Bestseller Bytes

by Daisy Maryles, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 4/23/2008

The Wall Street Journal dubbed Tudor Parfitt, author of The Lost Ark of the Covenant, the "British Indiana Jones," and he's also an Oxford Fellow and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Harvard. His book, the culmination of two decades of research, chronicles his quest to recover the object that is sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The History Channel aired a documentary, Quest for the Lost Ark, based on the book. Parfitt appeared on The Today Show and has done numerous interviews, including one for Time.com. HarperOne reports 30,000 copies in print.

"For me, fasting has been the secret to obtaining open doors, miraculous provision, favor, and the tender touch of God upon my life. I was on a three-day fast when God called me to preach. I was on a twenty-one day fast when our ministry received its first million-dollar gift. When I was an evangelist, my brother and I traveled together. We would rotate our preaching nights. On my night off, I would fast all day for him. On his night off, he fasted all day for me. We went from obscurity to doors opening all over the world through the power of fasting."—From Jentezen Franklin's introduction to Fasting.

John Tesh has what nonfiction authors need—a platform. He is a nationally syndicated radio host with an audience of more than eight million listeners. Thomas Nelson reports 85,000 copies in print for Intelligence for Your Life. Tesh writes in the book: "This world is full of people who have dreams of playing Carnegie Hall, of running the marathon, or owning their own business. Do they ever get to live out their dreams? The ones who understand how to live a life of power, passion and purpose do. This book will help you put together an action plan for your own personal goals."

The Shack by William P. Young is a publishing phenomenon—the author wrote this novel back in 2005 as a legacy of his faith for his children. In early 2006, he connected with former pastors Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings, who co-host a Web site called thegodjourney.com. For 16 months, they worked with Young on four major rewrites and formed Windblown Media, based in Los Angeles, to publish the book. The editing process was chronicled on the site, and a good portion of the 10,000-copy first printing, released May 1, 2007, was sold through it. Word of mouth kept expanding the book's sales and by early fall, retailers, including Barnes & Noble, were ordering from Windblown. Enter Nashville-based literary agent Wes Yoder, president of the Ambassador Agency, who got Ingram involved. The Shack is now up to 650,000 copies in print and Yoder notes that he has foreign rights requests from 15 countries. Young is getting scores of invitations for speaking engagements, and a movie deal is also being negotiated.

Chapman's long-running bestseller The Five Love Languages is up to nearly five million copies in print. Coming July 15 is a new book by Chapman, Love as a Way of Life. Doubleday is the publisher, and PW's starred review (scheduled for April 28), noted that this "wise, heartfelt guide" is "head and shoulders above the bulk of self-help literature precisely because it is not about 'self' so much as helping others."

Four C.S. Lewis books were among the top 25 paperback bestsellers in 2007, according to the Catholic Book Publishers Association. Mere Christianity is #2, The Screwtape Letters is #3, The Great Divorce is #5 and The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics is #11. And #1? Catechism of the Catholic Church from Doubleday/Our Sunday Visitor/USCCB.

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