Bestseller Bytes

by Daisy Maryles, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 5/16/2007

Kingdom Come by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, the 16th and last book in the Left Behind series, is actually a sequel to the entire series. It spent four weeks in April on PW's weekly hardcover fiction bestseller chart. Tyndale reported a 300,000-copy first printing and a 10,000 second—a healthy figure, albeit much smaller than the million-plus stats of earlier titles. Since its initial release in 1995, the Left Behind series has sold more than 43 million copies and paved the way for general-interest booksellers' increased support of faith fiction. All 16 Left Behind titles have appeared on PW's bestseller lists—hardcover and/or paperback.

Joyce Meyer believes that "prayer may be one of the most misunderstood, least utilized, yet most powerful aspects of a relationship with God." Citing a 2005 survey of more than 800 pastors, she noted that only 16% said they were 'very satisfied' with their prayer lives. If that is true of pastors, "imagine how their congregations feel!" Her advice: "Prayer is simply talking to God. The truth is that we can pray any time, anywhere—even just directing a thought toward God qualifies as silent prayer." FaithWords reports more than 323,000 copies of The Power of Simple Prayer sold.

Anne Lamott was on tour for Grace (Eventually) for about four weeks, visiting 14 cities. Riverhead says that crowds of adoring fans warmly received her, with attendance averaging 500-600 at each event. The publisher reports 175,000 copies in print.

Revell says that over the past 12 months, it has shipped an average of 3,588 copies of 90 Minutes in Heaven every workday. In addition to the Spanish-language edition released in late 2006, there are now licenses for editions in Portuguese for Europe and Brazil, as well as for French and Polish. Author Don Piper is on the road an average of 250 days a year, speaking about his experience to groups of all sizes—from book clubs as small as 12 people to a recent appearance at a church in Omaha, Neb., with an audience of 4,000.