ECPA's Rush To PressECPA to present first ever “quadruple” Diamond Award tonight to The Living Bible for over 40 million sold


Two Diamonds, Seven Platinum, and Nine Gold Awards honoring significant sales achievements in Christian publishing, will be presented at ECPA Awards & Anniversary Banquet, April 28 in Colorado Springs

Media Contact: Mark Kuyper, mkuyper@ecpa.org, 480-966-3998

COLORADO SPRINGS, Col., April 28, 2014 — Tonight at the ECPA Awards & Anniversary Banquet, the industry will present Diamond Awards to two Bibles from Tyndale House Publishers:

  • The Living Bible, paraphrased by Kenneth N. Taylor for over 40 million sold
  • The Holy Bible, New Living Translation for over 30 million sold

The Diamond Award is presented to titles achieving more than 10 million sold.

Published in 1971, The Living Bible will be the first title in industry history to achieve a QUADRUPLE DIAMOND AWARD for over 40 million sold. Until now, the industry’s first and only triple Diamond was presented to Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan) in 2005.

The Living Bible (TLB) is an English version of the Bible, paraphrased by Kenneth N. Taylor (1917-2005), then president of Tyndale House Publishers. Taylor was inspired to create a Bible paraphrase after seeing his children struggle to understand the King James Version. Since it was first published, all royalties for The Living Bible have been paid to the Tyndale House Foundation, which funds Christian ministries here and around the world. Ken Taylor’s son Mark has been the president of Tyndale House Publishers since 1984. Mark is also the president of the Foundation.

ECPA will also present a TRIPLE DIAMOND AWARD for The Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), which was created in the early 1990’s by a team of 90 Greek and Hebrew scholars who labored over seven years to create a general-purpose translation in contemporary living language. It was published in 1996 and remains one of the top Bible bestsellers to this day. Royalties from the NLT are also paid to the Tyndale House Foundation.

In addition, ECPA will present seven PLATINUM AWARDS (over 1 million sold) and nine GOLD AWARDS (over 500,000 sold) tonight to the following titles:

Receiving PLATINUM AWARDS for more than 1 million sold

  • ESV Study Bible, Crossway
  • Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson with Mark Schlabach, Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
  • Heaven by Randy Alcorn, Tyndale House Publishers
  • I Declare by Joel Osteen, FaithWords, an imprint of Hachette Book Group
  • Si-cology 1 by Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach, Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
  • The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews, Thomas Nelson Publishers
  • The Duck Commander Family by Willie & Korie Robertson with Mark Schlabach, Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Receiving GOLD AWARDS for more than 500,000 sold

  • The Duck Commander Family by Willie & Korie Robertson with Mark Schlabach, Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
  • Prayers That Avail Much (Commemorative Edition) by Germaine Copeland, Harrison House Publishers
  • The Resolution for Men by Stephen and Alex Kendrick, B&H Publishing Group
  • Si-cology 1 by Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach, Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
  • Ever Increasing Faith by Smith Wigglesworth, Gospel Publishing House, a division of The General Council of the Assemblies of God
  • The Joy of Signing by Lottie L. Riekehof, Gospel Publishing House, a division of The General Council of the Assemblies of God
  • Duck Commander Devotional by Alan Robertson, Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
  • Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson with Mark Schlabach, Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.
  • Miss Kay’s Duck Commander Kitchen by Kay Robertson with Chrys Howard, Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

“These sales awards represent the direct and profound impact of the gospel and compelling Christian content that attracted so many readers in the marketplace,” proclaims ECPA President/CEO Mark Kuyper. “ECPA is honored to bestow its first quadruple- and second triple- Diamond Award to the TLB and NLT Bibles, as well as celebrate the distinct sales achievements of these Platinum and Gold award titles.”

To view past recipients of the industry’s Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Sales Achievement Award, visit http://christianbookexpo.com/salesawards/

For information on applying for the awards, visit the ECPA website at http://www.ecpa.org/?page=salesachievement

The ECPA Awards & Anniversary Banquet will be emceed by author Jerry Jenkins and will include announcement of the winners of the Christian Book Awards®, Jordon Lifetime Achievement recipients, sales achievements, and an anniversary celebration of the industry working together for 40 years through ECPA. Updates will be given via Social Media throughout the evening: @ECPA, #ECPAAwards, #ChristianBookAwards, @ChristianBkExpo, facebook.com/ECPA.org and facebook.com/ChristianBookExpo.

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The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade organization, comprised of nearly 200 member companies worldwide, representing a combined revenue of nearly $1.4 billion. Since 1974, ECPA has strengthened Christian publishing by building Networking, Information, and Advocacy opportunities within the industry and across multiple channels so that our members can more effectively produce and deliver transformational Christian content.
For more information about ECPA: 480-966-3998, info@ecpa.org, www.ecpa.org.

Christian Book Award® is a registered trademark of ECPA