A 50-city tour by leading authors will be part of what Zondervan is calling the biggest fall release in its 75-year history.

Details of the campaign were revealed in a special international breakfast yesterday where more than 200 guests heard about plans for key new books, Bibles and children's titles.

The cross-country tour will feature authors Lee Strobel, Kay Warren and John Ortberg, who will also be part of a simulcast involving 30,000 churches. Zondervan is putting $1 million promotional support behind the books from "three of the leading Christian thinkers of their generation," attendees heard.

Strobel's The Case for the Real Jesus (September) addresses current attacks on the historicity of Christianity, Warren's Dangerous Surrender (December) tells how she developed a passion to help tackle the world's AIDS crisis, and Ortberg's When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box (September) looks at what is really important in life.

Brian Sharp, Zondervan's vice president of marketing for Bibles, spoke of plans for the release of the Old Testament addition to the company's successful Inspired By... The Bible Experience New Testament, which has sold more than 300,000 copies since its fall 2006 release and recently took the prestigious Audiobook of the Year Award.

Available on 56 CDs, the Old Testament edition will retail for $84.99, with an MP3 set on 10 discs selling for $69.99. The complete Bible on almost 80 disks will retail for $124.99.

In addition, Zondervan is to release a companion Bible, retailing for $24.99 and featuring CD track numbers in the page margins to enable readers to follow the text as they listen to the audio version.

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