HarperCollins Christian Publishing has launched the new daily Devotionals skill for its virtual assistant Alexa in selected Amazon devices.
(REUTERS / Beck Diefenbach)New Amazon Fire tablet cases are displayed during a media event introducing new Amazon products in San Francisco, California September 16, 2015.
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On Dec. 12, HCCP started offering daily Devotionals audio clips for Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices including the Amazon Echo, Amazon Tap, Fire tablet, Fire TV, Echo Dot and its hands-free and voice-controlled gadgets. The company is the first book publisher to establish this kind of partnership with Amazon, according to a press release.
In a statement, HCCP senior vice president for direct-to-consumer sales and marketing Sally Hofmann described how they came up with the idea for the Devotionals Daily. She said the new Alexa skill is an effective way to bring encouragement to their readers and to connect with their authors.
“Through our own Devotionals Daily brand we discovered, via social media, that this format really resonated with our readers. We created a Devotionals Daily email newsletter and blog, currently with more than a half a million subscribers, to provide more in-depth devotional engagement,” said Hofmann in a statement. “These devotions are handpicked from our most popular books and now, Echo and Dot users can listen to Devotionals by including it in their daily flash briefing or through a custom-made skill.”
The Devotionals entries come from audiobooks by HCCP publishing groups Thomas Nelson or Zondervan. HCCP’s director of audio sales Catherine Zappa revealed that the authors are often the same persons behind the voices used in the audiobook. The reader only needs to instruct Alexa to add the desired book to their Amazon shopping cart and choose the format they like.
In July this year, HCCP started offering grants to nonprofit organizations based in Grand Rapids or Nashville. The publishing firm did not reveal the value of the grants given to six organizations, but it explained that its purpose is to expand literacy to the needy and encourage a Christian worldview, Grand Rapids Business Journal reports.
Moreover, HCCP said it aims to set up and support ministries by providing funds for a limited period of time. The company also requires the recipients of the grants to have a statement of faith that is in line with Christian orthodox teachings.
