A Praying Life Climbs Charts

The enthusiastic advance sales that drove A Praying Life: Connecting With God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller into its second printing now demand a third pre-publication print run. Retailers watching the book’s meteoric rise up the Amazon charts over the last two weeks are scrambling to claim their share of the third print run.

A Praying Life, which officially releases on May 15, is already reporting strong sales in a variety of sectors—from online retailers like Amazon to independent booksellers and ministries. In a ten-day period, it rose from number 877,865 on the influential Amazon charts to number 1359. In fact, exactly one week before its street date, the book’s Amazon ranking was hovering around 2000.

This leap from obscurity to prominence appears to be representative of a broader trend. One independent retailer, WTSBooks.com in Glenside, PA, hosted a 48-hour promotional launch of A Praying Life. Bookstore Director Chun Lai sold through his substantial stock and found himself eagerly awaiting a second shipment to fulfill orders. The promotion catapulted the new title onto WTS Books’ bestseller list for 2009, right next to the wildly popular ESV Study Bible. And Lai calls the promotion simply a “springboard.” He explains, "We continue to sell about 20 copies a day, even at regular prices. We are deeply encouraged by the sales as we look to the Lord to use this book to call His Church to pray."

A Praying Life is expected to quickly outsell Miller’s popular last book, Love Walked Among Us. NavPress Publisher Michael Miller says, “We are excited to see the overwhelming response to Paul Miller's book. The message of this book is an important one and we are proud to partner with Paul to share this with the Kingdom."

Paul Miller serves as executive director of SeeJesus.net, a non-profit discipleship ministry based in the Philadelphia area that conducts prayer seminars around the country.

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