As described by The New York Times, it was not the release of a smartphone, no Beyoncé tickets on sale, no books featuring vampires or boy wizards to be purchased—it was the release of the autobiography of Bishop Edir Macedo, Nothing to Lose. The book release which took place this past Saturday at the McNally Jackson Bookstore in New York made history in the publishing market in America.
Despite the cold weather, as early as Friday night a crowd of youths and excited readers camped out to be the first in line. They wanted to be the first to get their hands on the long-awaited autobiography and bestseller in South America, available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. In the early hours of the day, the line grew as people from all over New York and the neighboring states of New Jersey, Connecticut, and Philadelphia arrived.
When the store finally opened at ten in the morning, the line had extended several blocks. In just three hours 72,196 copies of the book were sold to a public of over 10,000! It was one of the mayor publishing releases in the country; on average only 5% of launches in the US reach the milestone of five thousand copies. Nothing to Lose, surpassed the expectations, attracting The New York Times and Brazil Now e Brazilian Press.
Javier Molea, bookstore manager was impressed with the number of readers who waited in line: "It is the first time we have a book signing of this magnitude, we have never had such a large audience."
Bishop Romualdo Panceiro, and Bishop Wilson dos Santos representing The Universal Church in the US signed copies of the book together with the co-author, Douglas Tovar. Bishop Romualdo emphasized the great example of this autobiography: " The secret to success is simple. The story of Bishop Macedo is seen as an example of life. There were many tears, pain and injustices that were overcame through a relationship with God."
Prior to the book launch, vice president of journalism at Rede Record and co-author of the book, Douglas Tovar was received at the headquarters of The New York Times, at CNN, and met at with Dave Davis, president of ABC. The United Nations Commission Against Prejudice and daughter of the legendary activist Malcolm X, Malaak Shabazz invited Tovar to the UN headquarters.
Malaak says she was honored to receive a copy of the book, "this book speaks about a person who through his convictions changed many lives around the world, just like my father."
With a copy of the book, readers headed home with a smile on their face ready to engage and learn from this autobiography. Several people headed home with not just one, two or three copies but with several books to share with friends and family members. Nothing to Lose is the first of three books where Bishop Macedo talks about controversial issues, difficulties, times of persecution, victories and reveals secrets kept for decades. If you don't have a copy of your book yet, don't wait much longer. The Cenacles of Faith across the US will soon have their pre-ordered copies.
