HarperCollins Christian Publishing launches new Bible training portal for retailers

Contact: Casey Harrell, Director, Corporate Communications, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, 615-902-1109, casey.harrell@harpercollins.com

NASHVILLE, July 31, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ -- Selecting a Bible can be overwhelming. With hundreds of styles and versions to choose from, Bible readers can feel a bit lost in translation-s...literally.

Bible retailers are often faced with the challenge of providing purchasing guidance to their customers, without proper training or knowledge of the distinct differences in their offerings.

HarperCollins Christian Publishing, the corporate home to Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, recently developed a new Bible Training Portal for retailers, to both educate and equip retail sales associates in three areas--Bible Translations, Bible Types and Bible Selling.

As world leading Bible publishing groups, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan have helped shape the Christian market space for nearly 300 years. Continuing this legacy at the 2014 International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta, HarperCollins Christian Publishing launched a revised and re-written Bible Training portal, showcasing it for all retailers in attendance.

The new Bible Training Portal has been mobile optimized for use on all electronic devices and formatted for personalization to encourage individualized logins. Once logged in, course-takers can start and stop their experience at any time for a "go at your own pace" learning environment. In addition, participants will take a quiz at the end of each course to earn a certificate of completion.

Dylan Hillhouse, vice president of market for HarperCollins Christian Publishing's Bible Group, said, "The Bible is the very center of our work. That's why it was extremely important to us to provide a Bible training program that our retail partners could rely on to educate and equip their staff. We want them to feel confident with the Bibles they are selling and for them to experience an unbiased training portal for all of our partners to use, despite personal preferences and leanings."

The free three course program can be used as a training resource for new associates, or for simple reference and reminders for its veteran sellers. It provides core content to help sales associates better conceptualize Bibles and the different translations available for readers. Though the first three courses is a start, HarperCollins Christian Publishing knows there is more to be done. "Our beta testing has been well-received by retailers thus far," Hillhouse continued. "However, we will continue to make improvements to the training, with plans to add more courses to the portal. We know that specific product training will help Bible retailers understand the differentiating features of the Bibles we publish versus others in the marketplace."

For more information on HarperCollins Christian Publishing's Bible Training portal, please visit bibletraining.harpercollinschristian.com. Retailers can register, review and take the courses available.

About HarperCollins Christian Publishing: The world's leading Christian publisher, HarperCollins Christian Publishing Inc., comprises both Thomas Nelson and Zondervan publishing groups in addition to Olive Tree Bible Software. The Company produces bestselling Bibles, inspirational books, academic resources, curriculum, audio and digital content for the Christian market space. Also home to BibleGateway.com, the world's largest Christian website, and FaithGateway.com, an online community dedicated to helping people grow in their faith. HarperCollins Christian Publishing is headquartered in Nashville, TN with additional offices in Grand Rapids, MI, Miami, FL and Spokane, WA. For more information visit www.HarperCollinsChristian.com.