FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Pamela McClure, 615.595.8321
pamela@mmpublicrelations.com
It’s
Not About Me: Lucado Invites Readers to “Come Thirsty”
Rescue
From the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy
New Adult Trade Title
from Max Lucado Launches Spring 2004Hardcover to Flood Retail
Shelves
Fall 2004
With a new title on the New York Times bestseller list and more than 39 books in print
worldwide, consumers are obviously hungry for Max Lucado
products. But, wonders Lucado, are they thirsty for God? He suggests that soul thirst may be one
of the most common and under-diagnosed ailments in America. If so, Come Thirsty: No Heart Too Dry for His Touch (W Publishing Group, October 2004), Lucado’s forthcoming hardcover title, offers to direct readers
to a bottomless well of living water.
“Deprive your soul of spiritual water and it will
tell you,”
writes Lucado. “Dehydrated hearts
send desperate messages. Snarling tempers. Waves of worry. Growling mastodons
of guilt and fear. You think God wants you to live with these? Hopelessness.
Sleeplessness. Loneliness. Resentment. Irritability. Insecurity. These are all
warnings. Symptoms of a dryness deep within. But the well awaits.”
Lucado’s trademark storytelling skill is showcased in each chapter of Come Thirsty as memorable vignettes illustrate biblical principles outlined in Lucado’s “Prayer of
the Thirsty.” The prayer,
employing
the acronym W-E-L-L, outlines four essential fluids for “soul hydration”: God’s Work, God’s
Energy, Lordship, and Love.
·
Accept His Work: “Your deeds don’t
save you. And your deeds don’t keep you
saved. Grace does.”
·
Rely on His Energy: “Change your
definition of prayer. Think of prayers less as an
activity for God and more as an awareness of God. Seek to live in uninterrupted awareness. Acknowledge his presence everywhere you go.”
·
Trust His Lordship: “Heaven does not ask
‘How can I make Max happy?’ Heaven asks, ‘How can I use Max to reveal my
excellencies?’ He may use blessings.
Then again, he may use buffetings.
Both belong to him.”
·
Receive His Love: “Others love you
because of you, because your dimples dip when you smile or your rhetoric charms
when you flirt. Some people love you
because of you. Not God. He loves you because he
is he. He loves you because he decides
to.”
“Max’s books have found a home in the hearts of
millions of readers during our fifteen-year publishing relationship,” comments David
Moberg, Senior Vice President and Publisher, W Publishing
Group. “His name recognition, among
the general population has skyrocketed.
Yet we are eager to help Max spread the message of God’s love to an even
broader and more diverse audience.”
--more--
Come
Thirsty/page two
W Publishing Group has organized an extensive first
wave of marketing
and licensing efforts for Come Thirsty. Lucado will embark on a significant
multi-city author tour in November, which will anchor the fall campaign. National marketing efforts (July – December
2004) include a retail pre-sell
campaign, promotional
partnerships with Hallmark, in-store merchandising kits, national advertising and
publicity strategies and a
customized
internet campaign. Licensing partnerships are in the works
for 2004-2005; information is available from Leslie Nunn-Reed, 972-466-3800.
“When God looks to
the center of the universe, he doesn’t look to you,” Lucado writes in his
opening pages. “When heaven’s stagehands direct the spotlight toward the star
of the show, I need no sunglasses. No light falls on me.” Instead, Lucado suggests that we all serve
as reflectors of the true “sun” of the universe—designed to reflect the glory
of God. “But how do we make the
shift? How can we be bumped off
self-center? Attend a seminar, howl at
the moon, read a Lucado book? None of
these (though I appreciate that last idea). We move from ‘me-focus’ to ‘God-focus’ by pondering him.”
The fourteen
chapters of It’s Not About Me
challenge self-centered ideas readers may have held for years. ‘Shouldn’t I look out for number one?’ ‘How can my life be happy if I’m concerned
only with God’s glory?’ ‘What about my rights and dreams?’ Lucado leads readers into a new way of
thinking via two sections of the book, “God Pondering” and “God Promoting”:
§ “God Pondering”
offers a fresh view of God—of his love, unchanging nature, holiness and
timelessness. Lucado leads readers
into a consideration of God’s worthiness via examples from the lives of Moses, Isaiah,
and even the Edwards Aquifer in South Texas.
§ “God Promoting” helps
readers discover lives that truly bring glory to the Creator they considered in
the book’s early pages. In this section,
Lucado suggests that individuals can glorify God through their attitudes about
salvation, their bodies, their struggles and even their success.
In anticipation of strong consumer demand, Integrity
has designed a marketing campaign that will build consumer awareness long
before the book reaches shelves. A
retail pre-sell campaign launches January 15, 2004, in stores nationwide, and a
gift journal is offered free with each advance order. Then an extensive book launch marketing campaign rolls out as
the book releases in March, including national TV, print and radio advertising,
custom in-store displays, a church satellite event in Spring 2004 and online
consumer promotions.
Lucado readers often
share their enjoyment of his books in discussion groups, so a “devotional study
guide” will be included in the book for both group and personal use. In addition, audio versions of the book will
release simultaneously with the hardcover on both cassette and CD.
With more than 39 million
books in print, Max Lucado’s 50+ titles are read worldwide in more than 20
languages. Christianity Today magazine recently dubbed Lucado “America’s
Pastor,” and Publishers Weekly, the
general market publication for books and bookselling, recently proclaimed
“there aren’t many authors bigger than Lucado.” His books are regular fixtures on national bestseller lists
including The New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly. Lucado has
been featured in a wide range of media, including USA Today, “Larry King Live” and “NBC Nightly News,” and has spoken
at the National Prayer Breakfast before the President of the United
States. But Lucado remembers his roots in the dry
West Texas soil. He acknowledges that
he is a simple Texas pastor (Oak Hills Church in San Antonio) with a simple
message about living water. “Like water,
Jesus goes where we can’t,” he explains.
“I simply invite readers to do what I must do for my own dehydrated
heart, drink deeply and often.”
Integrity Publishers Inc.,
headquartered in Brentwood, produces,
markets and distributes Christian books in most major trade categories such as
fiction, current events, biblical studies, devotions, psychology, family,
children and biography. Some Integrity authors include: Dr. David Jeremiah, Ravi Zacharias, Frank
Peretti, Larry Crabb, Stephen Arterburn, Becky Tirabassi, Dr. Linda Mintle,
George Barna, and Brennan Manning. To
find out more about Integrity Publishers, visit www.integritypublishers.com.
Integrity
Media, Inc.
is a media-communications company that produces, publishes and distributes
Christian music, books and related products. It is a producer and publisher of
products that facilitate a Christian lifestyle. Integrity's products are sold primarily through retail stores and
direct to consumers throughout the United States and in 1 other countries. The Company is headquartered in Mobile,
Alabama, and its common stock is listed on The NASDAQ National Market under the
symbol "ITGR." Information
about Integrity, including financial and operating performance, is available at
the company's website: W
Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson, Inc., a leading publisher,
producer and distributor of books emphasizing Christian, inspirational and
family value themes. Thomas Nelson Inc.
is the largest publisher of Bibles and inspirational books in the English
language. For more information, visit www.wpublishinggroup.com.
# # #
It’s Not about meCOME THIRSTY: No Heart Too Dry
for His Touch
rescue from the life we thought would make us happy
By Max Lucado
[Available
March 9October 7,
2004,
from Integrity
PublishersW Publishing Group
Hardcover: ISBN 1-59145-042-x0-8499-1761-1, $2218.99, 240176
pages, 6 1/8 x 9/14, Inspirational/Motivational/GeneralSpiritual Growth
Audio:
Cassettes, $15.99,
ISBN 1-59145-162-0; CDs,
180 minutes, $2418.99,
ISBN 1-59145-161-20-8499-6376-1