Building an Award Winning Product

It was an incredible way to spend an evening. When Mark Kuyper of ECPA announced that Word of Promise was the Christian Book of the Year (I know what you’re thinking, it was the first Audio product to win the Book of the Year award) my heart raced, jumped and soared.

Later, I thought about the product itself and how it came together:

Creativity and Vision. When Carl Amari came to us with his idea for this product it was an exciting moment. Carl’s vision never wavered and all of us on the team grabbed Carl’s vision and rode along. He set the tone, we followed it and crafted a beautiful audio New Testament.

Talent. We were able to assemble some fine acting and directing talent to make this something other than just another audio. Thanks to a stellar, committed cast and JoBe Cerny, the project’s director, we literally have theater of the mind with Foley effects and people acting, not just reading the script/text.

Teamwork. I am so proud of the team. All aspects of the Nelson team pulled together, burned the midnight oil and worked together to create something unique and different. Everyone involved did their share and more.

Persistence. Delivering this product wasn’t easy. We had many challenges in our way. With the right vision, great talent and teamwork, however, we stayed the course. We held firm. We were all convinced that it would be one of those life-changing products and we were committed to get it to the marketplace and get it in the hands of shoppers.

We remain humbled, yet proud of our accomplishments.

What do you feel makes an award winning product?