The Jewish Book Award Winners for 2013 include titles from Eerdmans (The War Within These Walls; Children’s and YA), Urim Publications (Kaddish: Women’s Voices; Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice), Holiday House (Hanukkah Bear; Illustrated Children’s Book), Toby Press/Koren Publishers Jerusalem (The Koren Sacks Pesach Machzor; Modern Jewish Thought and Experience), Princeton University Press (Maimonides: Life and Thought; Scholarship), and Pointed Leaf Press (Kabbalah in Art and Architecture; Visual Arts). See a complete list of winners and finalists in the 17 categories. The winner of the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature is The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible by Matti Friedman (Algonquin).
InterVarsity Press has received the Quality, Excellence, Design (QED) certification from Digital Book World for three e-books: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Playing God, and One Bible, Many Versions. The titles were recognized for the QED certification in their respective e-book formats, passing a rigorous 13-point quality assurance program. Each nominated e-book is tested on mobile, eInk, and tablet screens to ensure accessibility for readers. IVP also won the “Best of the Best” 2013 Leadership Book Award for In Search of Deep Faith in The Leader’s Inner Life category. IVP’s Disunity in Christ and Troubled Minds were short-listed in The Leader’s Outer Life category. Other publishers with award–winning and short-listed books include Eerdmans, David C. Cook, Crossway, B&H Publishing, Zondervan, and Group. Award-winning books are selected each year by the editors of Leadership Journal
Jewish Lights/SkyLight Paths publisher Stuart Matlins has been honored with the Abraham Geiger Medal “for his many achievements in educating about Judaism among people of all faiths,” according to a statement from Abraham Geiger College of Potsdam University, Germany. The honor will be conferred in April in Dresden at the Biennial of the European Union for Progressive Judaism. Matlins is the founder, editor-in-chief, and publisher of Jewish Lights Publishing and SkyLight Paths Publishing, as well as a long-time member of the board of supervisors of Abraham Geiger College, a progressive rabbinical school. Find more details on the Jewish Lights Web site.
Tyndale Momentum, an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers is launching a multi-state book tour for Tony and Lauren Dungy’s Uncommon Marriage: Learning about Lasting Love and Overcoming Life’s Obstacles Together , written with Nathan Whitaker. The tour will begin at Bookends in Ridgewood, N.J., on February 4 and conclude March 2 at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Tex.
The Christian Writers Guild’s Writing for the Soul Conference will be held February 13-16 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. There will be 48 writing classes, as well as a promotion and marketing track with 25 classes on such topics as blogging, creating word-of-mouth buzz, media relations, and how to launch a book. Top-selling authors in Christian publishing--James Scott Bell, Brandilyn Collins, Angela Hunt, Jerry B. Jenkins, and others--will teach; keynote speakers include Christy Award-winner Angela Hunt, novelist and Writer’s Digest columnist James Scott Bell, Brandilyn Collins, author and Taylor University professional writing director Dennis E. Hensley, author and international evangelist Sammy Tippit, and former Disney Imagineer and motivational speaker McNair Wilson.
Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA) celebrates its 10th anniversary this month; the association represents and promotes small publishers in the Christian marketplace. CSPA began with three founding members and now has more than 100 members, both small publishers and independently published authors. CSPA programs provide cooperative marketing assistance, marketing consultation, a books-for-bloggers review program called BookCrash, and the Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award. To celebrate its anniversary, CSPA is discounting membership; small publishers and independently published authors creating books for the Christian marketplace can join CSPA for the 2014 calendar year for $85.
Logos Bible Software has been selected as a Top-10 Best Medium-sized Company to Work for in 2014 by Glassdoor.com. Logos is an e-book company that also develops proprietary software to view its e-books; it also publishes print books under the Kirkdale Press and Lexham Press imprints and has some 40,000 e-book titles, both original and licensed, in its catalog. Logos received 4.5 out of 5 stars for employee satisfaction, and 93% percent of employees would recommend working at Logos to a friend. Τhe Glassdoor selections are based solely on the opinions of current or former employees, and Logos is the only book industry company to win the award this year.
Illumination Book Awards has announced its inaugural medal winners for 2013; the Jenkins Group is launching the awards, which recognize excellence in Christian books. Medals have been awarded in 16 categories. A portion of Illumination Awards entry fees will be donated to a charitable organization each year; for 2013 that is Habitat for Humanity.
