About Thomas Nelson Publishers

It’s appropriate that The Story of the Bible should be published by Thomas Nelson, the company with the longest and most significant impact on Bible publishing in the United States.

    * In the 1800s, the King James Version (KJV) was published by dozens of publishers in the US—including Thomas Nelson.

    * The first authorized revision of the KJV was the English Revised Version (RV) (1881, 1885). The copyright to an American edition, the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), was held by Thomas Nelson.

    * Nelson helped finance and for ten years was the exclusive publisher of the Revised Standard Version (RSV) (1947, 1952) – the first translation to challenge the popularity of the KJV.

    * Nelson published Today’s English Version (Good News Bible) in the 1970s, a translation originally written for those who spoke English as a second language. It became very popular with Jesus People.

    * In 1979/1982 Nelson published the New King James Version (NKJV).

    * In 2003 Nelson introduced the immensely popular magazine-format Bibles called Biblezines

It’s a company with a fascinating history . . .

John Knox's house in Old EdinburgYoung Thomas Nelson, a London bookseller, dreamed of making books available to everyone. He returned to Edinburgh and in 1798 began publishing classics such as Robinson Crusoe and Pilgrim’s Progress. He was the first publisher to send sales people to bookstores. His son invented the first rotary printing press. Nelson was the first British publisher to open a New York office—in 1854—and later offices in Canada, South Africa, Australia, India, France, and other countries around the world.

In 1969 the American division of Thomas Nelson was infused with a young, aggressive management team under the leadership of Sam Moore, who ran the company for nearly 40 years and made numerous acquisitions including Word, Countryman, Women of Faith, Caribe-Betania Editores, and Rutledge Hill Press. In 2005 Michael Hyatt became president and CEO and in 2006 the company was purchased by a private equity firm, InterMedia Partners. Today the president and COO is Mark Schoenwald.

Thomas Nelson is known for publishing best-sellers. In 2009 only 91 hardcover trade books sold more than 100,000 copies. Seven of those 91 were published by Thomas Nelson!

You can view Nelson Bibles here.

You can view Nelson books here.

You can view The Story of the Bible here.

For information on subsidiary rights contact Daisy Hutton, VP of Licensing & Subsidiary Rights, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214, DHutton@ThomasNelson.com.

For promotional opportunities for The Story of the Bible contact Kristi Henson, Director of Marketing, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214, KHenson@ThomasNelson.com.