Several Christian author groups are joining forces to present a free webinar, "Take Your Author to Work Day During Christian Store Week," scheduled for noon EST Thursday, Aug. 30. The webinar aims to help retailers connect with authors for effective in-store events during CBA's third annual Christian Store Week (CSW), set for Sept. 28-Oct. 8.

Author Angela Breidenbach will facilitate the event, which will include brief presentations and discussion by Bonnie Calhoun, president of the Christian Authors Network; Karen Porter, president of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association; and Margaret Daley, president of American Christian Fiction Writers. Additionally, Suzanne Kuhn of SuzyQ, an events and author-promotion firm, will offer insider information for promotion planning.

The event is intended for Christian retailers and authors interested in promoting CSW. The author groups will be promoting the week through their "I Support Christian Retailing" initiative, Breidenbach said.

Click here to register for the webinar.

CSW will feature an enhanced compilation CD, which will be sold exclusively through Christian stores. The EMI CMG-produced compilation will feature authors, artists and partner companies, who are all donating royalties, fees and commissions for the CD. Proceeds will benefit World Vision food programs across the nation. In the past two years, CSW has raised more than $100,000 through benefit CDs, which benefitted Christian relief programs.

Click here for more information and retailer registration for Christian Store Week.

Sarah Young's mega-selling devotional holds several high-ranking spots on the General best-sellers from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) this week, tracking sales for the week ending Aug. 18, according to Pubtrack Christian data.

The Top 20 General best-sellers were: 1. Jesus Calling, 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. KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2012-2013, large print softcover (Standard Publishing); 6. Jesus Calling, Young, large print deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 7. Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); 8. Jesus Calling, Young, deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 9. The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson (Zondervan); 10. Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 11. NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2012-2013, softcover (Standard Publishing); 12. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing); 13. Coming Home, Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 14. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C Cook); 15. Made to Crave, Lysa TerKeurst (Zondervan); 16. NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2012-2013, large print softcover (Standard Publishing); 17. Boundaries, Henry Cloud, John Townsend (Zondervan); 18. Beautiful Outlaw, John Eldredge (FaithWords); 19. One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp (Zondervan); and 20. Battlefield of the Mind, Joyce Meyer (FaithWords).

The Top 10 Fiction best-sellers were: 1. The Harbinger; 2. Coming Home; 3. The Struggle, "Kentucky Brothers," No. 3, Wanda E. Brunstetter (Barbour Publishing); 4. Lethal Legacy, "Guardians of Justice" No. 3, Irene Hannon (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 5. Whispers in the Wind, "Wild West Wind," No. 2, Lauraine Snelling (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 6. Loving, "Bailey Flanigan Series," No. 4, Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 7. Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers (Multnomah Books); 8. The Fiddler, "Home to Hickory Hollow" No. 1, Beverly Lewis (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 9. The Noticer, Andy Andrews (Thomas Nelson); and 10. The Choice, Robert Whitlow (Thomas Nelson).

The top five Bibles were: 1. The Story, NIV, deluxe, hardcover, New International Version (Zondervan); 2. NIV Adventure Bible, hardcover, (Zonderkidz); 3. The Story: Teen Edition, NIV, softcover (Zondervan); 4. NLT Hands-on Bible, hardcover (Tyndale House Publishers); and ESV Value Church and Pew Bible, hardcover, blue, English Standard Version (Crossway).

A documentary based on New York Times best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza's 2010 book, The Roots of Obama's Rage (Regnery Press), will expand nationwide this weekend after doing notable business in select markets across the country, including New York City. Featuring the tagline "Love him or hate him, you don't know him," 2016: Obama's America was produced by Gerald R. Molen (Schindler's List).

2016: Obama's America grossed $1.2 million last weekend as its theater count grew from 61 to 169 for a total box office gross of $2 million, the second-best showing of the year for a documentary after Bully ($3.2 million), The Hollywood Reporter observed.

The movie came in at No. 13 at the box office at the weekend, just behind Ted and Ice Age: Continental Drift, representing a bump of 293% from the previous week, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Now the No. 2 conservative documentary after Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed ($7.7 million), the film projects what the world might look like should Obama be re-elected. Today, Obama's America, co-directed by D'Souza and John Sullivan, will expand to 1,075 theaters on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., which gets under way Aug. 27.

Other books by D'Souza—president of The King's College in New York City and a former White House analyst—include Godforsaken and What's So Great About Christianity (both Tyndale House Publishers). His daughter, Danielle D'Souza, is realeasing her first book, Y God, with Regal in October.

Click here for more information on 2016: Obama's America. 

Featuring the text of the ESV Bible (English Standard Version), renowned Scottish composer and conductor James MacMillan's Since It Was the Day of Preparation had its world premiere Wednesday, Aug 22, at the Edinburgh International Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The choral piece was co-commissioned by Crossway, publisher of the ESV, and Soli Deo Gloria in collaboration with the Scottish government's Edinburgh Music Festival Expo Fund and The Binks Trust. MacMillan's hour-long chamber work centers on the figure of Christ, with Synergy Vocals, renowned bass vocalist Brindley Sherratt and the Hebrides Ensemble.

MacMillan used the ESV Bible to retell the greatest story ever told in the piece.

"When I finished writing the Passion at the point where Christ dies, my mind turned immediately to the next bit of text, opening with the words 'since it was the day of preparation,' " MacMillan said. "The challenge was to pick up the story again and take it right through to the resurrection."

The Edinburgh International Festival, which started Aug. 9 and runs through Sept. 2, spotlights the world's best in music, opera, theater and dance.

Click here for more information on MacMillan's Since It Was the Day of Preparation. 

Social e-reading platform BookShout! has inked a deal with Random House, the parent company of Multnomah Books and WaterBrook Press, joining 120 publishers whose books are now available via the app.

"As the largest of the 'Big 6' publishers, Random House brings a lot of cache to BookShout!, along with its amazing list of books and authors that I know our users will love," said Jason Illian, founder and CEO of Rethink Books. "Within the next month, we'll have more books for sale than Apple did upon its iBooks launch, and I'm excited to be able to bring such a broad selection to readers on our platform."

Capitalizing on the growing digital market, Dallas-based technology start-up Rethink Books launched BookShout! in April, touted as "a revolutionary new reading platform" that enables users to engage and interact with each other while reading digital books—allowing friends to read books together, whether nearby or far apart.

Developed during the past two years for the Christian market, BookShout! is "a perfect fit for the Christian audience," Illian said. "We are all part of the body of Christ, and we were designed to engage around the Bible and other meaningful books. We are simply using technology to enhance our interactions, both in person and virtually."

Every major Christian publisher participated in the BookShout! launch with a number of free e-books. Altogether, approximately 10,000 titles are available for purchase through the BookShout! store from publishers such as Zondervan and Tyndale.

Click here for more information on BookShout!. 

Along with Thomas Nelson's longtime Women of Faith Christian tour, other publishers are offering women's events this fall. Women Redeemed: Addressing the Issues No One Wants to Talk About will spotlight Kregel Publications' new line of books on difficult topics such as miscarriage, abortion and abuse, seeking to help women gain healing and hope.

A live webcast at 8 p.m. EST, Sept. 20 will feature authors Kim Ketola (Cradle My Heart), Teske Drake (Hope for Today, Promises for Tomorrow) and Dawn Scott Jones (When a Woman You Love Was Abused).

"Most recently, we've focused on providing quality resources on topics that are all too common, but very often ignored by both the reader and the church at large," said Cat Hoort, marketing and publicity manager for Kregel. "Abuse, abortion and miscarriage, for example, are common challenges for even the most committed Christian. Yet fear, embarrassment or a lack of knowledge on these issues has kept people silent far too long."

Click here for more information on Women Redeemed.

Meanwhile, Logos Bible Software is sponsoring the Defined by God Conference, set for Nov. 1-3 in San Diego. The free event will feature speakers and authors, who are wives of influential pastors, sharing the victories and struggles of being a pastor's wife, and equipping women to strengthen their marriages, families, ministries and friendships.

Featured speakers include Renewal Ministries Executive Vice President Jani Ortlund (wife of Immanuel Church Senior Pastor Ray Ortlund), Amy Groeschel (author, teacher and wife of LifeChurch.tv Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel) and Lisa Chan (wife of inner-city pastor and best-selling author Francis Chan).

Click here for more information on the Defined by God Conference. 

Calvin Miller, author, speaker, pastor and seminary professor, died Sunday, Aug. 19, in Birmingham, Ala., after complications from heart surgery he had less than two weeks ago. He was one week shy of his 76th birthday.

Miller was the author of more than 100 titles, including The Singer Trilogy (InterVarsity Press), which sold 1 million copies in the late 1970s, The Book of Jesus (Touchstone Faith), Into the Depths of God (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group), The Empowered Leader (B&H Academic/B&H Publishing Group) and the recently released Letters to Heaven (Worthy Publishing). Thomas Nelson published his memoirs, Life is Mostly Edges, in 2008.

"As a writer, Calvin Miller offered that rare combination of preacher and artist," said author Philip Yancey. "He looked with the eyes of an artist, sensitive to story, beauty, and human empathy; then he wove it all together in a message of deep Christian hope."

Matt Baugher, vice president and publisher at Thomas Nelson, said Miller's "legacy and the God he served so well are an ongoing inspiration to me and untold thousands of others. Several members of the Nelson team admitted that 'Calvin truly made some dynamic contributions to the development of my heart.' "

In total, Miller's books sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. His final book, tentatively titled The Vanishing Evangelical, is set to release next March by Baker Books/Baker Publishing Group. At the time of his death, he was working on a book about the kingdom. The books he wrote included fiction, nonfiction, devotional, leadership, children's picture books, poetry, specialty Bibles, Bible study guides and many books on the deeper life.

"We are all shocked and heartsick by his sudden passing," said his longtime literary agent and friend, Greg Johnson of WordServe Literary. "He was a true renaissance man if there ever was one. Few knew that he was also a fabulous painter, a wonderful piano player ... he lived to create.

"He was also an insightful and entertaining speaker with a great sense of humor," Johnson added. "He continued to travel more than 30 weekends a year to speak at churches and seminaries. He will be greatly missed by the kingdom and all of us who had the privilege of knowing him well."

Starting in January 1966, Miller pastored Westside Church in Omaha, Neb., where he served as senior pastor for 25 years. During his pastorate, the congregation grew from 10 to more than 2,500 members.

From 1991 to 1998, Miller served as professor of communication and ministry studies and writer-in-residence at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. In January 1999, he joined the faculty of Samford University, Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, where he retired just a few years ago.