Nashville, TN—Books by Colleen Coble and Denise Hunter have been named finalists for the Booksellers’ Best Award, sponsored by the Greater Detroit chapter of Romance Writers of America (RWA). Coble’s Anathema and Lonestar Sanctuary are nominees for the Inspirational fiction award.  Hunter’s The Convenient Groom is nominated in the Traditional category.  An award open to published authors with books released in 2008, the Booksellers’ Best Awards are bestowed after a vote by 200 booksellers and librarians. The winners will be named at the national RWA convention to be held in Washington, D.C., July 15-18, 2009.

Nashville, TN—Ami McConnell, Senior Acquisitions Editor for Thomas Nelson’s fiction division, is one of three finalists for a top industry honor, the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) 2009 Editor of the Year.

McConnell’s career at Thomas Nelson spans twelve years.  She helped launch the dedicated fiction line at Thomas Nelson in 2003, then named WestBow Press.

“This is a major honor for Ami and shows what a major strength she brings to our team every day,” said Allen Arnold, Senior VP and Publisher for Fiction.

ACFW will announce the Editor of the Year during a banquet at the 2009 ACFW Conference to be held September 17 – 20 in Denver.

(Nashville, Tenn.)—The Fiction division of Thomas Nelson is proud to announce that three titles have been named as finalists for the 2009 RITA Award in the Inspirational Romance category.

Love Starts with Elle   by Rachel Hauck (Ami McConnell, editor)
The Convenient Groom  by Denise Hunter (Amanda Bostic and Leslie Peterson, editors)
The Perfect Life by Robin Lee Hatcher (Ami McConnell and Leslie Peterson, editors)

The RITA Award, sponsored by the Romance Writers of America, is considered the romance publishing industry’s highest award of distinction for authors, also recognizing and honoring the editors of exceptional novels. Named for the first RWA president, Rita Clay Estrada, the award honors romance fiction published in the previous year.  Finalists are named in twelve categories from a submission pool of more than 1,000 novels and novellas.  Winners of this year’s awards will be announced July 18, 2009 at RWA’s 29th Annual National Conference to be held in Washington, D.C.

(Nashville, Tenn) Thomas Nelson, Inc. is pleased to announce that four of its titles have been selected as finalists in ForeWord Magazine’s 2008 Book of the Year Awards. The awards were established to bring increased attention to librarians and booksellers of the literary and graphic achievements of independent publishers and their authors. This program was designed to discover distinctive books across a number of genres.

The unique awards process brings readers, librarians, and booksellers together to select their top categories as well as choose the winning titles. Their decisions are based on editorial excellence, professional production, originality of the narrative, author credentials relative to the book, and the value the book adds to its genre. The winners will be announced at a special program during BookExpo America being held at the Javits Center in New York City on May 29th.

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(Nashville, TN)—Platinum-selling country recording artist Sara Evans will publish her debut novel with Thomas Nelson later this year, having signed a four-book deal with the publisher.  The novel is the first in a series and will release in conjunction with a new album by Evans on RCA Records.  She is currently in the studio writing and recording and will perform at various tour dates throughout 2009.

“Signing well-known entertainers to write stories in sync with their established brands is a great way to satisfy fans who are hungry for more from their favorite celebrities,” said Allen Arnold, Senior Vice President and Publisher, Thomas Nelson Fiction.

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