FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, MAY 4, 2001

Contact: Jana Muntsinger

jana@mmpublicrelations.com

Parable: First Christian Online Retailer To Offer E-Books

Lightning Source and Parable Interactive Partner for E-Book Distribution

May 4, 2001–San Luis Obispo, CA—Now Parable eStore customers will have one more option when they want to snatch up the next “must-have” new release in books. Meeting the needs of an increasingly digital world, Parable Interactive will be the first Christian e-commerce provider to sell general interest e-books, or electronic versions of the newest releases from Christian publishers. With one click, shoppers will discover the immediacy of being able to buy, download, and read an e-book in a matter of seconds.

Parable and Lightning Source signed an agreement on Wednesday, May 2^nd, during the ECPA management seminar in Seattle, allowing Parable to add Christian e-books to their growing list of 100,000 products available online from Parable.com and 250 affiliated Private Label sites. Parable Interactive President Ron Johnston knows this first is yet another positive distinction: “At Parable Interactive, we strive to lead the pack in marketing Christian products. E-books are the most innovative format in the printing industry today, and we’re excited to offer something so cutting edge to our shoppers.”

Lightning Source, Ingram Industries’ e-book distribution arm, will provide Parable Interactive initially with approximately 1,000 Christian e-book titles. Major publishers add new titles to their list of e-books monthly, like Zondervan’s first e-book release, Philip Yancey’s Reaching For the Invisible God. Other Christian titles currently available in the e-book format include bestsellers like Ravi K. Zacharias’ Jesus Among Other Gods and Christian classics like The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis, as well as countless electronic translations of the Bible.

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Parable: First Christian Online Retailer To Offer e-Books, page two

E-books have become popular because of the immediacy, mobility, and convenience they offer customers. After purchasing online, shoppers can instantly download the e-book to their desktop, laptop, or handheld computer without waiting for products to arrive through the mail. Likewise, these online shoppers avoid shipping costs since the product is transferred electronically. Avid readers also have a mobile advantage since they can carry several e-books via a laptop or handheld computer without the extra weight or bulk of bound books.

Parable Interactive is one of the family of companies under the Parable umbrella. Parable is a California-based marketing and retail services company representing over $400,000,000 in annual sales of Christian products to consumers.

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May 4^th, 2001

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April 18, 2001