WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 13JUSTIN PAUL LAWRENCE
Senior director of sales and marketing
InterVarsity Press, Westmont, Ill.I
n 2015 Lawrence joined IVP, a publisher of Christian
books, as sales manager for academic and library mar-
kets. Less than a year later, he was named sales director,
and under his leadership the company’s sales are pro-
jected to increase by more than 30% in fiscal 2019 over fiscal
2018, according to his colleague Alisse Wissman. He has
expanded the company’s digital sales and has strengthened
IVP’s partnerships with trade stores, notably Barnes & Noble.
It was Lawrence who advocated that the company exhibit at
BookExpo, and he has increased vis-
ibility there and at ALA. Lawrence,
Wissman says, “encourages innova-
tion on all levels, both within the
sales department and in the com-
pany more broadly.” He is also a
respected voice on both of IVP’s
publishing boards (for trade and aca-
demic), she notes.HONOREES
KEVIN KUSHMAN
Codirector
Blue Manatee Literary Project, Cincinnati
E
arlier this year when Blue Manatee Bookstore went up for
sale, both Amanda Kranias and Kevin Kushman had
made inquiries to the former owner, who set them up on
a “business blind-date.” “Kushman’s idea for the book-
store was one of the most unique, inspiring ideas I have heard,”
Kranias says. His vision was to transform the 30-year-old bookstore
into a nonprofit that would work to put books in the hands of dis-
advantaged readers. Kranias signed on as director, and the store
reopened on April 2 with a one-to-one program—for every book
purchased, one is donated to a disadvantaged
reader. Among the nonprofit’s current initiatives
is a pilot program with Cincinnati Public
Schools. Although Kushman has another full-
time job as president of the company he founded,
Integral Analytics, he says that “the unique mis-
sion to deliver literature, confidence, and life-
changing experiences to our at-risk young
neighbors is honestly the calling of a lifetime.”