| Kingsbury, Carlson achieve high marks |
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| Written by Christine D. Johnson | |
| Friday, 27 April 2012 10:40 AM America/New_York | |
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Kingsbury said she is “beyond grateful to my reader friends and my team at Zondervan, along with my agent Rick Christian for their belief in me and for their work on seeing Loving hit No. 1. But more than anything, I am grateful to God. This doesn't happen outside His moving mountains to make it possible.” Tracy Danz, vice president and publisher of trade books at Zondervan, which published the series, said: “Having Karen reach the No. 1 spot on the New York Times best-seller list has been a significant goal at Zondervan. We are very blessed for this achievement and to share Karen’s strong message of faith and hope.”
Another Christian fiction author received accolades at the RT (Romantic Times) Booklovers Convention, held April 11-15 in Chicago. RT Book Reviews magazine awarded Melody Carlson the distinction of the 2011 Career Achievement Award for Inspirational Fiction. Among Carlson's next books are The Best Friend, a Young Adult title from Revell/Baker Publishing Group, and River's End, the conclusion of "The Inn at Shining Water" series from Abingdon Press. |
Author Karen Kingsbury has reached the top of the April 15 New
York Times Trade Fiction list for the first time—and character Bailey
Flanigan from her latest best-selling series helped put her there. Loving,
the final installment of the “Bailey Flanigan” series debuted on the list at
No. 1, tracking sales for the week ending March 31. 
In July, Zondervan
is slated to release the stand-alone work Coming Home, in which
Kingsbury concludes the saga of the Baxter family. Hailed as the “Queen
of Christian Fiction” by TIME magazine, the author has more than 20
million books in print.
The
Winter Jam Tour Spectacular—Christian music's biggest tour—has surpassed its
own record to become the No. 1 tour in the world for the first quarter of the
year. Playing to a total of nearly 535,000 people, the tour is celebrating this achievement
for the second consecutive year. 
Former Christian retailer J. Walter
Hackman died April 21 at age 88. He served as president of the Christian
Booksellers Association from 1968-1970.
Thomas
Nelson’s Max Lucado App is the company’s first comprehensive, author-specific
app. Available for free starting this month, the app features content from more
than 30 titles, including his trade, gift and children’s books; devotionals;
and Bibles.
Charles “Chuck” Wendell Colson, who became one of the most influential voices in
evangelicalism, died Saturday, April 21, at age 80, with his wife,
Patty, and the family by his side. The preliminary cause of death is complications resulting from
a brain hemorrhage.
Amish fiction writer Beverly
Lewis’ The Fiddler has topped the weekly Fiction top 10 best-sellers and
falls just below Sarah Young’s devotional Jesus Calling on the Top 20
General list. The lists from Evangelical Christian Publishers Association track
sales for the week ending April 14, according to Pubtrack Christian data.
The 43rd Annual Gospel Music Association
(GMA) Dove Awards saw Laura Story and
Needtobreathe each take home three awards at the event held last night, April
19 at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. Story also won a fan-voted award for Songwriter of the Year.
India now has its own Christian Trade
Association, while plans are in the works for a CBA Christian products expo in
neighboring Indonesia.