Modeled after the successful Record Store Day that has championed independent music retailers in the past few years, the initiative to raise awareness of Christian retail stores will feature giveaways, in-store appearances and a $5 benefit CD to raise money for Compassion International, Samaritan's Purse and World Vision efforts in Haiti.

Christian book sales were up 10% in August, according to the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).

The average rise for the month was found in data from 14 member publishers whose sales information is gathered by the association for reporting to the Association of American Publishers, with 10 seeing a median net increase over the same time last year of 8%. Four companies reported a median drop of 11% for the same period.

Featuring two 25-minute episodes, Battle for the Promised Land seeks to help children through the books of Joshua, Judges and Ruth.

Published Sept. 14, Outlive Your Life is the fifth Lucado title to reach the New York Times best-seller list, following Traveling Light (2001); It's Not About Me (2004); 3:16: The Numbers of Hope (2007); and Fearless (2009).

After Faith Like Potatoes, the best-selling DVDs were: 2. Mandie and the Secret Tunnel (Lost World Pictures/Bridgestone Multimedia Group); 3. the new VeggieTales release Sweetpea Beauty: A Girl After God's Own Heart (Big Idea/Word Distribution); 4. Where's God When I'm Scared?, VeggieTales (Big Idea/Word); 5. Holiday Double Feature, VeggieTales (Big Idea/Word); 6. Amish Grace (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment/Word); 7. Letters to God (Possibility Pictures/Vivendi Entertainment/EMI CMG); 8. Sleepytime Lullabies, "The Praise Baby Collection" (Big House Kids/Provident-Integrity); 9. To Save a Life (Affirm Films/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment/Provident-Integrity); and 10. Fireproof (Provident Films/Provident-Integrity).

Released this month, the Bright Sparks Party Pack features characters from the "Friends and Heroes" series--which features both 2-D and 3-D animation, and follows the adventures of 14-year-olds Macky and Portia, weaving in stories from the Old and New Testaments.