Titles aimed at other than the more traditional Christian bookstore shopper were the big winners in this year's Book Cover Awards, sponsored by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) and Dickinson Press.

Three of the four prizewinners announced Friday were targeted toward "inclusives," one of four broad groups identified in consumer research and those typically most open to change and cultural experiences and who are community-oriented.

"This consumer prefers bright colors, bold fonts, optimistic images and a sense of order," said Rick Hamm, director of RISC Research at Marshall Marketing and the award program's judging manager. Each winner "did an exemplary job in tailoring their design to their target audience."

Holman CSB Ultrathin Bible in Varsity Colors (Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman Bibles/B&H Publishing Group) won in the Bible category, while Marla Alupoaicei's Your Intercultural Marriage (Moody Publishers) took the prize in the Small Publisher category (less than 100 titles annually). Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less by Dave Browning (Zondervan) was best Large Publisher category (250-plus titles) recipient.

The more traditional Christian bookstore consumers-the more conservative "loyalists"-were the target audience for the other winner, Taking a Stand for the Bible. The Harvest House Publishers title by John Ankerberg and Dillon Burroughs took the award in the Mid-Sized Publisher category (101-250 titles).

The winners were selected by a panel of judges from 12 finalists, in turn chosen from 94 initial entries from 14 publishers. Now in their fourth year, the awards were established to "encourage, identify and celebrate outstanding design in Christian publishing" and honor "the most on-target covers of the year," said ECPA President and CEO Mark Kuyper.

Click here to see the 2009 ECPA/dp Book Cover Award winners.

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