somersault

More than 70,000 leaders attended the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit (@wcagls) (#wcagls) Aug. 11-12. Its objective is “to transform Christian leaders around the world with an annual injection of vision, skill development, and inspiration for the sake of the local church.” Internationally known speakers offered attendees practical development insights.

Bill Hybels (@billhybels) began the summit with 5 critical questions:

1.    What is your current leadership challenge level at work?

2.    What is your plan for dealing with challenging people in your organization?

3.    Are you naming, facing, and resolving the problems that exist in your church or organization?

4.    When was the last time you re-examined the core of what your organization is all about?

5.    Have you had your leadership bell rung recently?

Read summaries of all the presentations at the GLS blog. Also see Matt Perman's (@mattperman) blog What's Best Next.

ICRS (@ICRShow) (#ICRShow) met in Atlanta July 10-13. Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) says, “CBA — the association of Christian stores, which produces the show — reported total attendance of just under 5,000, a 6% increase over last year’s convention in St. Louis. The association itself has seen some growth through new memberships, but store attrition continues. Most publishers say the show is still an important place for them to have a presence, even if scaled back, but they are approaching it with new strategies.” Read the full report.

In another article, PW says, “There was less doomsday talk this year from exhibiting publishers--as with BEA, they have accepted that the show no longer has the same purpose, but most say it is valuable for reasons other than selling books. Read the full report.

Christian Retailing (@ChristianRetail) writes, “Given the economy and other factors affecting retailing in general, ‘I’m very encouraged that so many retailers found this show to be beneficial because this is a time when you need to go to this type of event to challenge yourself,’ said CBA Executive Director Curtis Riskey.” Read the full report.

On the CBA Industry Blog, read Riskey’s “Message to honored guests after successful ICRS.”

US Director of CLC (@clcusa) Dave Almack (@davealmack) wraps up the show with personal reflections on his FaithLit blog:

1.    Less Panic

2.    Less Hype

3.    More Collaboration

4.    More Innovation

5.    More Productivity

Read the blogpost in full.

See photos from ICRS. 

If you were at ICRS this year, write your comments about it below.

Here are images from the International Christian Retail Show (@ICRShow) (#ICRShow, #ICRS, #ICRS2011) in Atlanta, GA. Wish you were here.

This video introducing the Comon English Bible is debuting at the International Christian Retail Show (@ICRShow) (#ICRShow and #ICRS), going on July 10-13. Stop by the CEB booth 828 to get a free copy (while supplies last) of the just published print edition of the complete Bible.

Also see our previous post "Complete Print Edition of the Common English Bible Debuts at Christian Retail Show."

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.

Shelf Awareness (@ShelfAwareness) reports that attendance at BookExpo America (@BookExpoAmerica) (#BEA, #BEA11, #BookExpo) last week, including Blog World Expo NY (@blogworld) (#BWENY), was 23,067.

Excluding BlogWorld, whose participants were not included in last year's attendance figures, attendance was 21,664, down just 255, or 1.2%, from 21,919 in 2010. BEA emphasized that this year’s slightly lower number reflected higher standards: the show “strategically vetted more attendee groups to improve the quality of those participating in BEA.” One resulting major change: there were 500 fewer attendee authors this year, authors distinct from those appearing for signings, panels and other events.

Also in Shelf Awareness, Ron Hogan (@ronhogan) recaps the Book Blogger Convention (@bookbloggercon) (#BookBloggerCon) where a blogger speaker is quoted saying: “authenticity, consistency, and generosity [are] crucial to any successful blog.”

More BBC recaps at The Reading Ape (@readingape), write meg! (@writemeg), and As I Turn the Pages (@bookangel224).

And watch the Book Business video "Voices From BookExpo America 2011."

The Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit (RBTE) will be held next Tuesday through Friday at Pheasant Run Resort and Convention Center in St. Charles, IL. Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) explains what it’s all about:

Back when independent bookstores dotted the landscape like churches, religion publishers represented only a fraction of the overall number at ABA's annual trade show. Apart from a few large trade houses that published the occasional book in the category, publishers whose focus was religion had other avenues to reach their audience. Their primary sales channels were not trade bookstores but denominational or larger chain religion outlets or independent evangelical Christian stores....

Then, in the early to mid-1990s, America's interest in religion mushroomed, and religion publishers responded with books that ranged over diverse topics, from angels and pyramids to the debates between religion and science, new archeological discoveries, interreligious dialogue, critical readings of sacred texts, and the recovery of ancient religious traditions—not to mention faith-based fiction.

Burgeoning reader interest coincided with the rise of the chain bookstores that pushed many independents out of business, and religion publishers began to see what had by then become BEA as a way to reach a wider audience by expanding their sales and marketing channels to include general trade and chain bookstores, using the show to gain exposure and publicity as they moved into the retail mainstream.

Read this article in full.

UPDATE: See exhibit wrap-up coverage by Publishers Weekly, "Smaller Liturgical Booksellers Trade Show Hits 20 Years."

One of the featured titles at this year’s RBTE is the Common English Bible (@CommonEngBible & @VersesForToday), the newest translation by the largest number of biblical scholars & church leaders in words 21st century readers use every day, balancing academic rigor with modern understandability, proven through extensive field-testing with, and acting on feedback from, hundreds of readers. It’s the only Bible to include National Geographic maps and to extensively use contractions where the text warrants an engaging conversational style (not used in divine or poetic discourse). This translation is necessary to clearly communicate God’s Word because 9,000 new words & meaning revisions are added yearly to the English lexicon. Professional communicators (preachers, professors, speakers, leaders, etc.) who use this authoritative translation (not a paraphrase) will be great communicators, effectively reaching their audiences with biblical text their audiences readily understand because the text is written the way they naturally talk.

See the website for more information.

Publishers, authors, booksellers, and agents are crowded together this week attending the annual BEA (@BookExpoAmerica) (#BEA, #BEA11, #BookExpo) convention in New York City. Read the latest news:

• Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly)
• The Washington Post (@washingtonpost)
• Google News (@googlenews)

Book Business (@bookbusinessmag) reports “preliminary results from an ambitious new book publishing industry survey show growth in both revenues and units sold across the contemporary book publishing landscape.” The "BookStats" survey shows

Growth was seen for publishers of all sizes with medium- and small-sized publishers leading the way. Over 50% of the publishers surveyed were enjoying growth, Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publishing services at RR Bowker, said.

Data is broken down by content categories (trade fiction and non-fiction, juvenile, religious, K-12, higher education, professional and scholarly); formats (physical and non-physical delivery platforms); and distribution channel.

Not surprisingly, hardcover and softcover markets have seen declines, while digital formats such as e-books and apps are growing.

Adult fiction is "a stalwart category" enjoying healthy growth, as are all categories of juvenile titles, Gallagher said. Nonfiction adult, however is "struggling."

While chain bookstores are registering predicable declines, independent bookstores are holding their own, showing stable sales or just slight declines. "I think it's a great story line that the independents are showing some resiliency," Gallagher said.

Book Business also reports on the International Digital Publishing Forum conference at BEA about “surprising new information on consumer and student ebook reading habits.

Of consumers surveyed in January 2011, 77.3% are "satisfied" or "highly satisfied" with the price of ebooks.... The feature sets most desired in ebooks are affordability (seen by 75% of respondents as "very important"), followed by readability, ease of acquisition, portability (all over 70%) and speed (over 60%). Searchability and eco-friendliness were important to 35% of respondents, though the later is growing as a factor.

Among reading devices, consumers are most satisfied with Amazon's Kindle (75%) followed by the Nook (70%) and iPad (60%).

Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen) reports on paidContent (@paidContent) about Barnes & Noble announcing a new WiFi-only Nook and Amazon responding with a cheaper 3G edition of the Kindle.

And Shelf Awareness (@ShelfAwareness) covered the American Booksellers Association's annual meeting, where CEO Oren Teicher called for new business models for the trade; he

dispensed with the usual CEO report reviewing the association's activities of the past year and instead gave a wide-ranging talk outlining how booksellers and publishers "can work more closely together in the common goal of selling more books" and maintaining bricks-and-mortar bookstores' role as "the essential showroom in ensuring the sales of a broad spectrum of titles," a browsing experience no one else can offer.

Also read CBA's coverage, "Ebooks command BEA spotlight, but stores still needed, many say." Then read our wrap-up blog post "BEA, Blog World Expo NY, & BookBloggerCon."

While Somersault was at the NRB convention in Nashville, TN, we saw The Martyr Monument, created by The Voice of the Martyrs (@VOM_USA), Bartlesville, OK, in memory of those who have given their lives in service to Jesus. Read more information about The Martyr Monument.

Somersault is attending the NRB Convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, where we're greeting friends and meeting new ones. We're enjoying reviewing projects with them and discussing new publishing, marketing, and branding campaigns to undertake in the coming months. While there, we viewed and took some photos of Thomas Nelson's (@ThomasNelson) extensive exhibit of historic Bibles in the exposition hall.

“The Living Legacy of the Bible” exhibit is part of KJV400, Nelson Bible’s (@NelsonBibles) unprecedented 400 day celebration of the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version of the Bible.

The exhibit allows attendees to experience first-hand more than 4,000 years of Bible history, from the time of Abraham to the present day. Artifacts in the exhibit include Dead Sea Scroll fragments, cuneiform tablets, numerous historic Bibles, an original 1611 KJV Bible, and much more.

The #1 selling Bible translation of all time, the King James Version was first published May 2, 1611. Unparalleled in its theological, literary, and cultural magnitude, the KJV continues to inspire people from all walks of life and faith traditions.

At the start of 2011, Somersault produced an interactive Infographic featuring 22 landmark anniversaries in the areas of publishing, innovation, and technology occuring this year, one of which is the 400th anniversary of the KJV Bible. Read the news release.

See more photos of "The Living Legacy of the Bible" exhibit.

See more photos of the NRB 2011 Convention.