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ATLANTA, GA – As more than an expected 8,000 people in the international Christian publishing industry gather in Atlanta for their annual convention, a unique new English Bible translation formally enters the crowded Bible-selling market.

Four years in the making, the print format of the new complete Common English Bible (http://CommonEnglishBible.com) (@CommonEngBible – http://twitter.com/CommonEngBible) is being unveiled at the International Christian Retail Show (@ICRShow) (#ICRShow), going on July 10-13 at the Georgia World Congress Center. While the New Testament was released last August, and the digital version of the entire Bible debuted in June on 20 platforms, this is the first time the complete Common English Bible is obtainable on paper. Originally expected this fall, the paperback edition is shipping to stores now. Six other editions, including one with the Apocrypha, will be available in August.

“Despite the English Bible market having so many options available, the Common English Bible stands apart from them all,” says Paul Franklyn, associate publisher. “It’s the result of large-scale collaboration between opposites: scholars working with average readers; conservatives working with liberals; teens working with retirees; men working with women; many denominations and many ethnicities uniting  to create a fresh translation using vivid natural language.”

The Common English Bible is supported by a multi-million dollar launch marketing campaign designed to increase awareness and drive consumers into stores. This broad-based promotion includes extensive sampling and giveaways, consumer print ads, consumer radio campaign, national publicity campaign, national tour, endorsements by Christian leaders, a robust social media campaign, in-store sales promotions, and more. Since August 2010 more than 200,000 copies of the Common English Bible New Testaments are in the hands of consumers.

The Common English Bible is the work of 120 biblical scholars from 24 denominations in American, African, Asian, European, and Latino communities, representing such academic institutions as Asbury Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Bethel Seminary, Denver Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Seattle Pacific University, Wheaton College, Yale University, and many others. They translated the Bible into English directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.

Additionally, more than 500 readers in 77 groups field-tested the translation. Every verse was read aloud in the reading groups, where potentially confusing passages were identified. The translators considered the groups' responses and, where necessary, reworked those passages to clarify in English their meaning from the original languages. More than 700 people worked jointly to bring the Common English Bible to fruition; and thanks to the Internet and today’s technology it was completed in less than four years.

Visit CommonEnglishBible.com to see comparison translations, learn about the translators, get free downloads, and more.

The Common English Bible is a denomination-neutral Bible sponsored by the Common English Bible Committee, an alliance of five publishers that serve the general market, as well as the Disciples of Christ (Chalice Press), Presbyterian Church (Westminster John Knox Press), Episcopal Church (Church Publishing Inc.), United Church of Christ (Pilgrim Press), and United Methodist Church (Abingdon Press).

To schedule an interview with Paul Franklyn, contact Diane Morrow, dmorrow@tbbmedia.com or 1.800.927.1517.

Above Photo: Paul Franklyn, associate publisher, reviews the first copies of the first print editions of the Common English Bible, as they arrived early from the printer in June.

Brandchannel (@brandchannelhub) writes, “If any brand name seems to be loved by all who come in contact with it, it's Moleskine (@moleskine). This 14-year-old Italian iconic brand became known for a simple notebook.” It goes on to explain how Moleskine encourages consumer generated media to help foster its brand.

It isn’t just the brand’s positioning that makes it so special — it is the manner in which the company nurtures and interacts with its fiercely loyal fans and retailers.

Marco Beghin, president of Moleskine America, told The New York Times (@nytimes), “We let our fans speak for themselves.”

Fans are only too happy to share their stories. They post sketches on Moleskine's Facebook page, which has attracted almost 90,000 followers, and they make videos (favorited on Moleskine's channel) demonstrating how much fans love the brand. They also attend special events around the globe organized by Moleskine, such as a recent ‘sketching event’ at Bloomingdale’s in New York. Shoppers could stop and make sketches of a model using Moleskine pencils and notebooks.

This product has always been considered a platform and a culture product. A tool for self-expression."

Read this in full.

Watch this video to see how a person who loves the Moleskine concept hacks that same idea into Bibles: Moleskine Bibles (@MoleskineBible)

But also read how a raving fan can be lost, in Michael Hyatt’s (@MichaelHyatt) “Why I Ditched My Moleskine Journal.”

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2011/07/04

This video on Kottke.org (@Kottke) shows that back before print on demand, laser printers, and the Internet, printing was a time-consuming laborious process, that took teams of people working together to produce just one book. Amazing to watch and reflect on just how revolutionary digital publishing is!

Experiential Marketing and its role in an integrated marketing strategy is the featured topic of the July/August issue of Admap. Editor Colin Grimshaw (@colin_admap) says experiential marketing “connects audiences with the authentic nature of a brand through participation in personally relevant, credible and memorable encounters. Whereas traditional marketing has focused on mass communication using rational, left-brain directed persuasion, experiential marketing focuses on making a personalised connection using emotional, right-brain directed involvement.”

In her article, The Consistent Brand Experience, Liz Bigham (@lizbigham), SVP Marketing for Jack Morton Worldwide (@jackmorton) says, “There are myriad touchpoints for consumers to engage with your brand. It’s essential that these experiences deliver a consistent brand perception.” She offers 5 lessons in achieving brand consistency in the brand experience space:

1. Your brand is a verb, not a noun (a promise delivered — ‘do’ vs ‘tell’)

2. Decide that your brand is worth the investment

3. Owned media matters more (and often costs less) than other media

4. People and behavior are fundamental to the brand experience

5. Consumers don't distinguish between online and experiential, so neither should you

Read this in full.

This article on CNN (@CNN) examines the logos of candidates. “The carefully-crafted designs represent a candidate's brand, attempting to capture a multi-million dollar campaign in a symbol simple enough to fit on a button.”

“Logos are that first handshake with a voter,” said Ty Fujimura (@tyfuji), a graphic designer who blogs about design, including political art. “They provide an initial touch point, so they should express exactly what the candidate wants to be seen as, whether that’s reliable, loyal, honest or perhaps ‘maverick.’”....

Through collaboration and research, designers and campaign staff can spend days shaping their ideal logo, which often gets tweaked along the way to fit a candidate's evolving campaign strategy....

“Logos are the visual interpretation of a campaign personality,” said Vincent Harris (@VincentHarris) of Harris Media (@HarrisMedia), a communications firm. “Everything from the font size of a candidate's name, to the colors on their website, they all define the campaign.”

Read this in full.

Logos and branding strategy are crucial communication elements, no matter what field of endeavor you’re in. Let Somersault (@smrsault) help.

NASHVILLE, TN – The print format of the new complete Common English Bible (http://CommonEnglishBible.com @CommonEngBible – http://twitter.com/CommonEngBible), four years in the making, has arrived early at its central distribution center in Nashville, TN. 

While the New Testament was released last August, and the digital version of the entire Bible just debuted on 20 platforms, this is the first time the complete Common English Bible is available in print. Originally expected this fall, the paperback edition is shipping to stores now. Six other editions, including one with the Apocrypha, will be available in August.

“The Common English Bible is the result of collaboration between opposites: scholars working with average readers; conservatives working with liberals; teens working with retirees; men working with women; many denominations and many ethnicities coming together around the common goal of creating a translation that unites rather than divides, with the ultimate goal of mutually accomplishing God’s overall work in the world,” says Paul Franklyn, associate publisher.

Combining scholarly accuracy with vivid language, the Common English Bible is the work of 120 biblical scholars from 24 denominations in American, African, Asian, European, and Latino communities, representing such academic institutions as Asbury Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Bethel Seminary, Denver Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Seattle Pacific University, Wheaton College, Yale University, and many others. They translated the Bible into English directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.

Additionally, more than 500 readers in 77 groups field-tested the translation. Every verse was read aloud in the reading groups, where potentially confusing passages were identified. The translators considered the groups' responses and, where necessary, reworked those passages to clarify in English their meaning from the original languages. More than 700 people worked jointly to bring the Common English Bible to fruition; and thanks to the Internet and today’s technology it was completed in less than four years.

Photo: Paul Franklyn, associate publisher, reviews the first copies of the first print editions of the Common English Bible, as they arrived early from the printer last week.

Photo: Paul Franklyn, associate publisher, “showing off” the first printed copies of the new Common English Bible.

Visit CommonEnglishBible.com to see comparison translations, learn about the translators, get free downloads, and more.

The Common English Bible is a denomination-neutral Bible sponsored by the Common English Bible Committee, an alliance of five publishers that serve the general market, as well as the Disciples of Christ (Chalice Press), Presbyterian Church (Westminster John Knox Press), Episcopal Church (Church Publishing Inc.), United Church of Christ (Pilgrim Press), and United Methodist Church (Abingdon Press).

To schedule an interview with Paul Franklyn, contact Diane Morrow, dmorrow@tbbmedia.com or 800.927.1517.

Based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman (@equalman), the above video is the latest attempt at capturing the world of today’s social media culture.

Compare where we are today with these previous videos summarizing the social media revolution.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you navigate these accelerating changes in social media.

On his blog Social Media Examiner, Michael Stelzner (@smexaminer) explains that authors today have “an amazing advantage” from pre-Internet days, when they’d have to depend on traditional media, long lead times, and mercurial reporters as their only hope for book publicity. Now, he says, “not only are there millions of bloggers whose collective audience is larger and more engaged than that of the traditional press, there are also millions of consumers who are one click away from sharing your work with their friends on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.”

If you can make it easy for people to share and get excited about your book, you won’t need to spend big bucks or hope you make the list of some old newspaper that no-one really reads anymore.

Here are his 9 suggestions:

1. Embed a Retweet button in a free chapter of the book
2. Create a “Spread the Word” page
3. Design a Facebook photo contest
4. Organize a Top 50 Bloggers promotion
5. Broadcast live videos with experts
6. Add social share buttons
7. Add Facebook Comments
8. Leverage photos on Facebook
9. Create fun videos

Read this in full.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you use social media to launch your book. Be sure to use the free SomersaultNOW dashboard for publishers and marketers; especially the Social Media tab.

A story in eWeek (@eWEEKNews) says tablet shipments will outpace those of e-readers by 2012, according to a new report by research firm In-Stat (@instat).

E-readers still offer the truest reading experience and appeal most to avid readers, but a broader market of consumers are demanding multimedia functionality, like Web browsing, video, and gaming, in their next mobile device. Tablets, like the Apple iPad, are optimized to deliver this kind of multifunction experience, and therefore, represent a stronger opportunity for suppliers and manufacturers alike.

“Of the two, the tablet market is the stronger and more sustainable opportunity,” Stephanie Ethier, an In-Stat senior analyst, wrote in a June 20 research note. “In fact, e-reader manufacturers will soon begin adding tablet-like devices to their lineups in order to take advantage of the tablet frenzy. Barnes & Noble already offers the Color Nook, which is often compared with a tablet, and Amazon, the leader in the e-reader space with its Kindle, will likely launch a tablet device later this year in an effort to compete head-to-head with the iPad.”

According to the research

• 38% of respondents own a tablet, compared to 26% who own an e-reader.
• Fueled by low prices and continued expansion of ebook content, global e-reader shipments will reach 40 million by 2015.
• Tablet shipments will outpace e-reader shipments.
• Over 60% of future tablet purchasers plan to buy a tablet equipped with both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity
• By 2015, 15% of all tablet shipments will go into business markets.

Read the complete eWeek article. Read the news release in full.

You’ll also want to read “Tablet Computing Is Here To Stay, And Will Force Changes In Laptops And Phones” at Fast Company‘s (@fastcompany) Co.Design (@fastcodesign).

Content delivery systems are changing. Are your publishing plans ready for it? Talk to Somersault (@smrsault).