CONTACT:
Michael Covington, Information & Education Director, ECPA
480-966-3998 ext. 209, mcovington@ecpa.org

1/25/11, Phoenix, Ariz. — Based on retail sales activity of Christian books in the U.S., ECPA announces the Top 50 Bestselling Christian Books and the Top 20 Authors for 2010.  By combining title rankings and sales analytics from booksellers around the country, with online and direct mail distributor sales, this year’s list represents the most popular Christian content of 2010. 

Many recognizable names and titles adorn the Top 50 list once again for 2010.  Such notables fill the top three spots: Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages (Moody Publishers), The Love Dare by Stephen & Alex Kendrick (B&H Publishing Group) and the 2007 runaway bestseller, The Shack by William Paul Young (Windblown Media). 

“The 2010 list represents a very diverse sample of retail activity, including the mass market, which may have favored titles with a tried and true presence in a market place that was possibly not as receptive to new titles, due to the struggling economy" says ECPA’s Information & Education Director Michael Covington.

“The absence of a new release among these top spots is not a concern as the rest of the list is populated by more recent titles such as Jesus Calling (Sarah Young, Thomas Nelson Publishers) and Crazy Love (Francis Chan, David C Cook), both of which seem to be following closely in the footsteps of the top three, as sales data would reveal their rankings outside of Christian retail channel are notable, though not quite as high."

"Christian book buyers are not all the same," says Covington.  "While Christian content enjoys very broad distribution today, it’s obvious that certain titles sell better through channels that are shopped more heavily by the core Christian book consumer."  To demonstrate this, ECPA also produced a Top 50 title listing for 2010, exclusively using sales from Christian retailers.  In this second list, Jesus Calling and Crazy Love took the #1 and #2 spots, suggesting that these titles were more popular among the "active Christian" population, which makes up the majority share of the Christian retail consumer base.

"While 2010 was a rebuilding year for most ECPA publishers, many publishers will close out 2010 with an increase, even though the industry did not have a blockbuster release that captured the attention of the broader audiences as we have seen with other titles in the past," reports Mark Kuyper, CEO.  Previously, titles such as The Purpose Driven Life (Rick Warren, Zondervan) as well as The Left Behind Series (Tim LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins, Tyndale House Publishers) found their way to the top of every major bestseller list, helping to increase awareness of the entire Christian content genre. 

"Though we are very pleased with the broad and diverse sales representation on this list, ultimately there is no such thing as a perfect bestseller list," says Kuyper.  "Accomplishing that would require participation from every single bookseller.  The purpose of these lists then, is to help increase awareness of Christian content and the authors that create it, and to honor the impact they have in both mainstream and Christian channels."

The "Best of 2010" lists can be viewed at:
Top 50 Multi-channel at http://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/bestof2010/
Top Authors at http://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/bestof2010/top-20-authors.php
Top 50 Christian Retail at http://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/bestof2010/top-50-retail.php

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The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade organization comprised of over 150 member companies that are involved in the publishing and distribution of Christian content worldwide. Since 1974, ECPA has strengthened Christian publishing by building networking, information, and advocacy opportunities within the industry and throughout multiple channels so that our members can more effectively produce and deliver transformational Christian content.

For more information about ECPA, contact us at 480-966-3998, info@ecpa.org or visit the ECPA Community website at www.ecpa.org.