A few weeks ago, Publishers Weekly published their list of hardcover bestsellers for 2008. They included all hardcover books that sold more than 100,000 copies. There were 155 fiction titles that made the cut and 119 non-fiction titles. I read through the lists, highlighting the ones that could be considered “Christian,” since I run a Christian publishing company.

Interestingly, only one Christian book made the fiction list—Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana by Anne Rice. Knopf published it, and it sold 112,000 units. (There may be others on the list, but I didn’t recognize them. If so, they were published by general trade publishers.) Continue Reading

Publishers Weekly just published its list of the bestselling books of 2008. John Grisham’s Appeal earned the #1 slot for hardcover fiction. Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture [affiliate link] took the top slot in hardcover non-fiction.

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Usually, Publishers Weekly (or “PW,” as industry insiders call it) gets it right. Through the years, they have been very good to Thomas Nelson and to me. But today, I think they missed the boat. In “The PW Morning Report,” they said:

Britney’s Mom’s Memoir “Totally Compelling,” Thomas Nelson Editor Tells Gawker

Michael Hyatt of the Christian publisher goes ape over Lynne Spear’s tell-all: “I can’t put it down,” Hyatt gushed, “People are going to be surprised. The media have it so wrong.”

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