Christian Retailing

Christmas fiction makes an impact Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Monday, 28 November 2011 10:51 AM America/New_York

Seasonal stories are starting to find their audience, with Christmas-themed tales taking four of the top 10 fiction spots in the latest weekly best-sellers list from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).

The rise comes as Christian Retailing’s special Christian Book Reader digital supplement promoting inspirational fiction for Christmas gift buying is made available for stores to distribute to their customers.

Three other holiday releases have joined Wanda E. Brunstetter, Jane Kirkpatrick and their fellow authors (A Log Cabin Christmas Collection, Barbour Publishing), previously in the ECPA fiction list, for sales ending Nov. 19, according to the association’s Pubtrack Christian data.

With the trio’s title at No.5, it is followed by Suzanne Woods Fisher’s A Lancaster County Christmas (Revell/Baker Publishing Group). Melody Carlson’s The Christmas Shoppe (Revell/Baker) is at No. 8, with Dan Walsh’s Remembering Christmas (Revell/Baker) at No. 10.

Continuing with the seasonal emphasis, Max Lucado’s Christmas Stories (Thomas Nelson) is at No. 13 in the general best-sellers list.

The rest are: 1. Heaven is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 2. Jesus Calling, Sarah Young (Thomas Nelson); 3. Nearing Home, Billy Graham (Thomas Nelson); 4. Heaven is for Real for Kids, Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 5. The Resolution for Men, Stephen Kendrick, Alex Kendrick (B&H Books); 6. Every Day a Friday, Joel Osteen (FaithWords); 7. Jesus Calling: Deluxe Edition, Young (Thomas Nelson); 8. Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); 9. One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp (Zondervan); 10. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C Cook); 11. Courageous, Randy Alcorn (Tyndale House Publishers); 12. Jesus Calling: Large Print Deluxe Edition, Young (Thomas Nelson); 14. Longing, “Bailey Flanigan Series” No. 3, Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan); 15. The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer (B&H Books); 16. The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, Kevin Malarkey, Alex Malarkey (Tyndale House Publishers); 17. The Wonder of Your Love, Beth Wiseman (Thomas Nelson); 18. The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge, Tony Dungy, Nathan Whitaker (Tyndale House Publishers); 19. The Tehran Initiative by Joel C. Rosenberg (Tyndale House Publishers); and 20. Through My Eyes, Tim Tebow (Harper).

Fiction: 1. Courageous; 2. Longing; 3. The Wonder of Your Love; 4. The Tehran Initiative; 5. A Log Cabin Christmas Collection; 6. A Lancaster County Christmas; 7. Learning, “Bailey Flanigan Series” No. 2, Kingsbury (Zondervan); 8. The Christmas Shoppe; 9. Her Daughter’s Dream, “Marta’s Legacy” No. 2, Francine Rivers (Tyndale House Publishers); and 10. Remembering Christmas.

Top Five Bibles: 1. The Story, NIV hardcover (Zondervan); 2. ESV Pew & Worship Bible, hardcover, blue (Crossway); 3. NIV Life Application Study Bible, Italian Duo-Tone, carmel/dark carmel (Zondervan); 4. NIV Life Application Study Bible, Italian Duo-Tone, honeysuckle pink (Zondervan); and 5. The Story: Teen Edition, softcover (Zondervan).

Retailers are invited to email or tweet details of Christian Book Reader: A Christmas shopper’s guide to Christian fiction to customers and post details of the publication at their website and Facebook page. Click here to see the magazine.