Zondervan announced today a new partnership with Alli Worthington, strategist, business coach, consultant and co-founder of BlissDom and BlissDom Canada, which were the largest international small business conferences for women in the world.

The working title of the first book in the two-book partnership is Edit Your Life, which will launch in October 2015.

Having worked in the new media world of blogging and social for seven years, this is Worthington’s first foray into traditional publishing. “I'm honored to learn from experts who have helped bring books to the world that have impacted me personally my entire life,” says Worthington. “The combination of their expertise and integrations using digital tools is very exciting!”

Sandra Vander Zicht, associate publisher and executive editor, trade books, acquired the project for Zondervan. “I met Alli Worthington for the first time over breakfast last September. Although she had not yet signed with an agent and was even unsure whether she had a book in her, I was immediately taken with her entrepreneurial spirit, her heart for the Lord, and her ability to make me laugh.”

“The Zondervan team took time to get to know me personally. They were genuinely interested in my work, my life and my vision,” says Worthington. “Sandy Vander Zicht gave such insightful feedback on my initial vision that I knew she was the perfect editor to help me bring my first book to the world.”

Vander Zicht sees major potential for the partnership and both upcoming books. “Alli is one of those women who is unstoppable, and I knew when we first met that not only did she have a book in her, but that I wanted to work with her on it. I am grateful that she chose Zondervan to be her publisher and me to be her editor. We will be dangerous together,” Vander Zicht concludes.

The impetus for Edit Your Life has built gradually over the past six years. In 2008, Worthington and her husband literally lost everything when his job came to a sudden and dramatic end. With five sons to care for, Worthington got serious about creating an online business. She soon founded an online women’s magazine, Blissfully Domestic, and co-founded and served as chief creative officer of Blissful Media Group.

Through these endeavors, Worthington has helped thousands of men and women create successful online businesses. She has advised Fortune 500 companies and small businesses, from tech companies to common household brands. Worthington has been featured in the books, Good Enough is the New Perfect, and The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker as one of the top 50 Young Leaders in the Nation. She was also a featured entrepreneur on Sheryl Sandberg’s "Lean In" website.

The primary audience for Edit Your Life will be Christian women ages 25 to 45 who, as Worthington puts it, are “tired and full of guilt.” “This book is for women who grew up thinking they should be more than they are today. They’re hard on themselves and find accepting His grace difficult as a daily practice. These women deal with a lot of fear; they feel like failures and frauds as Christians because they know there’s more to life, more to faith, but they just can’t cut through the daily clutter to find it,” says Worthington.

“We all live in a world of constant distractions, possibilities and expectations. I hope that this book will empower women to be who they are created to be, not living lives they think they 'should' live. By editing our lives, we find freedom in living out Christ's plan for our lives. Without this clarity, we can get left living life that is just a shadow of what we are created to live,” Worthington concludes.

“Our marketing team is thrilled to work with such a savvy, dynamic and spirited author,” says Chriscynethia Floyd, vice president of Trade Marketing at Zondervan Publishing, a division of HarperCollins. “She is simply a breath of fresh air – honest, brave and vulnerable rolled up into one. Her personality is contagious and magnetic and readers will fall in love with her and embrace her message.”

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