Industry News [ Supplier News ] //

C>rossway Growth Mandates Restructuring _Vers> _{ion (}>CROSSWAY BOOKS AND BIBLES restructured to build on growth stemming from sales of its English Standard ESV) Bible. The company stated ESV Bible worldwide sales and distribution have increased more than fourfold over the past two years and risen as high as No. 3 on the CBA translation bestseller list.

In July Crossway reorganized into two major publishing divisions, one for books and one for Bibles. The new Crossway Bibles division is led by Bible

Publishing Sr. VP Randy Jahns, who oversaw the ESV Bible launch over the past six years.

The new book division, Crossway Books, continues to be led by Allan Fisher, as book publishing VP. Under Fisher’s leadership, Crossway has expanded from about 40 titles to 65 per year, and has added

several significant new authors.

Geoff Dennis has taken on new responsibility as sales and marketing executive VP and will provide leadership for a new sales and marketing strategy.

“Our new strategy,” Dennis said, “will focus first on increasing our effectiveness in serving our established CBA, ABA, and other general-market channels, while also expanding our effective-

ness in reaching the rapidly changing ‘new marketplace.’

“The crucial thing for us right now is to continue our deep commitment to existing markets and distribution channels while building a team of highly creative people who have a passion and vision for

reaching people who love Christian books and the Bible.”

Dennis brings 15 years of Crossway experience to his new position, as well as a passion for understanding the “new print and e-media content user.”

With more than 100 editions and formats in print, the ESV Bible has experienced more than 100% annual growth in the Christian-retail market for four years in a row. Its newest title, the ESV Literary Study Bible releases this month. It contains many literary features for Bible study and devotional reading.

Crossway Bibles also launched a free Web site offering the searchable text of the ESV Bible plus daily Bible readings in an Apple iPhone-compatible format. It also partnered with AcroDesign Technologies on iBibleSpace, which features the ESV Bible, daily verse, podcasts, and more. Crossway said its main ESV Web site gets 100,000-plus visitors a month.

42 CBA Retailers+Resources | 09.07

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