Press Release: ESV Quadruple Growth Drives New Crossway Divisions

Growth of the ESV Bible continues to accelerate, as worldwide sales and distribution increased more than four-fold over the past two years and the ESV moved up to the number three position on the CBA bestseller list in June. To meet the rapidly growing demand for both the ESV Bible and for Crossway books, Crossway Books and Bibles is pleased to announce its new organizational structure, which focuses on two new publishing divisions and on a new strategic plan and leadership in Sales and Marketing.

As of this July, Crossway will be organized into two major publishing divisions, one for books and the other for Bibles. The new Bible publishing division (Crossway Bibles) will be led by Randy Jahns, as the Sr. Vice President for Bible Publishing. Formerly the Crossway Sr. VP of Sales and Marketing, Randy has led the Crossway sales and marketing area for fifteen years and has overseen the highly effective launch of the ESV Bible during the last six years.

The new book publishing division (Crossway Books) continues to be led by Allan Fisher, as Vice President for Book Publishing. Allan came to Crossway just under two years ago, after serving previously as editorial director at P & R Publishing and Baker Books. Under Allan's leadership, Crossway has expanded its publishing program from about 40 titles to 65 titles per year, including the addition of several significant new authors.

In a further strategic move, Geoff Dennis has taken on new responsibility as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, where he will provide leadership for a significant new sales and marketing strategy to be implemented by Crossway during this next year. "Our new strategy," Geoff notes, "will focus first on increasing our effectiveness in serving our established CBA, ABA, and other general market channels, while also expanding our effectiveness in reaching the rapidly changing 'new marketplace.' The crucial thing for us right now is to continue our deep commitment to existing markets and distribution channels while building a team of highly creative people who have a passion and vision for reaching people who love Christian books and the Bible." Formerly Crossway Exec. VP of Publishing Services, Geoff brings fifteen years of Crossway experience to his new position, as well as a passion for understanding and reaching the "new print and e-media content user" within existing markets and the new marketplace.

With more than 100 creative editions and formats in print, the ESV Bible has also experienced more than 100% annual growth in the Christian retail market for four years in a row. The newest ESV release, the ESV Literary Study Bible, is a unique edition of the ESV with numerous literary features for Bible study and devotional reading. The ESV Literary Study Bible is scheduled for release in September of this year.

The ESV is also available through more than 50 e-media providers, including Logos, Palm, Olive Tree, Bible Soft, Laridian, Bible Gateway, Crosswalk, and many more. In addition, free access to the ESV Bible is provided over the internet at www.esv.org, where the number of ESV online Bible searches now exceeds 3 million per month.

A key factor in the growth of the ESV has been the partnerships forged with the British Bible Society (BFBS), the United Bible Society (UBS), the German Bible Society (GBS), and the American Bible Society (ABS), and with numerous other Bible Societies around the world, including Australia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sierra Leona, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Building partnerships with Bible-based ministries in the U.S. has been equally important, including partnerships with Back to the Bible, Campus Crusade for Christ, Ligonier Ministries, Pocket Testament League, RBC Ministries, and Youth for Christ, as well as denominations such as the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) and the Presbyterian Church in America.

"We are indeed grateful," Crossway President Dr. Lane Dennis noted, "for these partnerships and for the tremendous growth of the ESV during these last three years. My sense is that when people read the ESV they love its literal, "word-for-word" approach, its readability, and the beauty and majesty of the words they read. The tremendous growth of the ESV was not something that we could achieve with our limited resources and in our own strength. It really is due to the Lord's hand and His provision from the very beginning, and I want be sure that we give Him all the glory."

The ESV Bible stands in the historic stream of "essentially literal," "word-for-word" Bible translations, going back to William Tyndale's New Testament and the KJV. The ESV Translation Team included more than 120 scholars and Christian leaders from many denominational backgrounds around the world. The translation process involved seven levels of review and comparison of the ESV text against the earliest Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. First published in fall of 2001, the ESV Bible seeks to combine faithfulness to the original languages, beauty of expression, and depth of meaning, for this generation and for generations to come. For more information about the ESV Bible, visit the ESV website at www.esv.org.

Crossway is a leading not-for-profit publisher of Christian books, the ESV Bible (English Standard Version), and Gospel literature. Crossway is a ministry of Good News Publishers, established in 1938, which has distributed more than 2 billion books and Gospel literature materials worldwide over the last seven decades. Crossway publishes only books and literature that are committed to the historic, evangelical Christian faith. Crossway is driven by a passion to reach the world with the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ and to publish materials that will help Christians apply the truth of God's Word to all of life. With this vision as the driving force, Crossway has had the privilege of publishing many of the most significant Christian books and authors of the 20th and this present century. For more information about Crossway, visit www.crossway.org. For more information about the ESV Bible, visit www.esv.org.