Ellie Claire News and Announcements
For Immediate Release
November 3, 2010
GUIDEPOSTS ACQUIRES
ELLIE CLAIRE, SUMMERSIDE PRESS
Leading Inspirational Publisher Joins Forces with
Rapidly Growing Book and Gift Publisher
CARMEL, N.Y.—Guideposts, an inspirational publishing leader which reaches millions in the U.S. and around the world, today announced the acquisition of Ellie Claire Gift & Paper Expressions, the parent company of popular Christian book publisher Summerside Press.
Effective immediately, Ellie Claire and Summerside Press join the Guideposts family. This new relationship accomplishes two key strategic objectives for both organizations.
For Guideposts, the new partnership gives the organization the ability to further expand into the retail market with original Summerside Press titles, as well as additional journals and companion products, building on the stellar reputation and successful program Ellie Claire has built over the years. For Ellie Claire, the new relationship provides an opportunity to expand upon the foundation created by the hard work and dedication of its team. Guideposts provides marketing opportunities through its vast reach to two million subscribers, six million book buyers, and nearly nine million web visitors.
“We are excited about our new strategic partnership with Ellie Claire. Ellie Claire has quickly emerged as a leader in the gift market and Summerside Press is perhaps the fastest growing publisher in the Christian marketplace. The synergies between Guideposts and Ellie Claire are key to a successful future,” said Dick Hopple, President and Chief Executive Officer, Guideposts. “Our abilities to leverage each other’s strengths will help us grow our brand and our reach.”
“The collaboration between Guideposts and Ellie Claire will allow us to do more together than we could ever do separately,” said Carlton Garborg, President, Ellie Claire Gift & Paper Expressions and Summerside Press. We’re thrilled about our future together.”
About Guideposts
Guideposts, a nonprofit organization, touches millions of lives every day through products and services that inspire, encourage, and uplift. Our magazines, books, websites, prayer network, and outreach programs help people connect their faith-filled values to their daily lives. The flagship title, Guideposts, has a paid circulation of 2 million. Its website, www.guideposts.org, offers inspiration through stories from everyday people, celebrities, and experts. The Guideposts family also includes Ideals Publications, based in Nashville, Tenn., which consists of Candy Cane Press, Williamson Books, and Ideals. In total, Guideposts has annual direct-to-consumer and retail book sales of over 5.7 million copies.
For More Information
Visit Guideposts online at http://www.guideposts.org or http://www.GuidepostsFoundation.org.
Follow Guideposts on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Guideposts_org
Find Guideposts on Facebook: http://facebook.com/Guideposts
Visit Ellie Claire online at http://www.ellieclaire.com
Visit Summerside press online at http://www.summersidpress.com
Follow Summerside Press on Twtter: http://twitter.com/summersidepress
Find Sumemrside Press on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/SummersideonFB
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Customer Testimonials
“I recently bought an Ellie Claire Journal and it truly is the most beautiful journal I have ever had the pleasure to own. I have been writing in journals for 26 years, and this one is superb!”
“I absolutely love your product. I believe your journals are going to explode on the market! The quality is impeccable.”
“I purchased one of your lovely journals while on a church retreat. I have never seen a more wonderful journal.”
“The inside pages of your jounals are so pretty. I wish that you also marketed them in stationery form.”
From the Publisher
In this day of Facebook and Twitter, I have been asked whether journaling is losing relevance. With the accessible technological tools available, why would people still want to journal on paper?
Our generation is writing more than any generation since the invention of the feather pen. People use Twitter and Facebook as tools to foster and develop relationships with others. People use journals as tools to develop a relationship with themselves and with God.
The Internet and social media applications have become a huge part of people’s lives, and that won’t change. Online communication, though, is public by design. The process of journaling, especially in relation to spiritual discipline, is a deeply private, intimate act. For many, it is comforting to step away from the QWERTY keyboard, take pen in hand and commit their deepest thoughts, feelings and insights to paper. Journaling has proved to be essential to many persons’ spiritual growth and is a time-honored act of writing, thinking, praying, remembering, and reflecting. A healthy and active journaling experience can be the basis of new and exciting insights that will then enhance a journaler’s inward life and all of the relationships that grow from it.
We see journal sales increasing because, while those outward-focused relationship tools are great, people will always be looking for ways to retreat from technology, to reflect and seek meaning, and to nurture their inner person.
– Carlton Garborg