ECPA announces Christian Book Award winners; Billy Graham's "Nearing Home" is Book of the Year

ECPA Announces 2012 Christian Book Award Winners in Seven Categories, including first-time New Author category

Billy Graham’s "Nearing Home” wins Christian Book of the Year

CONTACT:
Mark Kuyper, President and CEO, ECPA
480-966-3998 ext. 210, mkuyper@ecpa.org

April 30, 2012, Chicago IL -- The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced the winners for the 2012 Christian Book Awards in seven categories, including first-time category for New Author. Presented annually to the finest in Christian publishing since 1978, the Christian Book Awards honor the highest quality titles in Bibles, Bible Reference, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Children, Inspiration, and New Author.

One finalist title, Nearing Home by Billy Graham (Thomas Nelson), received the top honor by being named the 2012 Christian Book of the Year for its profound impact and high judging scores for excellence.

"Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life,” says Billy Graham,now in his nineties and known by many as God’s Ambassador. "I would have never guessed what God had in store for me, and I know that as I am nearing home, He will not forsake me the last mile of the way.” In Nearing Home, Graham explores the challenges of aging while gleaning foundational truths from Scripture. "When granted many years of life, growing old in age is natural, but growing old with grace is a choice,” says Graham.

Nearing Home is Billy Graham’s first Christian Book of the Year, though two of his titles have received Gold Medallion Awards (Approaching Hoofbeats, 1984 and Just As I Am, 1998) along with 15 Gold / Platinum Sales Awards from ECPA over the years. In addition, he also received the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990.

"We are delighted to honor Billy Graham’s work and his continued impact on so many lives,” said ECPA President and CEO Mark Kuyper. "We are also pleased to honor new authors in this year’s award program, and congratulate each Christian Book Award winning author and publisher for their good work and continued impact. Though content formats are changing, the desire for good Christian literature remains.” First time author Mesu Andrews won in the New Author category for her debut novel, Love Amid the Ashes (Revell/ Baker Publishing Group).

The 2012 Christian Book Award Winners in each category are:

2012 Christian Book of the Year Winner
Nearing Home, Billy Graham, Thomas Nelson, 9780849948329

2012 Christian Book Award Winners by Category

BIBLES
ESV Student Study Bible, Crossway, 9781433523045

BIBLE REFERENCE
Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, Glen G. Scorgie, Zondervan, 9780310290667

CHILDREN
The Story for Children, A Storybook Bible, Max Lucado, Randy Frazee, and Karen Davis Hill, Zonderkidz, 9780310719755

FICTION
The Queen, Steven James, Revell/ Baker Publishing Group, 9780800733032

NEW AUTHOR
Love Amid the Ashes, Mesu Andrews, Revell/ Baker Publishing Group, 9780800734077

NON-FICTION
Close Enough to Hear God Breathe, Greg Paul, Thomas Nelson, 9781400203000

INSPIRATION
The Law of Happiness, Dr. Henry Cloud, Howard Books, 9781439176993

From hundreds of entry titles published in the last year, the Christian Book Awards select five finalists in each category based on both editorial excellence and category-specific criteria. The winners in each category were announced at the ECPA Awards banquet held Monday, April 30, during ECPA’s annual Executive Leadership Summit near Chicago.

ECPA is partnering with Christianity Today to promote the winning titles to its consumer base. ECPA has also confirmed support from national retailers to create in-store and consumer promotions to build awareness of the Christian Book Award winning titles.

To view the winning titles, finalists, and supporting retailers, go to http://www.christianbookexpo.com/christianbookawards.

The Christian Book Awards, established in 1978 as the Gold Medallion Book Awards by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, recognize the absolute highest quality in Christian books. Based on excellence in content, literary quality, design and impact, the Christian Book Awards are the oldest and among the most prestigious in the religious publishing industry. For more information, go to www.ecpa.org.

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The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade organization comprised of nearly 150 member companies that are involved in the publishing and distribution of Christian content worldwide. Since 1974, ECPA has strengthened Christian publishing by building networking, information, and advocacy opportunities within the industry and throughout multiple channels so that our members can more effectively produce and deliver transformational Christian content. For more information about ECPA, contact us at 480-966-3998, info@ecpa.org or visit the ECPA Community website at www.ecpa.org.