The owner of a Christian jewelry company was recently honored by the Minneapolis Lifetime Moms/Spark & Hustle Contest, which celebrates women entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Deirdre Olson, founder of Deirdre & Company, whose products are carried by Christian bookstores, won $1,000 earlier this month during the Minneapolis leg of the 2012 Spark & Hustle Contest Tour, started by Tory Johnson—the workplace contributor on ABC's Good Morning America.

"I think I am an inspirational business leader in that I work to encourage women to encourage each other, simply by remembering them with a gift that will delight the wearer," Olson said. "I passionately create joyful gifts and jewelry celebrating life and faith. My work speaks to the everyday woman who wants to encourage her family and friends, who wants to celebrate occasions, both little and big, with a meaningful gift, and who believes faith is an integral part of life."

As part of the contest, Olson was asked to share about how she became an entrepreneur. She started her company during her sophomore year in college, when she took a class in silversmithing. "After the first day of class, I called my parents and said, 'I know what I want to be when I grow up,' " she recalled. "Twenty years later, I am still passionate about making jewelry."

LifeWay Christian Stores will no longer sell the hit inspirational movie The Blind Side after a Florida pastor proposed a resolution for this week's Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting, expressing "dissatisfaction" with the continued sale of the DVD.

Officials at LifeWay Christian Resources decided to pull the film to avoid controversy during the June 19-20 SBC meeting in New Orleans, according to The Florida Baptist Witness. Rated PG-13 for profanity and a racial slur, the 2009 movie—which stars Sandra Bullock, who won an Oscar for her role—tells the true story of a white Christian family who adopted a homeless black teenager who later went on to play in the NFL.

LifeWay Christian Resources (LCR) "does not wish to create another issue that would divide the convention," LifeWay spokesman Marty King told the Witness. "Therefore, LifeWay Christian Stores and LifeWay.com will no longer sell the movie. ... The movie does include instances of street language [that] we would have preferred not have been included."

The decision came after Rodney Baker, pastor of Hopeful Baptist Church in Lake City, Fla., submitted a resolution to the SBC Resolutions Committee, voicing concerns he first raised with LifeWay two years ago.

When The Blind Side was released on video in 2010, it sparked controversy with some independent Christian retailers frustrated that Word Distribution made an exclusive Christian retail distribution agreement with Family Christian Stores. Word officials said that they had offered the film to "key Christian retailers," who had declined to carry it because of concerns about some of the PG-13-rated content. However, other retailers said they had not been contacted about carrying the film and were upset about being excluded.

Meanwhile, B&H Publishing Group—a division of LCR—said its Bibles can no longer be emblazoned with the official insignia of branches of the U.S. military, Associated Press (AP) reported. LifeWay's King said the military branches have revoked their prior authorization to use the official service emblems on the Soldier's Bible, Sailor's Bible, Marine's Bible and Airman's Bible. He added that permission to use the insignia was granted in 2003, but was withdrawn last year.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation had threatened to sue over what it regarded as an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state, AP reported. King said military versions of the Holman Christian Standard Bible now bear generic insignia instead of the official service emblems.

Laurie Beshore's Love Without Walls has landed at No. 9 on the Top 20 General list from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). Part of the "Leadership Network Innovation Series," Love Without Walls was released earlier this month by Zondervan. The list from ECPA tracks sales for the week ending June 9, according to Pubtrack Christian data.

The Top 20 General best-sellers are: 1. Jesus Calling, Sarah Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 2. Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 3. Jesus Calling, Young, deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 4. Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); 5. The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson (Zondervan); 6. The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn (FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group); 7. Jesus Calling, Young, large print deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 8. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C Cook); 9. Love Without Walls, Beshore (Zondervan); 10. Nearing Home, Billy Graham (Thomas Nelson); 11. The Heart of The Story, Randy Frazee (Zondervan); 12. One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp (Zondervan); 13. Heaven Is for Real for Kids, Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 14. The Resolution for Men, Stephen Kendrick, Alex Kendrick, Randy Alcorn (B&H Books); 15. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing); 16. Spirit Rising, Jim Cymbala (Zondervan); 17. The Resolution for Women, Priscilla Shirer (B&H Books); 18. Battlefield of the Mind, Joyce Meyer (FaithWords); 19. Made to Crave Devotional, Lysa TerKeurst (Zondervan); and 20. Through My Eyes, Tim Tebow (Zondervan).

The Top 10 Fiction best-sellers are: 1. The Harbinger; 2. Loving, "Bailey Flanigan Series," No. 4, Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 3. The Touch, Randall Wallace (Tyndale House Publishers); 4. The Fiddler, Beverly Lewis (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 5. Mortal, "Books of Mortals Series," No. 2, Ted Dekker, Tosca Lee (FaithWords); 6. Dry as Rain, Gina Holmes (Tyndale); 7. The Betrayal, "Precinct 11 Series," No. 2, Jerry B. Jenkins (Tyndale); 8. The First Gardener, Denise Hildreth Jones (Tyndale); 9. Forsaking All Others, "Sister Wife Series," No. 2, Allison Pittman (Tyndale); and 10. Illusion, Frank Peretti (Howard Books).

The top five Bibles are: 1. The Story, hardcover, New International Version (Zondervan); 2. KJV Giant Print Reference Bible, black imitation leather (Thomas Nelson); 3. NLT Pew Bible, hardcover, blue, New Living Translation (Tyndale); 4. The Story: Teen Edition, NIV, softcover (Zondervan); and 5. Adventure Bible for Early Readers, NirV, hardcover, New International Reader's Version (Zonderkidz).

The church group founded by Mark Driscoll, author and preaching pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, has launched a new music label. Mars Hill Music features a variety of musicians and worship leaders who serve 14 Mars Hill churches in New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and California.

The label music's is "a natural expression and outgrowth of what God is doing in our cities through our musicians," said Jonathan Dunn, label manager for Mars Hill Music. "Our records are a means to capture and share what is happening at our churches. That makes them unique and different—the same way our cities and communities are unique and different.

"The first thing people often think of when they hear Mars Hill Music is that we're a group of punk rock Calvinists who hate the modern worship movement," Dunn added. "Our music is not an expression against anything, but instead an outgrowth of our theology, who we are and the communities our churches are in. We love Jesus and are expressing that love in our own way."

Driscoll, whose other books include the best-selling Real Marriage (Thomas Nelson) and Vintage Church (Crossway), noted that Mars Hill is "happy to trust" its leadership as artists. "Their doctrine is solid, their character is godly and they are involved in the community; artists who are creating music that is a reflection of who we are and what we believe as a church community," he said.

Mars Hill Music's latest EP Already/Not Yet from the band Citizens reached No. 3 in the Christian category on iTunes when it debuted, and it reached No. 1 on BandCamp.com.

Other Mars Hill Music artists include King's Kaleidoscope, Ghost Ship, Kenosis and the Sing Team. Click here for more information.

Munce Group has formed a partnership with the Christian Authors Network (CAN), a marketing co-op with more than 100 writers, which seeks to educate authors and promote their books.

After CAN's participation at a sponsored breakfast for Munce's Christian Product Expo in January in Lancaster, Pa., the marketing group developed multiple projects with the co-op "to impact as many lives as possible with Christian materials and drive traffic into independent Christian stores," Munce officials said.

"We were encouraged by the CAN organization," Munce Group President Kirk Blank said. "Their desire to sell more books through the independent retail channel is inspiring. In a time when independent Christian retailers are looking for ways to increase customer traffic and retail sales, this partnership came at just the right time. ... We believe the partnership with the authors associated with CAN will positively impact sales for the Munce Group stores."

Munce, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011, has nearly 500 member stores nationwide—offering retailers online training, author awareness and monthly contributions to MTL magazine, an online magazine for women that directs readers to Munce Group member stores.

"Proud to partner with Munce," CAN President Bonnie Calhoun said the goal of the co-op is "to give independent retailers the tools to utilize the latest product strategies that will help to sell and expand their market share."

Member stores who log on to retailer.munce.com can benefit from retail training by CAN authors on social media marketing, in-store/book signing appearances and selling books.

Munce is also helping to increase CAN author awareness through in-store event requests, author spotlights and author testimonies on the importance of shopping at local Christian bookstores.

Each month, CAN authors are encouraged to post Munce member stores' electronic catalogs and a link to MTL magazine on their websites. In addition, authors are invited to contribute articles, interviews, blogs and contests for the various columns in MTL.

Literary agency Alive Communications has launched a full-service digital company specializing in Christian and inspirational titles. Bondfire Books' debut list features e-book exclusives from authors including Karen Kingsbury and Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message Bible. Bondfire's e-books will be available via all major online retailers and downloadable on all digital readers.

"We aim to be a game-changer by working with other literary agencies and paying all authors a 50% net royalty, essentially double the industry standard of 25%," said Rick Christian, founder of Bondfire Books and Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Alive Communications. "We will also offer five-year renewable terms instead of the normal life of copyright."

Bondfire Books will be backed by a partnership with Rosetta Books, the digital publisher of authors such as Kurt Vonnegut and Stephen R. Covey.

"With Rosetta's support and extraordinary relationship with (online retailers), we can ensure an author's works are properly converted and well-advertised on all the major sites," Christian said.

Kirkdale Press, coming off its recent launch by Logos Bible Software, is accepting and reviewing for e-book publication manuscripts from established and up-and-coming authors. The new digital imprint's e-books are available through Vyrso, the Christian e-reader app from Logos, as well as through Kindle, Nook and other e-readers.

Meanwhile, DeeperCalling Media has started selling e-books on its Bookseller WebStore platform. All of DeeperCalling's customers will automatically receive a free upgrade to enable the sales of e-books.

"Our customers have been asking for a solution that sells both e-books and physical books," said DeeperCalling CEO Bill Goodyear. "With our new upgrades, we now provide booksellers with the tools necessary to sell books—whether they are physical or digital.

Click here for more information on Bondfire. Click here for more information on Kirkdale Press. Click here for more information on DeeperCalling Media.

For more on the growth of e-books, look for our news story in the forthcoming July issue of Christian Retailing.

Zondervan has launched a new direct-to-digital publishing imprint. Zondervan First, which will "provide fresh and relevant content" across all reading devices, was started

earlier this month with the acquisition of its first fiction title, Love in Three-Quarter Time by Dina Sleiman, company officials said.

Authors who publish under the e-book imprint will have the same access to the Zondervan editorial and marketing teams as those published traditionally.

"We are thrilled to launch Zondervan First," said Scott Macdonald, Zondervan's president and CEO. "This digital imprint will give voice to notable content utilizing our editorial, marketing and creative expertise."

Zondervan First will initially focus on fiction, but will eventually branch out to all the categories the company currently publishes. Submissions will be accepted for fiction, nonfiction and Bible material suitable for children, teens and adults, in addition to manuscripts geared for curriculum, church resources, academic and reference books.

"We developed Zondervan First to honor authors, agents and numerous consumers," said Steve Sammons, executive vice president for consumer engagement. "Our editorial staff and sales, marketing and publicity force are uniquely respected, and Zondervan First authors will benefit from those existing talents, platforms and relationships."

Click here for more information on Zondervan First.