Christian Retailing

‘Heaven Is for Real’ hits major sales milestone Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Thursday, 11 December 2014 10:30 AM America/New_York

HeavenIsForRealHiRes-webHeaven Is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back has sold 10 million copies since its November 2010 release.

“This is a rare milestone in our industry and one that we don’t take lightly,” said Matt Baugher, senior vice president and publisher of W Publishing Group. “We are deeply grateful to all of the retailers, distributors and passionate readers who have worked so hard to share this story with others. It was and is a story worth telling, and we’re honored to be a part of it.” 

Heaven Is for Real is the story of the Todd Burpo family and son Colton, who during his life-threatening illness and sudden surgery, slipped from consciousness and barely survived. Several months later, Colton began talking about his experiences and about his trip to heaven.

Written in the first-person narrative of Colton’s father, Todd, with New York Times best-selling author Lynn Vincent, Heaven Is for Real walks readers through the revelation of Colton’s trip, his parent’s initial uncertainties and the lessons learned.

The book also has reached No. 1 on a number of best-seller lists, including The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, CBA and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. The story also was brought to theaters in a major motion picture released in April.

A revised and updated softcover version of related title Heaven Changes Everything: The Rest of Our Story by pastor Todd Burpo and his wife and children’s minister, Sonja Burpo, will be released Jan. 6. The new edition will include never-before-seen family photos and two new chapters.