Publishers’ book sales as of February decreased 7.5 percent for the year-to-date at $1.71 billion compared to $1.85 billion for the same two-month period in 2014, according to the latest Monthly StatShot report from the American Association of Publishers (AAP).

Religion publishers also were not spared the pain, as sales dropped 2.4 percent for the year-to-date and 10.4 percent for the month as compared to February 2014.

Rose Publishing has acquired Rainbow Publishers and Legacy Press. For over 30 years, Rainbow and Legacy have specialized in reproducible Bible lessons, devotionals and fiction for children and teens. Rose will take over more than 180 children's titles in the acquisition.

"We are excited to know a trusted company like Rose Publishing will be carrying on our vision," said Dan Miley, former Rainbow-Legacy CEO. "Rose is already a leading publisher in reproducible Bible study material and shares our passion for creating easy-to-understand, Bible-based teaching material."

Veteran Christian music executive Peter York has been promoted to president of Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG). CEO Bill Hearn, to whom York will continue to report, made the announcement today.

In his expanded role, York will add oversight of the creative direction and leadership development of CCMG’s publishing and distribution divisions to his current responsibilities of managing the company’s Label Group, which includes Sparrow Records, Forefront, sixstepsrecords, Hillsong and Jesus Culture, among others. With York’s promotion, Hearn will intensify his focus on driving the company’s strategic direction, business development initiatives and key partner relationships. Hearn also will maintain oversight of the Motown Gospel label, which is led by Ken Pennell, president of Gospel Music, CCMG.

New York Times best-selling author Ann Voskamp has raised more than $500,000 to support Iraqi refugees displaced by ISIS—in just three days.

The author of the Zondervan-published book One Thousand Gifts visited Iraq in March and met with mothers forced to live in shipping containers now that the so-called Islamic State group had taken over their hometowns.

Clovercroft Publishing has announced that Proud to Be an American by singer Lee Greenwood debuted at No. 1 on Amazon's Movers and Shakers List, New Release List and in numerous Children's Book categories.

With accompanying illustrations by Amanda Sekulow, the book which was released Memorial Day, uses the words of Greenwood's iconic song "God Bless the USA" to teach kids about America and how to be proud of their country.

Dicksons Inc., a major supplier of Christian and inspirational gifts based in Seymour, Indiana, has announced the mid-June retirement of Dave McNabb, vice president of product development, after more than 37 years with the company.

McNabb started with the company in 1978 as its first product development manager, recalling that his first new product line consisted of about 30 items, introduced to a team of four sales representatives.

Pure Flix has announced the acquisition of video-on-demand service “I Am Flix” and the launch of the newly rebranded SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) service. Subscribers of the Pure Flix SVOD service can access it through Roku, smartphone apps or any browser via pureflix.com.

The acquisition and SVOD relaunch is indicative of the company's continued commitment to growing the faith-based and family-friendly content niche, currently streaming more than 2,000 faith and family movies, inspirational titles, TV shows, documentaries and biblically based educational programs.