You might not think Tim Tebow can throw. You might not agree with the openness in which he expresses his religious beliefs. But the man can move units. This cannot be denied.
Tebow's memoir on football and faith, "Through My Eyes", has made the Broncos quarterback the best-selling religion author of 2011, according to a report in The Washington Post.
Readership "is beyond the evangelical world and NFL fans now," said Mark Tauber, senior vice president and publisher at HarperOne. "There's just sort of a general intrigue about what drives this guy."
"Through My Eyes" saw strong sales from the onset of its June release, but sales exploded as Tebow continually snapped victory from the jaws of defeat during Denver's six-game winning streak. When Tebow became the starter in October, weekly sales picked up to about 2,000. With win after win, weekly numbers surged to 6,000, then 11,000. For the week ending Dec. 18, sales topped 25,000.
All told, 220,000 copies of the book have been sold. HarperOne now has 475,000 copies in print.
"We've had a number of accounts say, 'We're betting on this guy into January, February and beyond' and their orders are evidence of that," Tauber said. "So I don't think 475,000 is at all where we're going to stop. I know it's not."
If only Tebow could get the same vote of confidence from his boss that he gets from his publisher. Clearly, John Elway is not a voracious reader.
