Novelist Karen Kingsbury’s “Bailey Flanigan” series appeared three times on the weekly Top 20 Fiction best-sellers list from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) ahead of the March release of the fourth installment, Loving. Books one through three were on the list for the week ending Feb. 25, according to Pubtrack Christian data.

Multnomah Books, Abingdon Press and David C Cook all have seen recent sales success with new and backlist titles.

David Platt’s 2010 best-selling debut, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, has reached a major milestone with 1 million copies in print.

Voting is under way in Christian Retailing's 2012 Retailers Choice Awards. Retailers are invited to tell what they think are the best products of the year among 320 nominations in 41 categories by clicking here. 

Retailers voting in the 12th annual competition will be entered to win hundreds of dollars' worth of the products nominated in this year’s awards program. Retailers must complete the entire ballot to be eligible to win.

Religious book sales were up according to the latest monthly figures available from the Association of American Publishers (AAP), with a strong ending for 2011. Sales were reported to the AAP by 77 publishers, including 22 religion publishers.

Religious book sales were up 3.1% in December net sales over the same month the previous year, to $52.4 million, and up more than 8% for the year over 2010 to $645.1 million.

Thomas Nelson is trying an e-book experiment with the release of author Beth Wiseman’s latest novel.

The first half of her Need You Now, out today, is being offered in digital format for 99 cents, with the second portion going on sale in mid-April, when the full electronic and trade paper editions will also be available.

Mardel Christian & Education President Jason Green is to leave the company next month after eight years leading the regional chain. He is to become president of Baptist Medical & Dental Mission International (BMDMI) based in Hattiesburg, Miss.

At 41, Green has been with Mardel—with 35 stores in seven states—for 14 years. Previously with Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart, Green became Mardel’s vice president of operations 11 years ago and was appointed president in 2004.

Andy Butcher is stepping down as editor of Christian Retailing magazine after almost nine years in the role. He has resigned, effective Wednesday, Feb. 29, “to explore some new opportunities and challenges.”

A former newspaper reporter who served in a communications role with missionary organization Youth With a Mission before joining Christian Retailing’s sister publication, Charisma magazine, in 1999, Butcher said: “It’s been a great privilege to serve an industry that is part of helping share the gospel through Christian resources.”