IVP - Behind the Books - February 2012 Archives

A Lenten Blog Tour

On February 22nd, we enter into the season of Lent. Many may misunderstand this time or feel indifferent to it, but this is a transformative period. Kimberlee Conway Ireton, in her book, The Circle of Seasons, describes it this way:

Lent has begun, and I need—we all need—to live in this space, this dark place between the ashes and the bread and wine, between the declaration of our mortality and the declaration of Christ’s redeeming work on our behalf. That is what Lent is, a time to reckon with the reality of darkness and death. We do so with hope, because this season of darkness ends in Easter, in resurrection, in new life. But we can be raised to new life only if we have first died to the old one. That is the challenge—and the gift—of Lent.

We hope to accept this challenge and feel gratitude for this gift throughout the coming months. To help us, we’ve invited several IVP authors to contribute their thoughts and devotions to a Lenten blog tour.

Every Monday until Easter, a Lenten reflection by one of our authors will be posted on his or her own personal blog. A variety of authors have volunteered, and we are excited to share the different perspectives of each during this holy season.

Follow the tour—

February 20th (Available now!): Rachel Stone, forthcoming author

February 27th: Margot Starbuck, author of Girl in the Orange Dress, Unsqueezed and Small Things with Great Love

March 5th: J. Brent Bill, co-author of Awaken Your Senses

March 12th: Logan Mehl-Laituri, forthcoming author of Reborn on the 4th of July

March 19th: Andrew Byers, author of Faith Without Illusions

March 26th: Valerie Hess, author of Spiritual Disciplines Devotional

April 2nd: Beth Booram, co-author of Awaken Your Senses

Good Friday, April 6th: Chad Young, author of Authenticity

Share this schedule and follow with us as we explore this sacred season of Lent.

If you’re interested in other Lenten resources, two new books from IVP can help you in your own reflections throughout the season—

On the Way to the Cross: Edited by Thomas C. Oden and Joel C. Elowsky; Compiled by Cindy Crosby

A 40-day guide featuring Scripture readings, reflections from the Church fathers and a closing prayer each day.

Shaped By the Cross: by Ken Gire

Seven meditations on the suffering of Jesus from reflections on Michelangelo’s majestic Pieta, in which Mary gathers the suffering Jesus into her arms.

New Faces at IVP

Over the last several months, IVP has welcomed new employees and redefined the roles of current employees to better serve our customers, authors and each other. It always helps to put a face with a name, so meet some of the new members of the IVP family and find out how they’re working to serve you better!

Caitie Johnston, Assistant Marketing Manager

Caitie was recently promoted within the Sales & Marketing department to reflect her new responsibilities and the tremendous effort she puts into every aspect of her work. It’s up to Caitie to get each catalog, advertisement, brochure or flyer printed and mailed so you can be sure to find the book you’re looking for. Caitie also guides our authors through the sales and marketing process by gathering their information, creating marketing pieces for them, and connecting them to their audiences.

Caitie loves working with the other employees at IVP and likes keeping up with the new books we publish. She always has a book recommendation ready for practically everyone in her life.

Fun Fact: One summer, Caitie’s family took a trip to Phuket, Thailand and decided to spend one day at the beach. At the age of 10, Caitie learned what timeshares were all about when she and her sister unknowingly agreed to listen to a four-hour presentation. Needless to say, they never made it to the beach.

Annie Michaels, Sales Representative

Annie started at IVP in November, immediately adding to the sales team with fresh ideas and vigor for her work. She finds a good home for our books by determining who would enjoy them and find them useful. Annie specifically works with bookstores at Christian colleges and seminaries to be sure students and professors have the resources they need. She also serves various ministries and denominations.

Annie came to faith as a college student through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and then continued on as an IVCF staff worker. Her history with InterVarsity made this role a natural fit, and she is thrilled to be working with the books that shaped her and helped her in her ministry to other students.

Fun fact: Annie spent four summers working at an eco-science museum dressing up as “Phoebe the Giant Water Flea.” She was a big hit with the kids.

Brannon Ellis, Associate Editor for Academic and Reference

Brannon started just last month as an associate editor, and he is currently the project editor for the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series. As an editor, he does a lot more than reading. Brannon works with potential authors to acquire books that will fit with IVP’s mission as well as our readers. He then edits these acquisitions by helping authors shepherd and shape their work from a great idea into a great book. Brannon is the author’s first link from the world of writing to the world of publishing, guiding them with the goal of providing our readers with the most informative, challenging, encouraging and enjoyable books we can offer.

Brannon knew he would enjoy working with the books themselves, but in his short time here, he is thankful for the thoughtfulness, passion and truly godly character of his coworkers.

Fun Fact: Brannon is ready to finally settle into this job after living in 10 different homes on two continents over the past 12 years. When he is not reading, moving or spending time with his family, he also enjoys traditional archery.

Rachel Neftzer Snavely, Academic Marketing Manager

Rachel started at IVP as an intern in the sales and marketing department and was hired into the editorial department soon after as an editorial assistant. Now, as the Academic Marketing Manager, she rejoins the sales and marketing team. Rachel manages all the print and online advertising for IVP’s Academic and Formatio line books, getting the word out about our books to those who will benefit most.

Rachel is excited to promote the same books to professors and students that she loved so well during her academic career. In this short time in her new role, she already loves the people. Between coworkers, authors and other industry professionals, she can’t think of a better group of people to know and work with.

Fun Fact: Rachel was part of the Guinness Book of World Records’ largest simultaneous whoopee cushion sit at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in 2005. There were 5,983 participants.

Liz Klassen, Sales Manager for Academic Markets

It’s up to Liz to find those people who want and need our Academic books and then to find a way to get these books into their hands. She handles all the top sales customers like seminaries, distributors and bookstores, and connects with academic libraries. Liz works with professors to facilitate textbook adoption in the classroom and organizes and attends the major academic conferences.

Liz most enjoys working with professors, developing relationships with people from all backgrounds with the same interests in mission and theology. She also looks forward to discussing ideas of potential authors’ and working with them to shape their ideas into engaging books.

Fun Fact: Liz took voice lessons for ten years and for the last six has been studying songwriting and guitar at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.

Rebecca Carhart, Editorial Assistant

As a part-time editorial assistant, Rebecca supports the editorial department through projects that vary by the day. Her main responsibilities are proofreading sales and marketing pieces and revising preliminary manuscripts with an author’s corrections.

Rebecca loves getting an inside look at the multifaceted world of publishing and is encouraged to know that the books she helps create will serve the Church around the world.

Fun Fact: Rebecca grew up in rural Nebraska in a town of about 1,000. She was a Girl Scout for a full 12 years, though she wasn’t too crazy about selling cookies.