The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is going back to the old ways for its annual book awards next year.

The association's Christian Book Awards will be presented at a special dinner event in Nashville, May 3, on the eve of the group's Executive Leadership Summit (ELS).

Originally announced at a banquet during CBA's annual summer convention, the awards were switched to a theater-style event, twinned with CBA's retail awards, a few years ago. That format was kept when the books prize-giving was moved to ECPA's own Christian Book Expo (CBE), when it debuted in Dallas in April this year.

But with plans for another consumer-focused CBE shelved after a poor turnout at the Dallas Convention Center, organizers needed to find a new venue for the awards, offered in six categories, plus an overall title of the year.

"We have had several requests to make the event feel more special," said ECPA President and CEO Mark Kuyper, explaining the decision not to return to the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS). "By moving it to our ELS, we will be able to afford to return to a banquet setting with strong production elements. We would not be able to do that in a convention or hotel setting. Also, at ICRS both publishers and retailers have several other events and activities they can and should attend."

Kuyper added that the "true value of the award program is in raising awareness of quality Christian content among consumers. Besides, I expect we will have far more publishers attending the event at our meeting than we have had in the past several years."

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