Over the holidays we saw some friends. Presents were piled underneath their tree and I found myself in the role of "gift voyeur" trying to figure out who in the extended family had gotten what gift, especially the books that I was familiar with. I saw a copy of Joel Osteen's book, YOUR BEST LIFE NOW, and asked my friend Beverley who had received that one. She said, "My brother, Graham. In fact, he got three copies." I smiled at this knowing how many times I had almost done the same thing when I knew a book was just "perfect" for a person --- and so did everyone else. When I see Osteen's book so high on the bestseller list I wonder how many people are getting more than one copy, knowing someone just perfect to share the book with.

This week we have something a bit different for you. While we get to know books and authors, we rarely hear from the editors who acquire these books for publishers --- the people who typically give them their "first read" and then nurture them along the way to publication. Recognizing that the editor often sees a manuscript that is very different from what we see on the shelves, we are sharing a new feature with you this week called "Edited By." Our first Editor who is sharing her story is Jordan Pavlin. The book she is talking about is CAST OF SHADOWS by Kevin Guilfoile, which is our latest Debut Suspense/Thriller title.

Happy Friday! I am just back from a rather whirlwind trip to Nashville where I spent most of this past week at the Christian Booksellers Association. I flew in just in time to put finishing touches on this week's newsletter and lineup. I will write more about my trip this weekend on the Bookreporter.com Blog, including what I read when I was on the road.

Last weekend I celebrated the snowstorm sitting on the couch reading ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN ORDINARY LIFE by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Some of you may have read my comments about this book on the Bookreporter.com Blog. Tuesday night I had the opportunity to meet Rosenthal at a reading that she did in New York. She is both shy and approachable, and is just as honestly sincere in person as she is on paper. Last week my son told me what he likes about this book is that it talks about a regular person's life like it is special as opposed to what we see so much where celebrities are deified.  It's definitely one of my new favorite books. Read the blog to see more about it.

Welcome to the newly expanded version of the Bookreporter.com Newsletter. With this week's issue we are now able to highlight 15 features, which is up 50% from previous issues! This will give us the opportunity to spotlight many more titles and authors for you.