NKJV, Single Column, Thomas Nelson, VersaJ. MARK BERTRAND48 Comments

Inside Nelson's NKJV Single-Column Bible

NKJV, Single Column, Thomas Nelson, VersaJ. MARK BERTRAND48 Comments

Thanks to Kimberly Stephens, the Acquisitions Editor for Bible, Reference and Curriculum at Thomas Nelson, I can now share a preview of NKJV Single-Column Bible's inside layout. This is a first proof, which means any errors have yet to be corrected, but it gives a good idea of what to expect.

NelsonNKJVSingleColumn
The page spread above isn't high resolution, but I've uploaded a multi-page PDF which you can scrutinize in-depth. Here's the link: NKJV Single-Column Bible Layout PDF (First Proof). Overall, it looks good, and seems to deliver on the promise of a clean, readable layout. If you've been reading this blog long, you know there's one thing I really don't like about this setting: the font, which looks so much like the same one used in the TNIV Reference Bible. I know that's a subjective thing. My inner typographer wants to fix the widows and orphans, too, but like I said, this is a first look. And a very encouraging one.
More good news! Nelson will also release a KJV in this format at the same time, which means those of us who've been weeping and gnashing our teeth at the long delay in the release of a hand-sized single column KJV can weep and gnash no longer. Assuming sales are strong, there's a chance the single column settings could make their way onto the Signature Series roster. As Kimberly mentioned in her comment on Monday's post, Nelson is exploring the possibility of offering these with sewn bindings. If I hear more about that, I'll pass it along.

J. Mark Bertrand is a novelist and pastor whose writing on Bible design has helped spark a publishing revolution. Mark is the author of Rethinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World (Crossway, 2007), as well as the novels Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide—described as a “series worth getting attached to” (Christianity Today) by “a major crime fiction talent” (Weekly Standard) in the vein of Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, and Henning Mankell.

Mark has a BA in English Literature from Union University, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an M.Div. from Heidelberg Theological Seminary. Through his influential Bible Design Blog, Mark has championed a new generation of readable Bibles. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Society of Bible Craftsmanship, and chairs the Society’s Award Committee. His work was featured in the November 2021 issue of FaithLife’s Bible Study Magazine.

Mark also serves on the board of Worldview Academy, where he has been a member of the faculty of theology since 2003. Since 2017, he has been an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Laurie life in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.