What about Women?

Astute readers of this blog will have noticed that there are no women in the Authors Who Sell Well list previously published, yet there are three women in the Authors Who Don’t Sell Well list. This may concern some of you. It concerned the feminists here in the store, the ones who carefully count how women are represented in each “X People From Christian History” book we stock. If you look at the writings of the saints, or saints’ lives, that is a place where women clearly outsell men at Crux. Which women? I’m glad you asked, here’s a list:

1. Julian of Norwich
2. Catherine of Siena
3. Hildegarde of Bingen
4. Teresa of Avila
5. Mother Teresa of Calcuta
6. Therese of Lisieux

Of course, Francis of Assisi has been getting a lot of press and increased book sales since Francis I became pope. But none of the other male saints get the sales of the holy women.

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Famous Authors Who Don’t Sell At Crux

Crux is a theological bookstore, which has served the Toronto School of Theology for years. The number of Christian bookstores in downtown Toronto has been shrinking for many years, and we are the last ones standing. We have lots of new customers coming into the store all the time. Sometimes new customers are surprised by what we do and do not carry. Like most bookstores, we order books based on our experience of what sells. Here are two lists for you to consider — 8 authors who do not sell at Crux, and 8 authors who sell very well at Crux. We draw no conclusions, but you can, if you’d like.

Eight Authors Who Do NOT Sell Well at Crux (alphabetically listed):

1. Billy Graham
2. Tim LaHaye
3. Beverly Lewis
4. Anne Graham Lotz
5. Max Lucado
6. Martin Luther
7. Joyce Meyer
8. Tullian Tchividjian

Eight Authors Who Sell Very Well Indeed at Crux (alphabetically again):

1. G.K. Chesterton
2. Pope Francis I
3. Tim Keller
4. C.S. Lewis
5. Henri Nouwen
6. J.I. Packer
7. John R.W. Stott
8. N.T. Wright