I'M OFF TO THE MARANATHA CONFERENCE

I have a 6:00 am flight to Michigan for the Maranatha conference in the morning. Hope to see some of you there. I will be out of touch until
Friday night. Hope to have some market update to share when I return.

NEW DESIGN FOR CHRISTIANITY TODAY

Christianity Today magazine debuts its redesign in the October issue with new features and a bold, new look. The magazine has a new orientation with well-defined sections and a new color palette.

Editor-in-Chief David Neff says, "Redesign a magazine and you could disorient some readers. But we hope that the redesigned Christianity Today will quickly give the reader a better sense of orientation. We believe the magazine is easier to use and more thoughtful than ever."

WISCONSIN CHRISTIAN WRITERS CONFERENCE

When: Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Time: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Hosted by: Lisa Lickel,
Jaime Wright-Sundsmo,
Location: Walnut Hill Bible Church
1900 East St.
Baraboo, WI 53913 Directions
Fee: $25 per person

Featuring: Workshops, giveaways, group activities, and fellowship with praise and worship!

Workshops: (More to be added!)

Part 1: Steps to Publication - Andrea Boeshaar
Part 2: Steps to Publication - Andrea Boeshaar
Help, I'm Stuck! - Lisa Lickel
Nuts & Bolts of Submission - Lisa Lickel (Beginners)
Pitch to Me - Practice your verbal pitching in a non-threatening situation!
Ginger or MaryAnn? - how writers are like the characters of Gilligan's Island - Erica Vetsch
Writing your Story, Telling His - Michelle Van Loon
Discovering Your Writer's voice - Michelle Van Loon

For more information, visit http://www.wisconsinwriters.com

WRITERS' WORKSHOP - OHIO

Ah, September, a time when summer comes to an end and a new season begins. For some of us, it might mean a new school year or a new job. For others, it could mean a time to return to a writing project or begin a new one.

If you, or someone you know, fall into the writing category, I invite you to consider our next Greater Harvest Day for Writers, October 17, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lebanon, Ohio.

Donna Shepherd and Mary Busha will be offering 8 new writers' workshops from which to choose. For a complete listing of workshops being offered that day and for more information, check www.greaterharvestworkshops.com.

NEW LISTING: LIVING WATERS PUBLISHING CO.

Living Waters Publishing Co., 17 Gannt St., Marion AR 72364; 870-563-2237.
info@livingwaterspc.com; www.livingwaterspc.com. Lensey Hayes, president. Goal
is spreading the right message and helping authors provide inspiration to our readers. Publishes 30-60 titles/year. 90% of books from first-time authors. No reprints. Prefers 35,000-60,000 words, or 160-240 pages. Royalty 10-20% of net; no advance. No simultaneous submissions. Responds in 30-90 days. Requires accepted ms by e-mail. Guidelines by e-mail/Website; free catalog for 9x12 SASE. Nonfiction: Proposal/3 chapters or complete ms; e-query OK. Fiction: Complete manuscript. For all ages. Special Needs: Books on evangelism, church help, Bible studies, charismatic healing stories, and marriage help.

NEW LISTING: CLC PUBLICATIONS

CLC Publications, P.O. Box 1449, Fort Washington PA 19034; 215-542-1242;
dfessenden@clcpublications.com; www.clcpublications.com. David Fessenden,
managing editor. Books that reflect a passion for the topic and a depth of spirituality--a book that grows out of a fervent relationship with Christ. 80% of books from first-time authors. Reprints books. Prefers under 60,000 words. or under 300 pages. Royalty 10-12% of net; advance. Guidelines by mail/e-mail/Website; catalog for 9x12 SAE/2 stamps. Nonfiction: Query first; proposal/2-3 chapters; e-query OK. Books for the deeper life.

MAGAZINES OUT OF BUSINESS OR NO FREELANCE

The Beacon: Bad address and Website. May be out of business. Page 270.

El Heraldo Cristiano: P.O. Box 2955, Clearwater FL 33757-2955. Page 295.

E-Quality: Out of business for now. May resume production in 2011. Page 296.

Focus on Your Child Newsletters: Out of business. Page 301.

Gold Country Families: Out of business. Page 302.

Literary TNT: Out of business. Page 314.

Minnesota Christian Chronicle: No freelance. Page 323.

Prison Living Magazine: Out of business. Page 333.

Village Note Cards: Asked to be deleted. Page 349.

Winner: Out of business. Page 363.

This Rock: No freelance. Page 395.

InsideOut: No freelance. Page 402.

Hearts at Home: Out of business. Page 412.

Money the Write Way: Out of business. Page 426.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERS

The Shack by William P. Young (Windblown Media) is #2 on the paperback trade fiction list.

The Love Dare by Stephen & Alex Kendrick with Lawrence Kimbrough (B&H Publishing Group) is #2 on the paperback advice list.

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (Northfield) is #4 on the paperback advice list.

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (Thomas Nelson) is #9 on the hardcover advice, how-to, misc. list.

The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan) is #9 on the paperback advice list.

Game Plan for Life by Joe Gibbs with Jerry B. Jenkins (Tyndale House) is #13 on the hardcover advice list.

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller (Riverhead) is #13 on the paperback nonfiction list.

90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper w/ Cecil Murphey (Revell) is #16 on paperback nonfiction list.

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore (Thomas Nelson) is #17 on the paperback nonfiction list.

Green by Ted Dekker (Thomas Nelson) is #20 on the hardcover fiction list.
5 Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter a Best Seller for Vicki Courtney
NEW

MAGAZINES: NEW CONTACT INFO

IMAGINE: 1015 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City KS 66101; phone/fax 913-233-0266; lori@imagodeiarts.org; www.imagodeiarts.org. Calista Baker is submissions editor. Page 309.

Light & Life: LLMAuthors@fmcna.org. Page 314.

New Frontier: New.Frontier@usw.salvationarmy.org. Page 325.

Nostalgia: P.O. Box 203, Spokane WA 99210-0203. Page 326.

Now What?: nowwhat@cog7.org. No longer accepts fillers. Page 326.

The Storyteller: Drop fax; storytellermag1@yahoo.com. Poetry editor is Jamie Johnson. Page 344.

Tri-State Voice: 38 Sioux Ave., Oakland NJ 07436-2133. Page 347.

Mustard Seed Ministries Devotional: P.O. Box 501, Bluffton IN 46714. Drop phone and fax numbers. Page 372.

Ministry in Motion E-zine: 7357 Brandtvista Ave., Huber Heights OH 45424-3330. Page 388.

At the Center: P.O. Box 309, Fleetwood PA 19522; Sonya@rightideas.us. Submit to Sonya Valentino, assistant editor. Page 407.

Celebrate Moms.org: P.O. Box 911, Grand Bay AL 36541-0911. Page 408.

Come to the Fire has been replaced by Come to the Fire Community Online Magazine: 816-777-2003; pam@cometothefire.org. Page 409.

Elegance: 2405 York Ct., Waldorf MD 20602-2152. Page 410.

MAGAZINE MISCELLANY

The Christian Civic League of Maine Record is now called Maine Family Policy Council Record. E-mail: email@mainefamilypolicycouncil.com. Website: www.mainefamilypolicycouncil.com. Page 278.

All material written for The Christian Journal is now limited to 500 words. Page 281.

Relief Journal pays in copies. Page 336.

NEW CONTACT INFO FOR BOOK PUBLISHERS

Branden Publishing Co.: Branden@brandenbooks.com; www.brandenbooks.com. Page 78.

Charles Press Publishers: 230 N. 21st St., Philadelphia PA 19103-1095. Page 83.

The Crossroad Publishing Co.: 831 Chestnut Ridge Rd., Chestnut Ridge NY 10977; 845-517-0180; fax 845-517-0181; info@crossroadpublishing.com. Drop Nancy Neal as acquisitions editor. Page 89.

Emmaus Road Publishing: 740-283-2484. No reprints. Page 94.

Encore Performance Publishing: info@encoreplay.com. Specializes in children’s plays and musicals for schools and churches. Page 94.

Fifth Estate Publishers: 205-237-9511. Page 98.

Guernica Editions: 8075 Marie Brandon, Montreal QC, H1E 3P6, Canada. Drop telephone numbers. Page 103.

Jireh Publishing: 26 Raintree Ct., Apt. 28, Hayward CA 94544-5385. Page 111.

Lighthouse Publishing: Drop telephone number. Page 116.

Morehouse Publishing: www.churchpublishing.org. Page 124.

Holy Fire Publishing: 717 Old Trolley Rd., Ste. 6, Unit 116, Summerville SC 29485. Page 161.

Milestones Intl. Publishers: P.O. Box 119, Orrstown PA 17244-0119. Page 164.

MORE PUBLISHERS OUT OF BUSINESS OR NO FREELANCE

Illumination Arts Publishing: No freelance. Page 109.

Johns Hopkins University Press: No longer publishes religion titles. Page 111.

Presbyterian Publishing House: No freelance. Page 135.

Woodland Gospel Publishing House: No freelance. Page 153.

Leading Lady Publications: Bad address. Page 163.

Men of Standard Publications: Bad address. Page 164

Windflower Communications is out of business. Page 173.

BOOKSTORES CLOSING NATIONWIDE

With a growing number of retail stores facing closures this year, bookstores are experiencing a record number of closures as well. Their closings are forecast to jump 500 percent from last year, to 400 stores.

ACCEPTABLE/UNACCEPTABLE BIBLE VERSIONS

While one of the details I include in my market guide is which Bible version or versions a publiher prefers the author to use, I didn't realize that a publisher would also list some versions as "unacceptable." It recently came to my attention that Focus on the Family (in recommending or not recommending certain books)has a list of Bible translations which "red flag" books- and a list of acceptable translations. Selecting an "acceptable" translation will keep that red flag off your book.

Versions not acceptable to Focus on the Family (these versions are gender neutral)
TNIV
NLT
NRSV
NCV
CEV
GW
NIVI

Here are the versions Focus can work with:
NLV
KJV
NKJV
NIV
NIrV
RSV
HCSB
AMP
ESV
NASB

NEW YORK TIMES CHRISTIAN BEST SELLERS

The Shack by William P. Young (Windblown Media) is #2 on the paperback trade fiction list. It will appear at #2 for the week of September 13, its 67th week on the bestseller list.

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (Northfield) is #2 on the paperback advice list.

The Love Dare by Stephen & Alex Kendrick with Lawrence Kimbrough (B&H Publishing Group) is #4 on the paperback advice list.

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (Thomas Nelson) is #10 on the hardcover advice, how-to, misc. list and will appear as #11 the week of September 13.

Game Plan for Life by Joe Gibbs with Jerry B. Jenkins (Tyndale House) is #11 on the hardcover advice list.

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore (Thomas Nelson) is #12 on the paperback nonfiction list and will appear as #16 the week of September 13.

The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (Zondervan) is #13 on the paperback advice list.

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller (Riverhead) is #14 on the paperback nonfiction list.

90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper w/ Cecil Murphey (Revell) is #16 on paperback nonfiction list.

Hope of Refuge by Cindy Woodsmall (WaterBrook) is #34 on the paperback trade fiction list.

I NEED YOUR INPUT

If you use my market guide you are familiar with the topical listings for book publishers. They are coded with an "R" after the name of the company if they take reprints, and an (S) in front of the listing if they are a subsidy publisher. More recently I have added a (A) in front of the name if they require that you have an agent.

Because I have a new publisher this year, they have made a change in the way those book topical listings are arranged. The pulled out all those with an (A) in front and listed them at the top under the topical name, left a blank line and then listed the rest of the publishers for that topic.

My question is this--do you think that is a change that would be helpful to you as you seek a publisher or would it be a hinderance? And why? E-mail your response to: stuartcwmg@aol.com. Thanks for your help.

SPECIAL ON 2010 WRITER'S MARKET

Up until midnight,September 7, you can get a 40% discount on the 2010 Writer's Market ($17.99). Go to the Website below and use code WDS114. Even the shipping is free. (Note: This is the secular market guide, not mine.)

http://bit.ly/2HJLze

NIV TO BE UPDATED AFTER 25 YEARS

The global board of Biblica yesterday announced its intention to update the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, the first time it has been revised since 1984. The Committee on Bible Translation (CBT), the independent body of global biblical scholars solely responsible for the translation of the world’s most popular Bible, is slated to finish its revision late next year, with publication in 2011.

“As time passes and English changes, the NIV we have at present is becoming increasingly dated. If we want a Bible that English speakers around the world can understand, we have to listen to, and respect, the vocabulary they are using today.”

The new edition of the NIV Bible will be coming out in 2011, the year which marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. The 2011 NIV will represent the latest expression of the CBT’s translation work. Previous expressions included the 1978 and 1984 editions of the NIV and the 2005 TNIV.

Zondervan, the North American publisher of the NIV Bible, will begin producing print and digital versions of the updated NIV Bible once the CBT has completed its translation. “We are tremendously excited about this initiative and we wholeheartedly support our colleagues from Biblica and the CBT as they work again with the same recipe that made the NIV the most popular Bible translation in the world,” said Zondervan President Moe Girkins.

NEW SOCIAL MEDIA SITE FOR WRITERS

Sourceables, LLC has announced the launch of Sourceables (www.sourceables.com) a new online community of sources, authors, experts, and media professionals.

Sourceables.com is a completely free and innovative social networking platform that allows its members to share their viewpoints, expertise, and insights through short text posts and links so that media can search for and connect with the sources they need for the stories, features, blogs, or programming they produce. Sourceables can help position authors and others with the media by demonstrating what they know and why they know it about today's news, topics, and trends.

Who Can Use Sourceables and How Does it Work?

Sourceables is for anyone who can offer their insights specifically on what's happening in the news or with today's leading topics and trends. Members create a profile, add links to their personal site(s), and begin posting their comments. Links can also be provided within a post to a news story or external site to help connect comments to current topics. Sourceables members can also feed their posts directly to their Twitter account through the Tweet function.

For media professionals, Sourceables can help journalists, reporters, producers, bloggers, and others quickly find and contact the sources they need. Along with being available 24/7 and being constantly updated, Sourceables features a live search function which can quickly and easily locate sources via any word, topic, or keywords entered immediately after posts are updated or filed. Sources can also be located via the category browse function.

Additional benefits for media members include the ability to post queries directly to the Sourceables community and the ability to remain completely anonymous while using the site (profile pages are not required for media members) so members can search for sources without having to weed out unsuitable candidates or deal with unwanted contact. For more details visit: Sourceables FAQ

Connect and Communicate

Sourceables gives its members the opportunity to do more than just comment on news and topics. They can also share what they are working on or what interesting projects or research they are developing or involved with. In addition to offering insights on the news, Sourceables is a great resource for connecting and communicating with others. Members can follow those whose interests match theirs to share ideas or make new contacts.

With its advanced search function and follow capabilities, Sourceables can be an extremely useful tool for media seeking authors, experts, professionals, or anyone who can offer insights or commentary. It is a new, dynamic way for journalists to not only locate sources but begin a conversation together. In addition to connecting media with sources, Sourceables also allows for its members to connect and share information with one another.

For more information: info@sourceables.com or www.sourceables.com

CHANGES IN CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORES

Christian retailers are mixing up their inventory in an effort to better meet consumers' changing needs.

Seventy percent of stores have increased the space they give to DVDs in the past two years, while 40% have cut the room given to rock/alternative music, according to the latest Christian Retailing magazine Vital Signs industry survey.

Three in five stores have increased their SKU counts for Bibles, while 51% were stocking more devotionals than they were two years ago. On the other side of the scale, 40% have diminished inventory for framed art. Apparel inventory was down in 31% of stores and up in 24%.

Meanwhile, stores were evenly split on their approach to changes in criteria for introducing products they "might not have carried" in years past.

Just over half (52%) reported that their selection criteria was narrower than it used to be, and 48% said they were stocking a broader range of products. One owner commented on a shift in her mission, saying the store was "becoming more and more like real life--a Christian living center."

CHRISTIANITY TODAY LAUNCHES WOMEN'S SITE

Christianity Today International has launched Kyria.com, a resource for women who want to grow deeper in their relationship with Christ and in faithfully influencing the people around them to respond to Christ.

Kyria.com is a web-based resource for these women that provides solid, strong teaching material, and helps women understand what it means to live out their gifts to make a kingdom impact within their local church and throughout the world.

Ginger Kolbaba, founding editor, says, "We've heard from many women who want something different from the women's ministry resources and events that are designed simply to make women more comfortable. A lot of Christian women want materials that will make them think and grow, and will help them go beyond themselves to make disciples of others."

Amy Simpson, publisher at Christianity Today International, adds, "With Kyria.com, we acknowledge that God has created, gifted, and chosen women to do his work and to build his church. Kyria.com equips women to use their gifts, take responsibility for their spiritual formation and discipling others, and fulfill the work God has called them to--through the power of his life-transforming and life-sustaining Spirit."

Women can join Kyria.com for an introductory price of only $14.95 a year and get access to the following resources:

Hundreds of articles that encourage and motivate women to go deeper in their ministries, discipleship, spiritual formation, and relationships with others.

A monthly digital magazine that focuses on a specific spiritual discipline or spiritual theme. The inaugural issue, titled "Born Identity: Chosen in Christ. Called to Influence", is set to launch November 2009.

Twenty percent off all downloadable resources at KyriaStore.com-- members can find personal growth tools and teaching materials to use within their ministries.

Kyria.com features a growing list of top-notch contributors, both established and fresh voices, to speak to women and call them to live more deeply.

To become a charter member of Kyria.com or give a gift to influential, thoughtful Christian women you know, visit http://kyria.com/membership/.

Christianity Today International (CTI) publishes 9 print magazines and newsletters and operates an award-winning website reaching more than 2.5- million unique visitors monthly. A leading journalistic voice of Evangelicals, CTI equips Christians to renew their minds, serve the church, and transform their cultures.