Monday, July 9, 2007, Atlanta, GA—The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) today announced the winners of the 2007 Christian Book Awards during the 2007 International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) in Atlanta. New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist Karen Kingsbury won the 2007 Christian Book of the Year Award for her novel Ever After (Zondervan, December 2006). Kingsbury, who has more than six million books in print, accepted the award in person. Interviews with Kingsbury are available upon request (Karen Campbell, Zondervan, 616-698-3246).
Presented annually to the finest in Christian publishing, the 2007 Christian Book Awards recognize excellence in six genre categories. Titles are nominated by member publishers and then evaluated by a panel of expert judges. The Christian Book of the Year is chosen from all 30 finalists and factors in sales. The 2007 category winners are:
Bibles – Archaeological Study Bible NIV (Zondervan, March 2006, ISBN-13: 9780310926054)
Bible Reference & Study – The IVP Atlas of Bible History by Paul Lawrence (IVP Academic/InterVarsity Press, September 2006, ISBN-13: 9780830824526)
Children & Youth – Sexy Girls by Hayley DiMarco (Revell/Baker Publishing Group, February 2006, ISBN-13: 9780800730840)
Christian Life – What Jesus Demands from the World by John Piper (Crossway Books, September 2006, ISBN-13: 9781581348453)
Fiction – When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin (Thomas Nelson, April 2006, ISBN-13: 9781595540546)
Inspiration & Gift – Pearls of Great Price by Joni Eareckson Tada (Zondervan, December 2006, ISBN-13: 9780310262985)
ECPA is partnering with major retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Crossings, and numerous Christian retailers, to feature these winning titles in-store and online. Additional consumer promotional support is provided by Christianity Today Inc. (CTi) via its website and family of magazines.
The Christian Book Awards, established by ECPA in 1978 as the Gold Medallion Book Awards, are the oldest and among the most prestigious in the religious publishing industry. The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade organization, comprised of 260 member companies worldwide, representing a combined revenue of more than $2.3 billion. For more information, visit www.ecpa.org or call 480-966-3998.
