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Lucado’s Unusual Book Tour Draws Thousands for Prayer, Ministry
W Publishing Group Sees Unprecedented Sales, Attendance

 

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE—Best-selling author and pastor Max Lucado prayed with and encouraged thousands of people during last week’s 10-city book tour promoting Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Intended to Bear ($21.99; hardcover, W Publishing Group).  The tour launched with media interviews and a book signing in New York City on Monday, October 1, and ended with an in-store appearance in San Antonio, TX, on Saturday, October 6.  W Publishing Group estimates that more than 12,000 people saw Lucado and heard his message of hope and comfort. 

            Many publishers cancelled author tours in light of the September 11 terrorist attacks; but bookstore managers repeatedly asked W Publishing Group not to cancel Lucado’s tour.  “We have cancelled 170 book signings and 3 book fairs in the past week,” said Donna Passannate, Director, Author Promotions and Special Events at Barnes & Noble, Inc. “Thank God, W did not cancel the Traveling Light Tour.  If we ever needed a minister in our stores, it is now."   Lucado shared this opinion, believing that the message of Psalm 23, which is explored in Traveling Light, offers unique comfort during these troubling days.  The tour, which was in place before the terrorist attacks, was expanded to include times of prayer and encouragement at each tour stop.

            The Traveling Light tour is Lucado’s first multi-city book tour since 1993; this full-time pastor and father of three usually prefers to stay closer to home.  During six intense days of travel, the Traveling Light tour visited the following cities and retail outlets:

Ø       New York City (October 1)—Barnes & Noble, Manhattan

Ø       Washington, DC (October 2)—Borders, Waldorf, MD

Ø       Virginia Beach, VA (October 2)—Sam’s Club, New Port News

Ø       Charlotte, NC (October 2)—Barnes & Noble, Charlotte

Ø       Atlanta, GA (October 3)—Sam’s Club, Duluth; Barnes & Noble, Morrow

Ø       Orlando, FL (October 4)—Barnes & Noble, Orlando

Ø       Tampa, FL (October 4)—Borders, Tampa

Ø       Lakeland, FL (October 4)—Books-A-Million, Merchants Walk

Ø       Birmingham, AL (October 5)—Kindred Christian Store; Books-A-Million, Wildwood

Ø       San Antonio, TX (October 6)—Sam’s Club, San Antonio

 

            There were several unique aspects to this book tour including “prayer and encouragement sessions”, the complimentary distribution of  1,000 full-color Traveling Light prayer guides and bookmarks featuring Lucado’s “Prayer for America” at each tour stop.  During

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Lucado Traveling Light Tour, page two

the tour, W Publishing Group reports that  more than 4100 copies of Traveling Light were sold.  Several bookstores, including Sam’s Club in New Port News, VA, and Barnes & Noble in Charlotte, NC, claim the Traveling Light signing was the largest in the store’s history. 

In Birmingham, a citywide prayer event attracted more than 5,000 people to the Birmingham Civic Center.  The event, which was created in less than 10 days, was fueled by the creative energy of the Kindred Christian Store management team in response to Lucado’s impending visit to their city and store.  Birmingham’s prayer gathering was covered by the local ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox television news affiliates, as well as The Birmingham News.  Participating in the event were Christian singers Kim Hill and Natalie Grant, as well as the Mayor of Birmingham and various state and local elected officials. 

Ron Land, Senior Vice President, Sales, Thomas Nelson, Inc., accompanied Lucado on the entire tour and was struck by the ministry involved:  “It was amazing to see people approach Max in tears, clearly in need of comfort and encouragement.  The September 11th attacks changed us all, and people seemed to looking for more than books and autographs during Max’s visits.  Certainly God had something bigger in mind than the normal book tour.”

During the Traveling Light tour, Lucado was featured in dozens of media outlets including USA Today, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Religion News Service and CNN.com.  He participated in national television and radio satellite tours, blanketing the country with the hopeful message found in Traveling Light. In addition, W Publishing Group supported the tour with a full-page ad in USA Today (September 28), along with local radio and newspaper ads in each tour city. 

Over the past fifteen years, Lucado has become recognized for what USA Today called “his chatty, easy-to-read style.”  With more than 25 million books in print, Lucado is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon.  He is the first author to win three *ECPA Book of the Year awards and at least one of his books has appeared on an ECPA bestseller list every month since July 1990.  Lucado set a record with 11 of his 12 published works on an ECPA bestseller list at once in 1994. Max Lucado, his wife Denalyn and their three daughters reside in San Antonio, Texas, where he serves the Oak Hills Church of Christ.

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October 11, 2001

 

*ECPA=Evangelical Christian Publishers Association

 

Traveling Light:

Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Intended to Bear

By Max Lucado, W Publishing Group

Ship date: September 4, 2001          $21.99 Hardcover

ISBN #: 0-8499-1297-0