Faith-based publishers reported a 22% increase in April from religious e-books compared to the same month last year, according to the latest figures available from the Association of American Publishers (AAP). The category also saw a rise of 47% for the year to date versus January-April 2011, with sales of $45.1 million.

In contrast, religious paperback sales experienced a 34% decrease for the year to date versus January-April 2011, with sales of nearly $57 million. In the same date range, religious hardcover sales were up nearly 6%, with sales of more than $100 million. Overall, book sales from religious publishers for the year to date versus the same time frame in 2011 saw almost a 5% drop to nearly $218 million.

Religious hardcover sales were up almost 5% in April over the same month the previous year to nearly $21 million, while religious paperback sales were down more than 48% for the same period, totaling nearly $12 million. Overall, book sales from religious presses saw almost a 15% decline to $47.4 million in April over the same month the previous year.

Overall, hardcover is still the dominant format for Children's/Young Adult (C/YA). C/YA physical book sales again demonstrated double-digit increases over April 2011 and over year-to-date 2011. E-books for that age again showed triple-digit gains in monthly and year-to-date comparisons. Some publishers attribute this to the ongoing success of blockbuster franchises, but also noted the escalating trend of adults reading YA titles, particularly in e-book format.

With 1,187 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 in the Christian market.

Christian Music Broadcasters (CMB) has announced the finalists of the inaugural Rich Mullins Artist Impact Award head of its Momentum 2012 event. To be presented during Momentum 2012, scheduled for Sept. 5-8 in Orlando, Fla., the award will recognize an artist or group's longtime contributions to the music and ministry of Christian radio.

The finalists are Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Phillips, Craig & Dean, Point of Grace and Steven Curtis Chapman.

Mullins, who died in an automobile accident near Bloomington, Ill., in 1997, was a multiple Dove Award winner, including Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. His songs, which included "Sing Your Praise to the Lord," "Creed," "My Deliverer" and "Awesome God," helped define Christian radio in the 1980s and 1990s.

Similar to the Scott Campbell Industry Achievement Award and the Rob Gregory Community Service Award, the Rich Mullins Artist Impact Award will honor artists nominated by any CMB member—with the winner being chosen by a select panel of voters.

Momentum 2012 will include educational tracks as well as performances by a wide range of artists, including Kutless, Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, Matthew West, Sidewalk Prophets, Jeremy Camp, Brandon Heath, Mark Shultz, Chris August, Group 1 Crew and Meredith Andrews. The fourth annual conference will also coincide with Disney's annual Night of Joy event at the Magic Kingdom, Sept. 7-8.

CMB was formed in 2002 to "unite, develop and protect Christian radio," organization officials said. Click here for more information on the conference. 

Capitalizing on the London Olympics, which ?began July 27 and runs until Aug. 12, several Christian publishers have released titles by Olympians.

Last month, Thomas Nelson published Lopez Lomong's Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey From the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games. Lomong is competing for a medal in the 5,000-meter race at the London games Wednesday, Aug. 8.

Ryan Hall, a contributing author to The Greatest Leader Ever (Regal Books, 2011), was recently interviewed by The New York Times about his faith and how it became the central part of his training for his Aug. 12 marathon.

In September, Zonderkidz will release Reaching New Heights: The Kelly Clark Story. A two time medal-winning snowboarder, Clark will compete at the 2014 Winter Games in Russia. Proceeds from the book will go to the Kelly Clark Foundation, which helps U.S. student athletes pay for their tuition at mountain schools.

In June, Tyndale House Publishers released 2008 Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson's Winning Balance: What I've Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams. She appeared last month at the International Christian Retail Show in Orlando, Fla., to promote the book. A former winner of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, Johnson will also appear on the show this fall.

Also in June, Zonderkidz published Speed to Glory: The Cullen Jones Story. Jones was the second African-American in history to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

In May, Thomas Nelson released Redemption, which tells the story of Bryan Clay, winner of the 2008 Olympic gold medal and the 2004 Olympic silver medal in the decathlon. Clay, who went from being a fist-fighting, drug-using, suicidal kid in Hawaii to experiencing a desperate Christian conversion at a time of personal defeat, didn't make this year's decathlon team.

Meanwhile, the "A Very Special Christmas" music series, benefitting Special Olympics, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with two new albums Oct. 16 on two different labels. To be released by Big Machine Records, A Very Special Christmas 25th Anniversary will feature songs by Christina Aguilera, Francesca Battistelli, Michael Bublé, Cheap Trick, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, One Republic, Rascal Flatts, The Band Perry, Train and Wonder Girls.

Word Records will release A Very Special Christmas: Bringing Peace on Earth, featuring songs by Meredith Andrews, Chris August, Francesca Battistelli, Big Daddy Weave, Jason Castro, Group 1 Crew, Dara Maclean, Jamie Grace, Natalie Grant and Sidewalk Prophets.

U.S. retail stores saw mixed sales results in July largely due to store incentives. Same-store sales rose 4.3%, according to Thomson Reuters. Higher than June, the figure was less than the 5% rate in July of last year.

Stores like Target and Macy’s did well last month, but as a group, teen retailers performed poorly. July sales winners included Costco, Gap and American Eagle Outfitters.

While July is generally clearance-driven as stores make room for fall merchandise, it launches the back-to-school buying season, which is second in volume only to the Christmas season.

Whether you made it to the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) this year or not, you can take in some of the sights by visiting the ICRS 2012 photo gallery. Click here to have a look. 

Ron Carpenter’s The Necessity of an Enemy appears just behind Sarah Young’s mega-selling devotional on the General best-sellers from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) this week. The list from ECPA tracks sales for the week ending July 28, according to Pubtrack Christian data.

The Top 20 General best-sellers are: 1. Jesus Calling, Sarah Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 2. The Necessity of an Enemy, Ron Carpenter Jr. (WaterBrook Press); 3. Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); 4. The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn (FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group); 5. Jesus Calling, Young, large print deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 6. KJV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2012-2013, softcover (Standard Publishing); 7. Jesus Calling, Young, deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 8. Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 9. Boundaries, Henry Cloud, John Townsend (Zondervan); 10. Coming Home, Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 11. KJVStandard Lesson Commentary, 2012-2013, large print softcover (Standard Publishing); 12. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing); 13. NIVStandard Lesson Commentary, 2012-2013, large print softcover (Standard Publishing); 14. The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson (Zondervan); 15. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C Cook); 16. One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp (Zondervan); 17. The Struggle, “Kentucky Brothers,” No. 3, Wanda E. Brunstetter (Barbour Publishing); 18. To Heaven and Back, Dr. Mary C. Neal (WaterBrook Press); 19. Radical, David Platt (Multnomah Books); and 20. Implosion, Joel C. Rosenberg (Tyndale House Publishers).

His new holiday album, JOY (Reunion Records/Provident Label Group), is slated for release Oct. 16. Chapman has three previously released Christmas projects: The Music of Christmas (1995), Christmas Is All in the Heart (2003) and All I Really Want for Christmas (2005).