Standard Publishing’s new website consolidates access to all of its true-to-the-Bible ministry resources for children, youth and adults in one easy-to-use, mobile-friendly place.

“We’re excited to introduce our new website with its upgraded, easy navigation design so that our ministry partners of all kinds can share information, get new ideas and make their shopping choices while on the go or collaborating in meetings,” said Peter Esposito, president and CEO at Standard Publishing. “We want to be sure the full range of our resources are accessible anytime, anywhere—whether in front of their computers at home or work, or in their churches or on the go with their tablet or phone.”

Standard Publishing anticipates continuous improvement to their online shopping experience, and sees this as the beginning of a series of innovations that will continue throughout the year as they work to meet changing shopping habits and information needs.

“What has not changed in our 146-year history, is our relentless determination to remain the go-to partner for trustworthy Christian ministry resources for all ages,” says Matt Lockhart, VP/Publisher at Standard Publishing. “While we will continue to adapt the forms and delivery vehicles of products and information, we believe a changing world needs our reliable Bible-centered resources now more than ever.”

In celebration of their new website, Standard Publishing is inviting everyone to visit standardpub.com/win-a-free-vbs-kit and register to win one of their award-winning “2015 Top Pick” VBS Kits FREE! They are giving away a total of 3 FREE KITS in a drawing April 17, 2015.

Standard Publishing's 2015 Bible Blast to the Past VBS Program was chosen as About the Children’s Department’s Top Pick VBS 2015, Top Pick Music VBS 2015, and Top Pick Setting VBS 2015. A veteran children’s ministry professional, Lynda Freeman of About the Children's Department, chose Bible Blast to the Past out of the entire VBS field as Top Pick 2015 VBS program based on the engaging activities and lessons, service and missions emphasis, high energy music, and a new science and craft center.

Bible Blast to the Past VBS, takes kids zooming through God's Word and back in time to discover God’s everlasting love! They will discover how God's love makes a difference in every story, at every time—including right now.

Tina Constable, senior vice president and publisher of Crown Christian Publishing Group, has announced that Image Books, Crown’s Catholic imprint, will cease acquiring new titles.

“After careful review, we have decided to focus our resources and creative energies to continue to maintain and nurture the deep Image backlist, which includes a wealth of books by leading and classic thought leaders,” Constable said in a statement. “We have made the difficult business decision to no longer acquire additional new titles for the Image Books publishing program.”

Constable said Image will continue to publish “with full enthusiasm and support” all Image books under contract. Senior Editor Gary Jansen will maintain his existing editorial duties, but will also now acquire titles for Convergent Books, another division of the Crown family.

The position of associate editor at Image, held by Amanda O’Connor, will be eliminated and Katie Moore, publicist for Image Books, will continue until the end of 2015 to excute the publicity campaigns for Image’s remaining books under contract.

Convergent, under the editorial guise of Executive Editor Dave Kopp, will now publish general-market nonfiction titles from diverse Christian perspectives that help readers thrive as they integrate their faith into daith life. Its core publishign categories include inspirational memoir and self-help, Christian faith and practice, pop culture, relationships, social issues, humor, sports and celebrity.

With her position being eliminated, Carie Freimuth, the vice president/associate pubilsher of WaterBrook Multnomah, Convergent and Image Books, will leave the company in April to pursue other opportunities. Freimuth is a nine-year veteran at Crown.

“We would like to express our deepest respect and appreciation to Carie for her many significant contributions as well as our gratitude for her dedicated service to the Crown Publishing Group,” Constable said.

The move makes at least short-term sense. While books by top evangelical Christian authors routinely have robust sales in frontlist, such out-of-the-gate blockbusters are rare for Catholic books. Yet books by beloved Catholic authors like Henri Nouwen, Ronald Rolheiser, and Scott Hahn, while they might perform modestly in their first few years on the market, often go on to sell millions of copies and remain reader favorites for decades.

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The change is the latest ripple at Crown's religion group in the wake of the retirement in March of Steve Cobb, president and publisher of WaterBrook Multnomah, the Christian publishing division that includes WaterBrook Press and Multnomah Publishing, along with Image and the two-year-old Convergent Books imprint. When Cobb’s retirement was announced last November, Alex Field was appointed publisher of WaterBrook Multnomah, reporting to Constable. Dave Kopp became executive editor over Convergent Books, which publishes more progressive Christian titles and had been controversial among many evangelicals. Convergent moved editorial operations from Colorado Springs to Crown’s New York offices in January.

Constable also stated the company would “publish with full enthusiasm and support all Image books under contract, with senior editor Gary Jansen maintaining his existing editorial duties for all forthcoming Image titles, in addition to now acquiring titles for Convergent Books.” The changes result in the departure in April of Carie Freimuth, v-p, associate publisher, WaterBrook Multnomah, Convergent, and Image Books.

Field also announced a series of promotions and a new hire at WaterBrook Multnomah. Laura Barker has been promoted to v-p, editorial director of WaterBrook Multnomah, reporting to Field; she had been editorial director. Ginia Hairston joins the company on April 6 as v-p, director of marketing, also reporting to Field. Most recently at David C. Cook, Hairston had been with WaterBrook Multnomah from 1997 to 2008.

Also on PW

Since the establishment last fall of new publishing leadership for WaterBrook Multnomah and of clearly defined and distinct editorial missions for each of the faith-based imprints within the Crown Publishing Group, we have continued to actively develop the long-term growth strategy for our religious publishing program.

Under the energizing leadership of Alex Field, Vice President, Publisher, WaterBrook Multnomah, both of our Colorado Springs–based imprints are now fully focused on their core areas of strength and expertise.

WaterBrook’s mission is to create and publish content that both intensifies and satisfies readers’ elemental hunger for a deeper relationship with God; it seeks books for an evangelical Christian that draw on experiential learning, story, self-help, and inspiration to help readers flourish in their faith. 

Multnomah is committed to advancing the mission of the church in proclaiming and living the gospel around the world. It looks for life-changing, culture-defining messages from a conservative Christian perspective that challenge and inspire readers to their fullest potential.

The mandate for Convergent Books, now based in New York under the editorial leadership of Executive Editor Dave Kopp, is to publish exceptional general-market nonfiction titles from diverse Christian perspectives that help readers thrive as they integrate their faith into daily life; its core publishing categories include inspirational memoir and self-help, Christian faith and practice, pop culture, relationships, social issues, humor, sports, and celebrity.

In conjunction with our ongoing analysis of the overall Christian market, we examined our Catholic-interest publishing imprint, Image Books, and its strategic role in our religious publishing portfolio. After careful review, we have decided to focus our resources and creative energies to continue to maintain and nurture the deep Image backlist, which includes a wealth of books by leading and classic Catholic thought leaders. We will also publish with full enthusiasm and support all Image books under contract, with Senior Editor Gary Jansen maintaining his existing editorial duties for all forthcoming Image titles, in addition to now acquiring titles for Convergent Books. However, we have made the difficult business decision to no longer acquire additional new titles for the Image Books publishing program, which we will discontinue as a frontlist imprint.

The position of Associate Editor with Image, held by Amanda O’Connor, will be eliminated. Amanda will continue to work with Gary over the next months to edit Image titles that are currently in the pipeline. Katie Moore, Publicist for Image Books, will continue at the company through the end of the year to execute the publicity campaigns for our remaining books under contract.

Regretfully, as a result both of the recent separation of Convergent’s publishing operations from WaterBrook Multnomah, and of the decision to not actively acquire additional frontlist titles for Image Books, the position of Vice President, Associate Publisher, WaterBrook Multnomah, Convergent, and Image Books, has been eliminated, and I am sorry to announce that Carie Freimuth will be leaving the company next month. For more than nine years, Carie has played an instrumental role in directing sales, marketing, and publicity efforts across our Colorado-based religious publishing programs as well as for Image Books, bringing exceptional passion, commitment, and energy to bear in support of countless successful publications. We would like to express our deepest respect and appreciation to Carie for her many significant contributions to WaterBrook Multnomah, Image, and Convergent, as well as our gratitude for her dedicated service to the Crown Publishing Group.

With this simplified and tightly focused structure now in place, we are poised for significant growth in the evolving Christian publishing arena, which remains a core focus of the Crown Publishing Group. Thank you for your support and your collaboration.

WaterBrook Multnomah, a division of the Crown Publishing Group, has announced several recent changes among its staff, including the promotion of Laura Barker to vice president and editorial director.

A 12-year veteran of the company, Barker served in several management roles for WaterBrook from 1998 to 2004, including managing editor and editorial director, before doing freelance work for a season.

Returning to the company in 2009 as editorial director, she has helped lead Multnomah’s editorial team with a high level of professionalism and expertise. In addition, she has acquired and edited some of Multnomah’s most important authors, including Kay Arthur, Liz Curtis Higgs and Joanna Weaver. She has established herself as an integral part of my management team and has become a trusted colleague in helping me in my transition here.

Susan Tjaden has been promoted to editor, continuing to report to Barker. Since joining the staff in March 2012, Tjaden has worked on such titles as Shaunti Feldhahn’s The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages and the forthcoming Unafraid by Susie Davis. Her recent acquisitions of promising authors like Joshua Becker, Elisa Pulliam and Becky Thompson showcase her publishing instincts.

Kendall Davis has been promoted to assistant editor. Since joining WaterBrook Multnomah in July 2012, Davis has provided support to the editorial team and to our authors and agents. Her professional demeanor, commitment to excellence and creative problem solving have made her an invaluable member of the Multnomah team.

Debbie Mitchell has been promoted to vice president/director of operations. Mitchell’s role is a widely varied one. In addition to her responsibilities directing production, as well as managing editorial, inventory management and the art departments, she oversees all office operations in Colorado Springs.

In connection to Tina Constable’s announcement that the position of associate publisher for WaterBrook Multnomah, Convergent and Image has been eliminated, Crown Publishing is announcing new leadership for the WaterBrook Multnomah publicity and marketing departments. 

Beverly Rykerd has been promoted to publicity director. Rykerd has been the publicity manager for WaterBrook Multnomah since 2011. She has directed publicity campaigns for dozens of our high-profile titles, many of them New York Times best-sellers, including Be the Message by Kerry and Chris Shook, Fearless by Eric Blehm, To Heaven and Back by Dr. Mary Neal, Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs, Greater and Crash the Chatterbox by Steven Furtick, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver, and The Winnowing Season and other novels by Cindy Woodsmall.

Ginia Hairston will be joining the company on April 6 as vice president/director of marketing, An accomplished and creative marketing professional with more than 20 years of experience in Christian publishing, Hairston joins Multnomah from David C Cook, she most recently served as vice president of marketing. Previously, she served as program services director for HopeChest and as vice president of marketing for trade books at Zondervan.

Scot McKnight’s Kingdom Conspiracy was selected by Outreach Magazine as one of the 12th Annual Outreach Resources of the Year, with three other Baker Publishing Group titles listed as recommended resources.

With almost 170 submissions in 14 categories, 14 panelists evaluated various publications and had the opportunity to select one or more Outreach Resources of the Year. Kingdom Conspiracy was named the Outreach Resource of the Year in the Missional Church category.

In the book, McKnight contends that "kingdom" is the most misused term by Christians today. He offers a biblical corrective and a vision for the role of the local church in the kingdom of God.

Todd Engstrom, executive pastor of ministries at The Austin Stone Community Church, states that Kingdom Conspiracy “is a timely resource for the missional church to re-examine some basic assumptions that impact church practice in the everyday.”

The three other Baker titles honored by Outreach are God’s Wider Presence by Robert K. Johnston (Culture); iGods by Craig Detweiler (Culture) and The Grave Robber by Mark Batterson (Christian Living).

Patrice Paglia, a prominent licensing executive, has joined Precious Moments Inc. as its licensing director. She brings more than 25 years’ experience with the world-renowned brand, in addition to her many other licensing relationships that span three decades.

PMI Senior Vice President of Licensing and Creative Sara Pilafas made the announcement. Pilafas recently rejoined PMI, having served as its president in the 1990s and as head of PM Creative for more than a decade at Enesco Corporation. Most recently, Pilafas served as vice president of licensing and creative at Christian Brands in Phoenix, Arizona.

“We are proud and delighted to announce the addition of Patrice Paglia to our leadership team at PMI,” Pilafas said. “Her licensing achievements are noteworthy, and her qualifications bring new opportunities to this important business segment. There is no other licensing executive with more Precious Moments knowledge and experience than Patrice, and we look forward to working with her once more.”

As division vice president for licensing at Enesco, Paglia established and maintained relationships with Fortune 500 companies that include Disney, Mattel, Coca-Cola, Warner Bros., and McDonald’s. During her 12-year tenure, Paglia also formulated international licensing strategies in 25 countries that added more than $100 million annual sales.

After leaving Enesco, Paglia joined PMI as vice president of licensing and marketing, with oversight of its $250 million consumer products licensing program for the Precious Moments brand. Following PMI’s move of its Chicago-area operations to Carthage Missouri, Paglia held executive licensing, marketing and product development positions with Roman, Inc., Building Q, and Jostens, Inc.

Prior to rejoining PMI, Paglia was retained by Enesco to formulate a strategic licensing program for Enesco and Department 56, an Enesco subsidiary.

Pilafas also announced two more additions to the PMI Creative Team. Margaret Y. Man joins PMI as its creative project manager, and Jeremy Wyman as its product developer.

Prior to joining PMI, Margaret served as product development and merchandising coordinator for the past five years at Winston Brands/Collections Etc., a major gift and décor catalog business in suburban Chicago. She has also held major administrative positions with The Salvation Army and Trinity International University. In addition, Man held similar positions with companies in Hong Kong, where she also received her Bachelor’s degree from Ching Yih College.

Wyman served as product designer at Winston Brands for seven years before coming to PMI. During his tenure at Winston Brands, his responsibilities included design of exclusive products, working closely with overseas vendors and managing freelance designers. His experience includes freelance product design for Christian Brands, Inc., and numerous graphic design projects for a variety of entities. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in visual communications from Judson University.

“Margaret and Jeremy are talented individuals with outstanding experience and skills,” Pilafas said. “We are delighted that they have come on board, and we look forward to working with them. Headed by Peggy Pak, our creative team is second to none, and both Margaret and Jeremy are important to our continued success. We proudly welcome Patrice, Margaret and Jeremy to the PMI family.”

All three positions are based in PMI’s suburban Chicago offices.

From the New York Times best-selling author, star of A&E’s Duck Dynasty, and matriarch of the popular Robertson family, comes a new collection of recipes that gives readers and their families plenty of reasons to sit down together and share a meal, love and laughter.

Duck Commander Kitchen Presents Celebrating Family & Friends highlights Miss Kay’s favorite recipes to celebrate New Year’s Eve, Mother’s Day, Fourth of July, Christmas dinner and everything in between.

Miss Kay has been cooking ever since she was a little girl and has perfected her skills through years of practice on the Robertson clan. Following the success of the New York Times best-selling Miss Kay’s Duck Commander Kitchen (2013), she has gone back to her cupboard and pulled out more of her down-home recipes, this time grouping them around reasons to get together—holidays, family gatherings, etc.

In addition to more than 100 recipes, Miss Kay opens her heart to share wisdom and memories, along with full-color photos and family pictures. True to the Robertson faith, you’ll find scriptures sprinkled throughout Miss Kay’s newest collection of recipes.

Take a peek into the off-camera life of America’s favorite duck-loving family, the foods they love, and the wisdom and legacy that make a family strong. 

Duck Commander Kitchen Presents Celebrating Family & Friends will be available on April 7 from Howard Books.

It’s time to vote! Christian Retailing invites anyone involved in the Christian trade to help us name the top products of 2014 in the Christian Retailing’s Best awards. The voting period runs through March 31.

Click here to vote.

Christian Retailing’s Best finalists will be announced April 6, and winners are expected to be announced at the International Christian Retail Show in Orlando, Florida, in June.

Introduced in 2001, the awards have been increasingly acknowledged as an important way of recognizing some of the most significant new life-changing products in the Christian retail industry.

For more information, email Awards Coordinator Jenny Rose Curtis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..