Thomas Nelson's Audio Bible Makes History; Christy Awards Honor Fiction Winners
-- Publishers Weekly, 7/23/2008
For the second year in a row, the ECPA Christian Book of the Year has made history. In 2007, the award went to a novel and to a woman for the first time, when Karen Kingsbury took the top prize for Ever After. This year also broke the mold in two ways: it's the first time an audio book has won, and the first time a Bible has won.
Thomas Nelson's The Word of Promise New Testament Audio Bible beat 229 other entries from 35 Christian publishers. The dramatized audio Bible, featuring performances by Jim Caviezel, Michael York and Marisa Tomei, was honored for both its artistic excellence and strong sales. In addition, The Word of Promise tied for the Retailers Choice Award for best audio book, sharing the award with Zondervan for its Inspired By... The Bible Experience: The Complete Bible.
Other industry awards were presented at last week's ICRS show in Orlando, Fla. The Christy Awards, which recognize excellence in Christian fiction, received the highest-ever number of submissions in nine categories. The awards went mostly to veterans and previous winners, including Jan Karon in the contemporary series category for Home to Holly Springs (Viking); Lisa Samson in young adult for Hollywood Nobody (NavPress); and Lynn Austin in historical for A Proper Pursuit (Bethany). In addition to Austin's award, Bethany also picked up two other Christys, making it the house with the most wins in the awards' nine-year history: Bethany author Athol Dickson took home the suspense prize for The Cure; and in romance, Tamera Alexander swept judges off their feet with Remembered. In a touching tribute, Bethany editorial director Carol Johnson was honored for her lifetime achievement and dedication to Christian fiction—Johnson discovered and nurtured such novelists as Janette Oke, Beverly Lewis and Jamie Langston Turner.
The evening's other awards went to Charles Martin in the contemporary stand-alone category for Chasing Fireflies (Thomas Nelson); Stephen Lawhead in the visionary category for Scarlet (also Thomas Nelson); and Sibella Giorello in first novel for The Stones Cry Out (Revell).
