and sales.

"We are seeing a greater need for trade shows, while at the same time economic circumstances make measuring ROI more critical," Riskey said. "Our goal with the cooperative initiative with Freeman is to make exhibiting time more productive before ICRS, during the event and post ICRS."

A number of new ICRS initiatives will expand marketing opportunities for exhibitors and provide a forum for obtaining more qualified leads, CBA said. The initiatives will also expand exhibitor reach in marketing, advertising and promotion.

"Seeing new products, learning new ideas and improving business operations are key reasons buyers attend trade shows," Riskey said. "We are developing a combined strategy to bring more buyers to the show, while offering new, cost-effective ways to exhibit."

Toby Purdy, Freeman chief marketing officer, added: "This combined effort will help exhibitors take advantage of a number of Freeman programs designed to significantly save time and money, while increasing tradeshow effectiveness."

ICRS Cost Savings also features an educational paper on how to reduce material-handling costs; a first-time exhibitor video and helpful tips to improve sales; and a live webinar for exhibitors.

Click here for more information on CBA's ICRS Cost Savings.

Shawn Myers has been promoted to chief operations officer at Bridge-Logos, the Alachua, Fla., charismatic publisher that was recently acquired by three new owners. Myers, who has been with the company about seven years, also retains her position as sales and marketing manager.

The former owner of the company was Catherine “Kitty” Morrell, co-founder of the company, who died in 2009. The new owners are: Suzanne Wooldridge, the daughter of Guy and Kitty Morrell; Ed Harding, former president of New Wine Ministries in the United Kingdom; and Lloyd Hildebrand, Bridge-Logos' publisher.