NASHVILLE, TN – Abingdon Press authors Celia Whitler and Becca Stevens will be participating in the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering. Singer/songwriter Whitler will sing and Stevens, an Episcopal priest, will be speaking on Thursday night to an expected audience of over 40,000 youth and adults.
"In these tough economic times, it's a rare publisher who's expanding. But after doing due diligence, strategic planning and careful acquiring, Abingdon Press will launch a Christian fiction line in late summer." Click here to read the full article.
NASHVILLE, TN – Abingdon Press is pleased to announce that AbingdonPress.com will launch this month. The site has been redesigned in direct response to customer feedback, with special attention to changes in the ways people gather information about products.
“Over the last year, Abingdon Press has conducted informal surveys and gathered feedback from customers. This communication has influenced the website's redesign, which is centered on enhanced browse and search capabilities,” says Tammy Gaines, Vice President of Abingdon Press. “Abingdon is continually innovating and improving products. Creating an innovative website with improved product organization is a natural next step in responding more effectively to customer requests.”
The inviting, updated design provides customers with an interactive, visual experience featuring book covers, author photos, excerpts, and tables of contents. Enhancements to the navigation include a browse feature that incorporates BISAC categories and a search engine with type-ahead and Google search capabilities.
The redesigned website showcases:
· Books–Highlighting new releases, bestsellers, seasonal reads, and upcoming titles. Both Abingdon's traditional non-fiction line and Abingdon's new fiction are featured, including information for reading groups, book reviews and video trailers, and comprehensive author event calendars.
· Authors–Abingdon has added author pages featuring current information about authors, including book signings, events, and other appearances with links to author blogs and websites.
· Bibles–Abingdon’s Bible line includes NRSV gift and award Bibles, study Bibles, and children's Bibles. The site also lays the foundation for promising, new Bible development.
· Church Ministries–Special navigation and detailed product information for church supplies such as bulletins, worship resources, charts, maps, certificates, postcards, music and attendance supplies, as well as Christian education and curriculum resources, will help customers locate the right product.
“We aspire to provide the most excellent products and services available which requires continual attention to existing and new customers, active experimentation, and unceasing commitment to quality as we strive to provide what people need for their ministries and spiritual journeys as disciples of Jesus Christ,” says Neil Alexander, President and Publisher of Abingdon Press. “Our goal is for our customers to enjoy visiting www.abingdonpress.com and judge it to be easy to use, informative, and helpful.”
About Abingdon Press
Abingdon Press is the publishing imprint for The United Methodist Publishing House. Abingdon Press has a distinguished record in religious publishing for a broad ecumenical audience and specializes in products for church leaders, as well as scholars and students engaged in theological education and the practice of ministry. Abingdon Press offers a wide array of quality academic, professional, reference, and devotional titles published each year.
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For information on cooperative advertising opportunities, or if you want help in planning a promotional event, please write, call, or email:
Mark Yeh Sales and Marketing Director 615-749-6451 myeh@abingdonpress.com
Ashley Miller Publicity & Marketing Manager 615-749-6290 acmiller@abingdonpress.com
The event will be held at the Superdome in New Orleans, July 22-26. This year’s theme, Jesus Justice Jazz, draws from the rich and diverse faith, culture, and artistry of New Orleans. According to the event website, this year’s Gathering will differ from previous Gatherings, as it will focus on exploring New Orleans and understanding the changes it is going through as the entire Gulf Coast region continues to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Celia Whitler is the author of One Wish for You: Celebrating the Women in Our Lives, New Beginnings: Words and Music for Graduates, and On the Way to Somewhere, all published by Abingdon Press. She makes music in a wide variety of genres, both secular and sacred. As a performer and music leader, she has led more than 850 concerts and events for groups. She has provided leadership at the national level for The United Methodist Church; the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; Christian Church, Disciples of Christ; Acteens, Southern Baptist Girls; and the American Baptist Church. She holds degrees in Christian education and elementary education from Centenary College of Louisiana.
Becca Stevens is a graceful prose stylist for whom writing, like love, is a practical endeavor. It is designed, she says, to move readers toward a shared ideal of love and compassion for the world as it is. Her books are Finding Balance: A Sisters Bible Study; Hither & Yon: A Travel Guide for the Spiritual Journey; Find Your Way Home: Words from the Street, Wisdom from the Heart; Sanctuary: Unexpected Places Where God Found Me, nominated by Christianity Today as best spirituality book of 2005, and her latest, Funeral for a Stranger. They have grown out of her work as chaplain of St. Augustine's Chapel at Vanderbilt University, and as founder and director of Magdalene, a residential community for women with a criminal history of drug abuse and prostitution. Her work with Magdalene has earned national attention and spawned both a cottage industry, Thistle Farms, and related programs here and overseas.
