(Nashville, Tenn.) – After its first official week of release, StandOut: The Groundbreaking New Strengths Assessment from the Leader of the Strengths Revolution, by bestselling author and internationally renowned keynote speaker Marcus Buckingham, will debut at #11 on the “Hardcover Advice, How-To, Misc.” New York Times Best Seller List for the week of October 2^nd.

Over the last decade, Marcus Buckingham has revolutionized the business world with his groundbreaking ideas. Now, with his new book, StandOut (9781400202379/ $22.99/ Thomas Nelson), he introduces the next generation strengths assessment, with cutting edge technology, that will give any professional a distinct edge at work. 

In today’s world, people demand customization and individualization of content delivery. Most strengths assessments pull you apart and describe your style—they make you feel good about yourself. However, just like product customization is among the most critical means for achieving true value, StandOut provides the information to take your work to the next level based on the algorithm of you.

The innovative StandOut assessment measures individuals on nine Strength Roles revealing their top two. These two Strength Roles are where they will make their greatest contribution. They are their edge—where they will have a natural advantage over everyone else, which is essential given today’s economy and jobs agenda issues. And they are their multiplier— where they will most quickly learn and improve upon any innovations, techniques, or best practices that complement these roles. 

Where other assessments stop at description, StandOut is prescriptive taking the next step by providing practical advice on what to do to make the most of one’s strengths. Additional information is available by visiting StandOut.TMBC.com.

“StandOut is a true reflection of Marcus Buckingham working from his core strengths,” notes Brian Hampton Senior Vice President and Publisher for Thomas Nelson’s Nonfiction Trade Group. ‘We’re excited to see that the book is resonating with people and helping them win at work.”

Marcus Buckingham’s groundbreaking ideas started a strengths revolution that has changed the business world.  His books have sold more than four million copies and he addresses over 250,000 people each year as a highly sought after keynote speaker.  Through his training and management consulting firm, The Marcus Buckingham Company (www.TMBC.com), he teaches managers how to turn their associates’ strengths into performance.

Before launching TMBC, Buckingham spent nearly two decades as a Senior Researcher at Gallup studying what drives exceptional performance in the world’s best managers.  A past member of the Secretary of States’ Advisory Committee on Leadership and Management, he graduated from Cambridge University with a Master’s Degree in Social and Political Science.  He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

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StandOut: The Groundbreaking New Strengths Assessment from the Leader of the Strengths Revolution

By Marcus Buckingham

Jacketed Hardcover ISBN: 9781400202379 / E-Book ISBN: 9781400203666 / MSRP: $22.99
Available Now from Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Contact:     Brenda Smotherman

                   Publicist

                   tel:    (615) 902-2231

                   email: bsmotherman@thomasnelson.com

                   web:  www.thomasnelson.com

Thomas Nelson, Inc. is one of the leading trade publishers in the United States. Originally founded in Scotland, 1798, the Company has become the world’s leading provider of inspirational Christian content, headquartered in Nashville, TN.  The Thomas Nelson Live Events division, based in Plano, Texas, is the number one producer of live events in the Christian market, hosting the Women of Faith events and The Revolve Tour.  The Company’s self-publishing division, WestBow Press,  allows new authors a speed-to-market advantage while also benefitting from Thomas Nelson’s publishing heritage.  The Company continues to inspire the world, with product in over 100 different countries.  For more information, please visit www.thomasnelson.com.

(Nashville, Tenn.)– Iamsecond.com, the website of the I am Second movement featuring video stories of personal struggle, transformation and hope of celebrities and everyday people, received its 5 millionth visitor Monday morning.

I am Second is designed to help individuals discover hope. The website includes authentic film testimonies of “everyday” people and celebrities related to a variety of personal struggles, including abuse, addictions, pride, eating disorders, broken families and the search for success and meaning in life.

Launched in Dallas-Fort Worth in December 2008, iamsecond.com quickly spread virally across the globe. To date, the website has seen visitors from 217 countries/regions who have viewed over 20 million pages on the site.

“When we started I am Second less than three years ago, we could have never imagined the overwhelmingly positive response it would get,” said Mike Jorgensen, I am Second Director at e3 Partners, the organization behind the movement. “We daily receive emails and messages from individuals who have visited the website and seen their lives changed thanks to the powerful, raw testimonies of faith shared. We are grateful for the past three years and even more hopeful of what the future holds for I am Second.”

The initial concept for I am Second came about as a collaborative effort between e3 Partners and Dallas businessman Norm Miller, chairman of Interstate Batteries, who desired to develop a campaign which could share his faith in an effective manner with the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

I am Second has since officially launched in Orlando, Fla., Evansville, Ind., and Kansas City, Mo., with several other cities planned for the future. The I am Second films can be found on the websites of international partners as well as sites such as YouTube. “I am Second is much more than just a website,” Jorgensen said. “It is a movement of individuals who are living out their faith as second to Christ.”

In addition to iamsecond.com, numerous small groups and churches affiliated with I am Second are listed on the website, helping interested individuals connect to others who are seeking to live second, as well as study and promotional materials. Additionally, I am Second leadership has organized a volunteer program for those interested in helping out with I am Second events, as well as expeditions to locations around the globe which are in need of the message of being Second to Christ.

The I am Second movement is now readying for the next step in its outreach with the debut of its newest initiative – the I am Second book.

Slated to release from Thomas Nelson in January 2012, the I am Second book further chronicles 22 video testimonies, which individuals have embraced on the website, including 2010 American League MVP and Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton; former Korn band member Brian “Head” Welch; surfer Bethany Hamilton; “The Biggest Loser” season six winner Michelle Aguilar; Ultimate Fighting Championship star Vitor Belfort; Grammy® award-winning artist Michael W. Smith; and football stars Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford. Alongside each story, readers are given study group questions and an offer to view related testimonies to find the freedom Christ offers.

For additional information about I am Second, visit http://www.iamsecond.com. Information related to the I am Second book is available at http://www.ThomasNelson.com.

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Thomas Nelson is a leading provider of Bibles, products, and live events emphasizing Christian, inspirational and family value themes.  For more information, visit our website www.thomasnelson.com.

Contact:     Brenda Smotherman

                   Publicist

                   tel:    (615) 902-2231

                   email: bsmotherman@thomasnelson.com

                   web:  www.thomasnelson.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—New York Times bestselling author Brenda Warner is set to release her memoir, One Call Away: Answering Life’s Challenges with Unshakable Faith (Thomas Nelson) on Sept. 6, 2011, detailing her stranger-than-fiction life circumstances both before and during her marriage to NFL quarterback Kurt Warner.

“This book started out being a way of telling my kids why I am the way I am,” said Brenda Warner. “However, I have found by sharing my story through the years that people find hope and encouragement in it, and hopefully One Call Away can help someone else get through some dark times of their own.”

In One Call Away, Warner offers real-life advice to single moms, parents of children with special needs, people who are grieving unexpected deaths, and others struggling in the face of difficult circumstances.

“In my life I went from being a Marine, living with honor, courage and integrity, to being in line with food stamps, still living with honor, courage and integrity—same person—but with food stamps,” said Warner. “I would like the reader to know that circumstances don’t determine who you are, and they are not a measure of God’s love for you.”

As Warner puts it, her faith and God’s strength enable her to face challenge after challenge: an accident that leaves her son blind and brain damaged, a crumbling marriage, a tornado that kills her parents, a new relationship with promising football player Kurt Warner, and the pressures his sudden success brings to their growing family.

Warner will kick off her book and media tour, joined by her husband, Kurt, on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. The book signing events are:

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011 4-6 p.m.:  Book Ends—Ridgewood, NJ

Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011 7 p.m.: Barnes & Noble–Ladue, MO

Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011  7 p.m.: Berean Christian Store–Mesa, AZ

Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011 7 p.m.: Barnes & Noble store–Scottsdale, AZ

The Warner’s will be featured on the FOX News Channels FOX & Friends, Hannity, Good Day New York, Good Day LA, Access Hollywood Live, NFL Network and various other television, radio and print outlets.

This summer and fall, Warner is also a featured speaker at Women of Faith events throughout the U.S., the nation’s largest live events for women, including:

Anaheim, Calif., Sept. 9-10, 2011

Spokane, Wash., Sept. 16-17, 2011

Phoenix, Sept. 23-24, 2011

Portland, Ore., Oct. 7-8, 2011

Kansas City, Mo., Nov 4-5, 2011.

ABOUT BRENDA WARNER:
Brenda Warner is a speaker, philanthropist, and New York Times best-selling author. She is the mother of seven children, a registered nurse, and a Marine. But most of all, she is a storyteller who candidly shares her struggles in hopes that her life experiences can help other women. Brenda is also Vice President of the First Things First Foundation, and organization she co-founded with her husband, former NFL player Kurt Warner. Follow Brenda on Twitter at: @WarnerBrenda.

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Thomas Nelson is a leading provider of Bibles, products, and live events emphasizing Christian, inspirational and family value themes.  For more information, visit our websitewww.thomasnelson.com.

Contact: Stephanie Newton

Senior Publicist

tel: (615) 902-2320

email: snewton@thomasnelson.com

twitter: @stephnewton

(Nashville, Tenn.) Nonie Darwish was a virtual slave to Islamic law for the first thirty years of her life. Raised as a Muslim in the Gaza strip, she never questioned or challenged radical Islamic law – she never dared. “This is Allah’s Law,” she was told, and she knew what awaited those who questioned it.

In her latest book, Cruel and Usual Punishment (Thomas Nelson) Darwish continues her personal mission to warn the West, exposing efforts to force and enforce Sharia law on unsuspecting nations around the globe.

What is Sharia? “Its laws are based on the Qur’an and hadiths (reports of Muhammad’s words and actions outside of the Qur’an) as well as centuries of debate and interpretation,” says Darwish. “Sharia subscribes to punishments such as stoning, flogging, and amputation of limbs – cruel and unusual by any human standards.”

The threat is here now. Throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, young Muslim women are targeted for violence, often by their own relatives. So-called “honor killings,” whereby a Muslim male family member, typically the father, murders his daughter in order to defend the family’s honor, is a growing problem.

Cruel and Usual Punishment details how many Muslim’s sacrifice their humanity, their rights, and even their lives in the service of archaic and brutal laws handed down from their prophet centuries ago. No one can afford to be ignorant. “It is very important that we separate the law of Islam from the religion of Islam,” writes Darwish. A religion doesn’t discriminate and torture and violate your rights.”

Nonie Darwish is an author and lecturer and a former journalist, interpreter, and editor in the Middle East News Agency. She holds a Bachelors degree in Sociology and Anthropology from the American University in Cairo. She founded www.ArabsForIsrael.com to promote understanding and peace between Israel and the Arab world. Nonie was born and raised as a Muslim in Cairo, Egypt and the Gaza strip. Her father headed the Egyptian military intelligence in Gaza and the Sinai in the 50’s when Gaza was under Egyptian control. He was assassinated in 1956 when Nonie was 8 years old.

She has been speaking extensively on college campuses across the US and Canada and lectured internationally in several European countries, Israel and South Africa. She spoke before members of the British House of Lords and appeared on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NPR, Al Arabiya TV, and other major media outlets.  She is married and the mother of 3.

Nonie Darwish is available for interviews.

Contact:    Curt Harding
Senior Publicist
(615) 902-2246
charding@thomasnelson.com

(Nashville, Tenn.) Thomas Nelson, Inc. announced today that Jason Jones will be joining the Non-Fiction Trade Book Group as the Publicist for General Interest and Lifestyle. Jason will be responsible for developing the overall publicity strategy for all general interest and lifestyle titles including media relations, event planning, author relations, and creative writing.

“The General Interest and Lifestyle category is a strong growth opportunity for Thomas Nelson. We believe we can produce great books on general topics from a Christian worldview,” said Larry Carpenter, Vice President of Marketing for the Thomas Nelson Non-Fiction Trade Group. “We are thrilled to have Jason join us and publicize these books to the trade media and consumers.”

Jason Jones has ten years of public relations experience, most recently serving as the Director of Public Relations at Sossaman + Associates in Memphis, Tennessee. Prior to his work at Sossaman, Jones spent six years leading the publicity and media relation’s efforts for the Memphis Redbirds, a Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. In that post, he was an integral part of the construction of the $80 million AutoZone Park and its major-league caliber press facilities and staff.

“I am thrilled to be a part of the Thomas Nelson team. It is wonderful to work somewhere with great people, and an even greater mission,” Jones said. “Thomas Nelson inspires, energizes, convicts, and uplifts people with its products. People need inspiration and beauty in their lives today more than ever. They need to be spoken to. And, that speaks to me.”

A native of Memphis, Jones graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin. He and his wife, Tracey, have been married for 5 years and have two children, Jack (4) and Charlie (10 months). An avid outdoorsman, Jones loves camping, fishing, reading, golf, basketball, family and the Lord.

Contact:
Lindsey Nobles
Director of Corporate Communications
tel: (615) 902-1109
fax: (615) 902-1110
web: www.thomasnelson.com
e-mail: lnobles@thomasnelson.com