Throughout the years, the best-seller lists have been the most-read section of Bookstore Journal/CBA Marketplace. The book list—divided into the top 10 each for cloth and paper—debuted in March 1972 and included both books and Bibles (the Bible list was added in 1978 and included both translations and study versions, such as the Thompson Chain Reference, on the same list). We began publishing the music list in October 1972, but it didn’t appear every month until 1978. The early lists were received from Christian News Service/Omni Communications. In 1980, the magazine began compiling the lists in-house from information garnered monthly from Christian retail stores. Bookstore Journal began partnering with the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and Spring Arbor in 1989 to make the lists even more comprehensive and representative of the industry. We regularly update the processes used to compile the lists, so that they remain the most accurate and reliable in the industry.
Each month CBA receives sales information from a wide sampling of Christian retail stores to compile the monthly best-seller lists. At the end of each year, we add up these monthly numbers to create the annual lists. The music list uses SoundScan data. All lists reflect only product actually sold to customers through Christian retail stores.