Best-selling author Max Lucado leads the field in the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) Christian Book Awards for the second year in a row, with two of his titles in the Inspiration and Children categories.

Lucado, who has won 13 Christian Book Awards and been recognized as a finalist 37 times since 1978, was the first author to appear on the finalist list three times in the same year when he garnered that distinction in 2011, ECPA said.

Out of 244 entries of books and Bibles published in the past year—up from 223 for the 2011 awards—40 finalists in six categories were chosen to vie for the best Christian books and Bibles for 2012. The association's Christian Book Awards will be presented in Chicago, May 2, at the start of ECPA's Executive Leadership Summit. One title will be chosen among all the finalists to be named the 2012 Christian Book of the Year.

The debut of the New Author category resulted in six finalists from both fiction and nonfiction. In addition, the Non-Fiction category yielded a three-way tie for a total of seven finalists. Other ties were in the Inspiration, New Author and Bible Reference categories.

"This year's 40 finalists and five ties, represent the strength and quality of content our industry continues to produce, in both seasoned and new voices and from small, mid-sized and large publishing houses," said ECPA President Mark Kuyper.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recently honored the songwriters and publishers of Christian music’s most performed songs at its 34th annual Christian Music Awards in Nashville.

Top honors at the March 19 Richland Country Club event were awarded to Josh Wilson (Sparrow Records), ASCAP Christian Songwriter/Artist of the Year; Ben Glover, ASCAP Christian Songwriter of the Year; “Glorious Day” written by Michael Bleecker (Word Music) and performed by Casting Crowns,ASCAP Christian Song of the Year; and EMI CMG Publishing, ASCAP Christian Publisher of the Year.

Roman has completed its acquisition of inspirational jewelry and gift company Alexa's Angels. Details of the purchase were not disclosed.

Based in Windsor, Colo., Alexa's Angels has several branded collections, including Prayer Box Bracelets, Many Hearts One Family, Keep an Angel in Your Corner and Bandazzles.

Alexa's Angels will continue to operate as usual, and its complete product offering will be sold in Roman showrooms nationwide and through Roman's representatives.

Seeing Alexa's Angels' products as a "perfect complement" to its own product selection, Dan Loughman, president and CEO of Roman, said. "We anticipate robust sales in 2012 with the addition of Alexa's Angels' innovative, inspirational and fashion accessory product offerings."

Beth Lang, president and CEO of Alexa's Angels, added: "I've known Dan for several years and have always admired his business acumen. I think there is great synergy between not only our products and brands, but also between our core values as business owners. This is a very exciting opportunity for us to collaborate and grow together."

Meanwhile, Alexa's Angels recently introduced its Faith and Love necklaces, utilizing QR code technology to link wearers to a daily inspirational or spiritual quote.

"Utilizing the QR code technology to share a daily encouraging quote upgrades a beautiful necklace to something fun and interactive," Lang said. "We put a lot of time into developing new pieces that we believe will inspire heartfelt emotion and nurture a sense of well-being, and the QR code feature gives us another way to do that."

Pro-life drama October Baby came in at No. 8 over the weekend, when it competed with the release of The Hunger Games, which had the third-largest movie opening of all time. October Baby earned $4,405 per screen and an estimated $1.7 million from 390 locations, according to Box Office Mojo.

The movie—distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films, which also distributed Fireproof, Facing the Giants and Amazing Grace—was released last October in just a few states, but released nationwide March 23.

The New International Version (NIV) Church Bible—a value-priced pew and ministry edition—has topped The Story on the Bibles best-seller list from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). Both from Zondervan, the Bibles are just two of the company’s four titles on the list, with sales for the week ending March 17, 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. The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn (FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group); 4. Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 5. Jesus Calling: Deluxe Edition, Young (Thomas Nelson); 6. Jesus Calling: Large Print Deluxe Edition, Young (Thomas Nelson); 7. Loving, “Bailey Flanigan Series,” No. 4, Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 8. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing); 9. One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp (Zondervan); 10. The Resolution for Women, Priscilla Shirer (B&H Books); 11. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C Cook); 12. Longing, “Bailey Flanigan Series,” No. 3, Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 13. Nearing Home, Billy Graham (Thomas Nelson); 14. The Resolution for Men, Stephen Kendrick, Alex Kendrick, Randy Alcorn (B&H Books); 15. The Fiddler, “Home to Hickory Hollow,” No. 1, Beverly Lewis (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); 16. Illusion, Frank Peretti (Howard Books); 17. Through My Eyes, Tim Tebow, Nathan Whitaker, hardcover (Harper); 18. The Love Dare, Stephen Kendrick, Alex Kendrick (B&H Books); 19. The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson (Zondervan); and 20. Amish Prayers, Beverly Lewis (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group).

Thomas Nelson’s Bible Group recently announced its new editor in chief, Bob Sennett, who has been with the company 24 years.

“I couldn’t ask more of an editor in chief than what Bob Sennett brings us,” said Bob Sanford, Thomas Nelson vice president and associate publisher of the Bible Group. “His product and market knowledge are thorough; his biblical acumen ensures that we stay true to the message of the Scriptures. Bob is well-deserving of this promotion.”

The Parable Group has enhanced SnapRetail’s TrafficBuilder tool to create a digital marketing solution to benefit all independent Christian retailers.

Parable has built onto the customizable TrafficBuilder email and social media marketing tool with new content that includes more than 60,000 Christian product images from Christian Books & More, faith-based email templates and pre-designed emails featuring Christian products. Stores can also simultaneously post emails to their social media, Facebook and Twitter accounts.