September (Web-only) 2003

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A super hip thing happened in July: Thomas Nelson's division of books for teens, Transit Books, put out a Bible-and-magazine in one. The head-spinning hybrid is called Revolve, to connote a different twist on the way the Bible is packaged. Think the allure of Cosmo, minus the sleaze, plus the easy-to-read New Century Version of the New Testament.

The secular media totally dig this, this … uhm—we need a new word—biblezine! Since its release, Revolve's marketing director has given "well over 60" interviews. Seventy percent of them were for mainstream media such as CNN, ABCnews.com, and Detroit Free Press. The media attention has been mostly positive. More importantly, teens, parents, and youth pastors are into Revolve, too.

In less than eight weeks, 40 thousand copies of the glossy New Testament have disappeared from bookstores. That's the number of copies that an average Thomas Nelson Bible sells in a year! An additional printing of 60 thousand copies should be in stores in the beginning of October.

But there are other, more and less conspicuous, facts about the hot 'zine. If you care about the Bible and about teens, you might like to know them. In true Revolve fashion, we present you with an exclusive list of Ten Things You Should Know About the New Girl Biblezine. Here's our countdown, from the most to the least obvious:

10) What a Girl WantsIn a survey of teens several years ago, Thomas Nelson editors asked them if they read the Bible. Laurie Whaley, New Century brand manager, summed up their answers in an interview with Christianity Today this way: "They don't read the Bible." They say, "It's too big; it's too freaky; it doesn't make sense." When asked about what they do read, the teens said they read "magazines, magazines, ...