Why Don’t JP Holding’s Apologetics books sell better?

[Pitchforkpat]

I'm as I already pointed out to you (and you just ignored it) books written at a popular level (such as John Loftus' book) are going to appeal to more people and thus be sold more than a book written at a deeper level will.

In what way is The Impossible Faith written at a “deeper level” than Why I Became and Atheist?

[Pitchforkpat]

I would say that Loftus does a lot more public appearances than JPH does, where he markets his books, and a lot more marketing on the internet. JPH pretty much sticks to theologyweb and his own websites.

Well I’ve seen Loftus once in a televised debate on youtube and heard him once on the radio. I’ve heard Holding 3 times on the radio. Do you have any evidence that Loftus makes more “public appearances than Holding?

And do you have any proof that Loftus does more Internet marketing than Holding?

Books like Loftus books are mainly selling to atheists, who already agree with him

And Holding’s books are selling to people who don’t agree with him? Again, have you any evidence of what the relative consumers of each book believe?

JPH's books are deeper and require you to think

In what way does The Impossible Faith require you to think more than Why I Became an Atheist?

[Pitchforkpat]

I have never heard of J.P. Holding apart from this website. I wonder how many people have

Had you heard of Loftus outside of this site or Loftus’ website?

[Sparko]

Ah, the trolling deepens.

:hooked:

JPH has sold far many more books than you have Pat. So what does that tell us?

[Pitchforkpat]

Ah, the trolling deepens

Care to answer the questions I posed above, Sparko? I want to see if you have any evidence for your claims

JPH has sold far many more books than you have Pat. So what does that tell us?

That I haven’t written a book?

[RBerman]

Had you heard of Loftus outside of this site or Loftus’ website?

I haven't heard of John Loftus prior to this very thread.

[lilpixieofterror]

In what way is The Impossible Faith written at a “deeper level” than Why I Became and Atheist?

Wow... you really need an answer for this question? Well ok...

The Impossible Faith is a thesis about how Christianity couldn't surive the first century unless it was true.

Why I became an Atheist is a personal story about a man who went from a Christian to an atheist.

See the difference yet or are you just looking for excuses to troll?

[Raphael]

Had you heard of Loftus outside of this site or Loftus’ website?

I've encountered Loftus on way more sites than I've encountered JP.

And on most of them he is telling people to buy his book.

[Sparko]

Care to answer the questions I posed above, Sparko? I want to see if you have any evidence for your claims

nope.

That I haven’t written a book?

aha! so you can't even write a book, much less sell it! That puts you at the bottom of the pile! Oh woe is you.

[Sparko]

I haven't heard of John Loftus prior to this very thread.

you lucky devil.

[Chaotic Void]

I think one of the reasons (well, that haven't been mentioned) is that he's an Independent ministry.

In my experience, people are more inclined to read authors within their denomination/group rather than those outside of their denomination. For instance, a Baptist isn't likely to read a Catholic author, nor is a Pentecostal likely to read a Methodist's work. I've met a few pastors/churchgoers who aren't like this, but it seems they're the exception and not the rule.

Since JP's ministry is not affiliated with a particular denomination/group, his work is less likely to be read.

Just my $0.02 CDN

[Pitchforkpat]

The Impossible Faith is a thesis about how Christianity couldn't surive the first century unless it was true.

Right, so there’s nothing particularly “deep” or difficult about that. The argument has been around for a long, long time and does not present any kind of mental challenge to absorb, well perhaps for you.

Why I became an Atheist is a personal story about a man who went from a Christian to an atheist.

You’re wrong as usual. There's relatively little personal story. Loftus delves into many areas of the Christian faith and theistic faith in general, including prophecy, the problem of evil, the historicity of the resurrection, etc.



Question for you pixie, my dear: Is Holding’s The Impossible Faith deeper and harder to read than William Lane Craig’s Reasonable Faith?

[Pitchforkpat]

I've encountered Loftus on way more sites than I've encountered JP.

And on most of them he is telling people to buy his book

First of all, your personal experience counts for little. You would need some kind of evidence that the sites Loftus visits have more visitors than sites Holding visits. I’d say Tweb has as large an audience as anything Loftus writes on, or more.

Second, in both cases, there is no mass marketing and neither has the financial clout to advertise on a large scale. As has been pointed out by your colleagues, Loftus is little known outside the Net. So, the question still comes back to why Loftus’ Atheist sells about 2-3 books a day while Holding’s Impossible Faith sells about 2-3 books a month?

And remember, I mentioned two far more obscure authors that consistently outsell Holding. Jason Long and Paul Farrell are not exactly household names. Does Long go around yelling "buy my book" on web sites? I haven't seen it.

[Pitchforkpat]

nope

So you can’t back up any your claims with any evidence. What a surprise! Of course, I knew as much.

[Pitchforkpat]

In my experience, people are more inclined to read authors within their denomination/group rather than those outside of their denomination. For instance, a Baptist isn't likely to read a Catholic author, nor is a Pentecostal likely to read a Methodist's work. I've met a few pastors/churchgoers who aren't like this, but it seems they're the exception and not the rule.

Since JP's ministry is not affiliated with a particular denomination/group, his work is less likely to be read.

Just my $0.02 CDN

It’s a fair effort but this fails because a good book is a good book. If it has something important to say and it’s well written it will sell, certainly more than Holding sells. Either his message, or his style doesn't resonate.