11TH ANNUAL RETAILERS CHOICE AWARDS

Christian retailers across the country have chosen the winning products in the 11th annual Retailers Choice Awards, sponsored by Christian Retailing magazine. Among a record 350-plus nominations in 39 categories, 41 winners were voted as best of the year.

Tyndale House Publishers and Thomas Nelson tied for the most wins, with eight each. Tyndale had 10 finalists and Thomas Nelson 25 finalists in the running.

Sarah Young’s devotional writing fared well with two wins: Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions for Kids (Children’s Nonfiction) and Jesus Calling: Deluxe Edition in Backlist, both from Thomas Nelson.

Best-selling author and pastor David Platt won the Audio award for Radical (christianaudio) and a Christian Living: Spiritual Growth award for Radical (WaterBrook Multnomah). Beth Moore’s So Long, Insecurity (Tyndale) was tops in Women’s Nonfiction, while the Spanish version, Hasta Luego, Inseguridad (Tyndale) won in the Spanish category.

Other standouts included Bonhoeffer, a best-seller of critical acclaim by Eric Metaxas (Thomas Nelson), Forgotten God Study Resource by Francis Chan (David C. Cook) and The Action Bible by Doug Mauss, general editor, and Sergio Cariello, an illustrator of DC Comics and Marvel Comics fame (David C. Cook).

With the awards’ 11th year attracting a record number of nominations, Geni Hulsey, president of the Church Bookstore Network, said: “Every one of them were viable nominations. I was impressed with the list and in some cases it was hard to choose. I think the cream rose to the top, and the winners were as they should have been.”

Introduced in 2001, the Retailers Choice Awards have been increasingly acknowledged as an important way of recognizing some of the most significant new life-changing products in the Christian retail industry.

Retailers were asked to judge nominations on the impact they have had on staff and customers, including their ability to:

• speak to people’s hearts and evoke emotion
• open people’s minds to new ways of thinking
• encourage and affirm Christ-like living.

Finalists were announced in early April, prior to the presentation of the awards Tuesday, April 26, at Retailing ReBoot 2011, held April 26-28 at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center in Orlando, Fla. For more information on the event, go to http://retailingreboot.com.