'Heaven Is for Real' debuts on ECPA list

Written by Eric Tiansay

Friday, 03 December 2010 03:20 PM America/New_York

Todd Burpo's account of his young son's near-death experience of heaven made a strong debut on its release, taking the No. 10 spot in the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's (ECPA) December best-seller list.

Written with Lynn Vincent, Burpo's Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back (Thomas Nelson) joined a top 10—based on the four-week cycle to Nov. 20—dominated by more familiar names, including Karen Kingsbury and Francis Chan.

The rest of the top 10 for the month is: 1. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young (Thomas Nelson); 2. Unlocked by Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 3. Crazy Love by Francis Chan (David C. Cook); 4. The Twelfth Imam by Joel C. Rosenberg (Tyndale House Publishers); 5. Jesus Calling (Deluxe Edition) by Sarah Young (Thomas Nelson); 6. The Coming Economic Armageddon by David Jeremiah (FaithWords); 7. Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick (Multnomah Books); 8. Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman (Revell/Baker Publishing Group); and 9. Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado (Thomas Nelson).

The top 10 Bibles for December are: 1. Text Bible, NKJV (Thomas Nelson); 2. ESV Outreach New Testament (Crossway); 3. NIV Witness Bible, softcover (Zondervan); 4. NIV Adventure Bible, hardcover (Zondervan); 5. Share the Good News Outreach Bible, ESV (Crossway); 6. Gift and Award Bible, KJV, black leatherflex (Thomas Nelson); 7. NIV Outreach Bible (Biblica/Authentic Media); 8. NIV True Images, Italian Duo-Tone chocolate/bubble gum (Zondervan); 9. Gift & Award Bible, NIV, burgundy imitation leather (Zondervan); and 10. ESV Thinline Value Bible, TruTone midnight/flame design (Crossway).

The ECPA lists are drawn from Christian retail stores across the country, through its PubTrack Christian data system. Book lists are based on trade discounted titles selling in at least 20% of reporting stores. Tracts and booklets are excluded.