Bestseller Lists for December '09

For those of you who haven't been in on our previous discussions of the bestseller lists for the Christian market (check under the archives for "Craft and Industry" posts)--a quick reminder of how these lists are formed. They are built on (a) reported sales at (b) participating (c) Christian bookstores.

(a) A "sale" is sometimes referred to as a "point of sale," meaning when a customer buys the book off the shelf. (If all copies of the book aren't bought by customers, the bookstore will eventually return those copies to the publisher for a full refund.)

(b) "Participating" means only those bookstores that choose to share their data in this way. Many bookstores don't share their data. So no matter how many copies of a certain title might sell at those nonparticipating stores, those sales won't help the book make the bestseller list.

(c) Christian bookstores are the only ones who report. A sale at a Barnes and Noble or any other general store doesn't count toward the CBA or ECPA list, nor do sales at WalMart, Amazon, Sam's Club, etc. (On the flip side, sales at Christian bookstores don't count toward secular bestseller lists like the New York Times, etc. That's why you can know a Christian book making the NYT is selling a lot of copies--because so many sales don't even count.)

Here is the CBA "February" list and the ECPA "January" list, both reflecting sales in the month of December. Books appearing only on one list are highlighted in blue.

CBA (Numbers in parentheses reflect the book's standing on the CBA Top Fifty list, which includes fiction and nonfiction.)

1. (7) The Shack, William P. Young, Windblown Media
2. (9) Shades of Blue, Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan
3. (17) Green, Ted Dekker, Thomas Nelson
4. (31) A Lineage of Grace, Francine Rivers, Tyndale
5. (40) Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers, MultnomahWaterBrook
6. (48) The Missing, Beverly Lewis, Bethany/Baker
7. An Amish Christmas, Beth Wiseman & Kathleen Fuller, Thomas Nelson
8. Intervention, Terri Blackstock, Zondervan
9. Take Two, Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan
10. The Secret, Beverly Lewis, BethanyBaker
11. The Sound of Sleigh Bells, Cindy Woodsmall, WaterBrook
12. Burn, Ted Dekker & Erin Healy, Thomas Nelson
13. White Christmas Pie, Wanda Brunstetter, Barbour
14. Kelly’s Chance, Wanda Brunstetter, Barbour
15. Take One, Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan
16. Kiss, Ted Dekker & Erin Healy, Thomas Nelson
17. The Silent Gift, Michael Landon & Cindy Kelley, BethanyBaker
18. The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis, Zondervan
19. Plain Pursuit, Beth Wiseman, Thomas Nelson
20. The Inheritance, Tamera Alexander, Thomas Nelson

ECPA (Numbers in parentheses reflect the book's standing on the ECPA Top Fifty list, which includes fiction and nonfiction.)

1. (5) The Shack, William P. Young, Windblown Media
2. (6) Shades of Blue, Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan
3. (15) Lineage of Grace, Francine Rivers, Tyndale
4. (23) Green, Ted Dekker, Thomas Nelson Publishers
5. (27) The Missing, Beverly Lewis, Bethany/Baker
6. (30) Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers, Waterbrook/Multnomah
7. (40) Take Two, Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan
8. (47) Take One, Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan
9. (49) Intervention, Terri Blackstock, Zondervan
10. The Silent Gift, Michael Landon, Jr./Cindy Kelley, Bethany/Baker
11. The Inheritance, Tamera Alexander, Thomas Nelson
12. The Secret, Beverly Lewis, Bethany/Baker
13. Kelly's Chance, Wanda E. Brunstetter, Barbour
14. Plain Pursuit, Beth Wiseman, Thomas Nelson
15. Down Where My Love Lives, Charles Martin, Thomas Nelson
16. Plain Promise, Beth Wiseman, Thomas Nelson
17. Though Waters Roar, Lynn Austin, Bethany/Baker
18. A Cousin's Prayer, Wanda E. Brunstetter, Barbour
19. The Last Jihad, Joel C. Rosenberg, Tyndale
20. The Complete Circle Series, Ted Dekker, Thomas Nelson