Katie Davis, author of the New York Times best-selling book Kisses from Katie (Howard Books), has been named one of eight semi-finalists in Glamour magazine's "Women of the Year Readers' Choice Award."

"Katie's devout commitment to Christ and her zeal for mission work is just the type of example young women in America need," said Jonathan Merkh, publisher of Howard Books. "While Katie herself may not want or need this award, I think it would benefit our culture for her to be named Glamour's Readers' Choice Winner. I want everyone to vote."

Davis was recently featured in People magazine, spotlighting Kisses from Katie, which details her ministry work in Uganda and her adoption of 13 girls from the East African country. Released in October 2011, the book debuted at No. 10 on the New York Times Paperback Nonfiction list for the week of Sept. 23.

Click here for more information Glamour magazine's "Women of the Year Readers' Choice Award."  Voting closes today, Sept. 19, at 11:59 p.m., EST.

Citing "religious objection," Hobby Lobby and its sister company, Mardel Christian & Education, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a mandate in the nation's healthcare overhaul law that requires employers to provide coverage for the "morning-after," abortion-inducing pill and similar drugs.

Filed Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, the suit by the Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby chain claims the government mandate is forcing the company’s owners "to violate their deeply held religious beliefs under threat of heavy fines, penalties and lawsuits." Failure to provide the drugs in the company’s health insurance plan could lead to fines of up to $1.3 million a day, the company said.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld "ObamaCare" as constitutional. Formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare includes a "preventive services" mandate, which forces businesses to provide the morning-after and "week-after" pills—without co-pay—in their health insurance plans.

"By being required to make a choice between sacrificing our faith or paying millions of dollars in fines, we essentially must choose which poison pill to swallow," David Green, Hobby Lobby CEO and founder, said in a statement. "We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate."

The lawsuit was also filed on behalf of Mardel, another of the Green family's businesses. Green's son, Mart Green, is president of Mardel, and several of his grandchildren also work in the Christian retail chain that operates 35 stores in seven states and has 372 full-time employees. Hobby Lobby is self-insured and will be required to comply with the mandate by Jan. 1, the start of its health insurance plan year.

"We are confident that the court will act quickly," said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C., which represents Hobby Lobby, Associated Press (AP) reported. "This mandate violates the religious liberty of millions of Americans. The government has turned a deaf ear to the rights of business owners."

Duncan said the lawsuit does not challenge rules regarding a variety of other birth-control measures. He added that 27 other lawsuits have been filed nationwide over the mandate, mostly by nonprofit groups.

Founded in 1972, Hobby Lobby operates more than 500 stores in 41 states and employs more than 13,000 full-time employees who are eligible for health insurance coverage.

Send The Light Distribution has launched a new initiative to help Christian retailers serve and attract business from churches. Church Supply Source will enable retailers to more easily connect with local congregations to let pastors and church leaders know about church supplies their store offers.

"We hope to be able to give the stores new resources that will help them to easily approach area churches with information about their offerings," said Send The Light Director of Business Development Karen Bilbrey.

A dedicated webpage features free downloadable flyers for retailers to personalize and take to churches. The site also will showcase monthly specials and key resources, such as advice on what product to carry and what ideas and practices are working for other stores.

Response for the initiative has been "overwhelmingly positive," Bilbrey said. "Retailers that I have met with were thrilled to have some assistance in these challenging times when many have had to cut back on staff due to budgets."

Mark Phillips, vice president of sales and marketing for the distributor, added: "The Church Supply Source is geared to helping stores develop new business in an area they might not feel comfortable with striking out on their own. ... Church supplies is one genre that cannot lose ground due to being digitized, so developing that partnership between stores and area churches is a vital part of retailers being able to improve sales through this market."

Send The Light carries more than 5,000 SKUs of church supply products. Click here for more information on Church Supply Source. 

Max Lucado's latest book, Grace (Thomas Nelson), has climbed to No. 6 on the General best-sellers list from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), tracking sales for the week ending Sept. 8, according to Pubtrack Christian data. Grace was released earlier this month, debuting at No. 14 on the General best-sellers list.

The Top 20 General best-sellers were: 1. Jesus Calling, Sarah Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 2. KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2012-2013, softcover (Standard Publishing); 3. Unglued, Lysa TerKeurst (Zondervan); 4. The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn (FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group); 5. Jesus Calling, Young, deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 6. Grace; 7. Jesus Calling, Young, large print deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 8. KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2012-2013, large print softcover (Standard Publishing); 9. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C Cook); 10. Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 11. Made to Crave, Lysa TerKeurst (Zondervan); 12. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing); 13. Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); 14. What a Difference a Mom Makes, Kevin Leman (Revell/Baker Publishing Group); 15. Coming Home, Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 16. NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2012-2013, softcover (Standard Publishing); 17. The Ultimate Conversation, Charles F. Stanley (Howard Book); 18. Radical, David Platt (Multnomah Books); 19. The Power of the Prophetic Blessing, John Hagee (Worthy Publishing); and Implosion, Joel C. Rosenberg (Tyndale House Publishers).

The Top 10 Fiction best-sellers were: 1. The Harbinger; 2. Coming Home; 3. Accused, "Pacific Coast Justice" No. 1, Janice Cantore (Tyndale); 4. Not in the Heart, Chris Fabry (Tyndale); 5. Promise Me This, Cathy Gohlke (Tyndale); 6. The Bridesmaid, "Home to Hickory Hollow" No. 2, Beverly Lewis (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 7. The Shadow of Your Smile, "Deep Haven" No. 5, Susan May Warren (Tyndale); 8. The Last Plea Bargain, Randy Singer (Tyndale); 9. The Fiddler, "Home to Hickory Hollow" No. 1, Beverly Lewis (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); and 10. Trinity: Military War Dog, "A Breed Apart" No. 1, Ronie Kendig (Barbour Publishing).

The top five Bibles were: 1. The Story, NIV, deluxe, hardcover, New International Version (Zondervan); 2. The Story: Teen Edition, NIV, softcover (Zondervan); 3. NIV Adventure Bible, hardcover, (Zonderkidz); 4. NKJV Baby's First Bible, hardcover, New King James Version (Thomas Nelson); and 5. Celebrate Recovery Bible, NIV, softcover (Zondervan).

Zondervan head Scott Macdonald to serve in advisory role

Mark Schoenwald has been appointed president and CEO of HarperCollins’ new division, comprised of Zondervan and the newly acquired Thomas Nelson.

Formerly president and CEO of Thomas Nelson, Schoenwald will report to Brian Murray, president and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, and will serve on the HarperCollins executive committee.

“Mark is an experienced leader in the Christian publishing market, and we are thrilled to have him at the helm of our newly expanded Christian division,” Murray said. “The new division adds further scale and balance to HarperCollins’ overall portfolio, and Mark will work closely with the leadership teams of HarperCollins, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan to build on the individual strengths of each company.”

Scott Macdonald will leave his position as president and CEO of Zondervan and will serve in an advisory role. HarperCollins did not respond to an inquiry for comment on Macdonald’s position.

“I am grateful to Scott for his leadership and professionalism during his tenure with Zondervan,” Murray said. “He has achieved everything I asked him to achieve at Zondervan during a most challenging time in the company’s history.”

Under Schoenwald’s leadership at Nelson, the company saw both double-digit revenue and operating income growth, and has had several titles place as New York Times best-sellers, including Heaven Is for Real and Jesus Calling.

Schoenwald said he feels “blessed to have the opportunity to lead” HarperCollins’ Christian publishing division.

“I am fortunate to move into this role with the benefit of a strong foundation to build on, coupled with many talented people on both teams,” he said. “I anticipate a smooth transition as we begin to work together, optimizing all strengths to create an even more successful publishing program for these two distinct brand which, combined, have 300 years of publishing experience and history.”

Schoenwald will continue to be based in Nashville, and will spend part of his time in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Zondervan will continue its operations. However, it has only signed a one-year lease.

Zondervan and Nelson each will continue to publish its respective brands and maintain its own editorial focus, “competing as they have in the past, but collaborating where appropriate,” a company statement said.

HarperCollins has “a good record of increasing the value of the companies they purchase,” said David Lewis, executive vice president, sales and marketing at Baker Publishing Group. “I was working at Zondervan the year they bought that company. Our benefits increased, our travel expenses went down—thanks to the size of News Corp.—and we had additional money to invest into the business. It is likely that something similar will happen with Nelson.”

Mark Kuyper, president and CEO of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association said he sees Schoenwald as “an incredibly capable and gifted leader, and I look forward to working with the Zondervan and Thomas Nelson teams in the future. I'm excited to see how both houses will grow under his direction.”

Last fall, HarperCollins agreed to buy Thomas Nelson, but did not disclose the purchase price. In mid-2010, an investor group led by Kohlberg & Co. bought majority ownership in the Nashville publishing company.

Covenant Group member store started with God’s call to a machinist

A machinist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Curtis McGinnis believed he was called by God to do something very different than his day-to-day work. In 1976, he saw the first fruits of his obedience at the opening of the original Knoxville, Tenn., location of Cedar Springs Christian Stores, which are today part of the Covenant Group.

“He knew nothing about the bookstore business,” said Vicki Geist, daughter of Curtis and Lois McGinnis who was 15 when her parents started the store. Geist moved to Ohio for a time and became a sales rep for Enesco when Precious Moments were big, and is now a buyer for the store who oversees personnel and manages the store layout as well.

“When you are called, you begin to listen, read and learn how to be the best at what you are called to,” Curtis said. “We were very fortunate to have a lot of good people to help us, and with the help of CBA, we managed to do what we have done.”

He kept his Oak Ridge job for seven years, and his wife also continued her job there. Starting at age 15, their daughter and her aunt worked at Cedar Springs’ first store, the 1,600-square-foot Kingston Pike location that has since gone out of operation.

Eventually, Cedar Springs grew to three East Tennessee locations in Knoxville and Oak Ridge, but along the way went through many changes and expansions.

Cedar Springs’ current locations include an Oak Ridge store bought in 1992 with a partner who were later bought out and the Clinton Highway location in Knoxville that opened in 2001. Oak Ridge is composed of 5,400 square feet and Clinton Highway 8,000 in total.

The main store—a free-standing location at 504 N. Peters Road in Knoxville—was opened in fall 1995 with a 16,500-square-foot sales floor. Together with office space and two conference rooms, Peters Road is comprised of approximately 35,000 square feet in total.

As with many businesses today, Cedar Springs’ sales have decreased in some areas. Whereas there used to be a buyer for each department, now Vicki and her brother, Link McGinnis, have assumed many responsibilities and wear many hats.

Link, whose expertise is in computers and who formerly worked for The Limited, oversees Cedar Springs’ information technology needs, manages facilities and buys Bibles and homeschool products as well as handling replenishment.

Lois retired a decade ago, while Curtis, still comes into work a couple of days a week, having “semi-retired” four years ago. And though Cedar Springs started as a family business, Link gives credit where credit is due.

“The success of Cedar Springs as in all of the Christian stores around the country really rides on the backs of a lot of really great team members,” he said. “Our employees aren’t just retail clerks—they really care about their customers and hold their role in serving customers as very important. Without the dedication and love for what they do from the back rooms to the front door, a mom-and-pop Christian bookstore in Knoxville, Tenn., would not have this story.”

One area where the store serves the family is the homeschool business. The main store carries 500-600 feet of product from the top names in curriculum and retains Send The Light as its primary distributor.

“We carry a very wide variety,” Link said.

At a curriculum swap held once a year in June, homeschoolers reserve a table for free and choose from each other’s used items while picking up what they need for the coming school year. The swap was so popular this year, it spilled into the receiving department and out into the store’s parking lot. The store also does a booktable at a homeschool event in Knoxville. Homeschoolers receive a free card at these events, or it can be purchased for $5 at other times, for future discounts at the store.

Cedar Springs also resells used homeschool product it buys from customers, who then received “Cedar Springs cash” to purchase any product in the main store.

With 35-foot ceilings at the main location, one of the distinctives is how the store is divided into “houses,” including a kids’ house, a Bible house and a “gift mansion.”

In the gift mansion, jewelry is its biggest category, and apparel—comprised only of T-shirts—is growing more than any other. About six years ago, the store decided to expand beyond Christian lines to carry costume jewelry—and it also carries such general items as women’s wraps and a tunic-style dress that is useful for mission trips, Geist said.

Tees are “increasing 20-40% monthly,” she noted, though she cannot put her finger on a particular reason for the growth. Along with offering Kerusso, Red Letter 9 and other lines, it is selling the “It’s a Girl Thing” apparel, which is being tested at Cedar Springs and in the Mardel chain. The store also purchases promotional shirts for special occasions like Mother’s Day, which sell very well.

As with homeschool products, Cedar Springs has a resell section for fiction, but in all three stores. It also does a special fiction sale in the summer that is promoted by direct mail, but with e-books gaining in the market, fiction has become “the hardest-hit category,” Geist said.

“In June of this year, we sold half of the number of fiction books that we sold last year,” she added. But overall, “even though it’s declined, we still do 25% of sales in books,” Link observed.

Though the store has had its challenges in areas such as Sunday school curricula and fiction, it has become more innovative and has seen success in multiple categories.

Like many stores, Link said: “We want to hang on to every bit of a business we can.”

Cedar Springs Christian at a glance

Years in existence: 36

Size: 35,000 square feet at the free-standing store, including a 16,500-square-foot sales floor

Staff: 65 mostly part-time employees at all locations

Opening hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday-Saturday at the main store

B&H Publishing Group recently announced the launch of B&H Kids, a new children's imprint aiming to offer “Bible-centered, age-appropriate, engaging content for kids.”

The first children’s titles will feature two film tie-ins, including Firebird by Brent McCorkle and Amy Parker (October)—a story featured in the forthcoming movie Unconditional. The other tie-in release is Courageous Teens by Michael Catt and Amy Parker, released last month as the latest in ancillary products based on the 2011 Sherwood Pictures film, Courageous.

Dan Lynch—previously with Word Records and Tommy Nelson, the children's imprint of Thomas Nelson—heads B&H Kids as lead acquisitions editor, and Mary Katharine Hunt is vice president of marketing. Hunt is formerly a director for LifeWay Kids (which develops church curriculum for children), a division of Lifeway Christian Resources and the parent company of B&H Publishing Group.

B&H Kids is "taking off in a big way with a strong commitment to fun and innovative content and tools to engage children," Lynch said. "Whether it's print or digital, a book or an app, our products are especially geared to help parents and leaders interact with kids in ways that truly make an impact, a powerful difference in their lives."

Other B&H Kids employees include acquisitions editor Dawn Woods, formerly of Thomas Nelson, and marketing strategist Shannon Kozee, most recently a marketing manager at Big Idea, parent company of VeggieTales.

Primarily addressing ages 4-8 and 8-12, B&H Kids products will be especially geared to “empower the adults in kids’ lives,” Lynch said. Young Adult titles are expected to be added in the future.

Digital resources will be built into every product, including the Read to Me Toddlers Bible, which became available last month in English and Spanish with interactive apps, and The 365 Day Children's Bible Storybook (December).

Several complete Bibles for kids featuring "a unique range of classic and modern designs" will be published in winter 2013, the publisher said.