Tonight I read an interesting blog about African American Christian Fiction, which I found interesting and echoed my sentiment. You can read the full blog in its entirety if you click on my title. It begins:
In an article [“Let the Readers Say ‘Amen’”] for Publishers Weekly, a marketing professional explains, “Christian retailers have guidelines for what’s in the books: no bad language, nothing that might offend anybody. Recently, one of the publishers said it was okay [for a character] to drink a glass of wine, which had been unheard of before! Yet, there are a lot of people out there who want wholesome values but are not core CBA buyers. Plus, there are authors who want to break beyond the ‘Christian bubble,’ and secular retailers who see a demand for wholesome books. Christian retailers are missing out on those good books.”
From writing my own novel, I struggle with whether my book will fit in CBA's category not because its racy, but because my writing style is more literary, my characters have very human emotions and more importantly my christian characters sin.
Your thoughts...
The Pruning Principle
2 years ago
2 comments:
Dee:
If that's not what the CBA is publishing it's what they should be publishing.
Don't despair or lose hope - there are a lot of us at f*i*f (have you been to the discussion boards?) struggling with the roadblocks to getting more literary and/or expressive fiction out through the Christian publishing houses.
Okay, maybe there are only a couple dozen actively participating - still, we're a friendly bunch and always welcome new voices. If you're not already lurking, please join us.
--Chris ('der Fieldenmarshal' on the f*i*f boards)
Dee,
Chris is right. There are lots of writers echoing your same frustrations. All I can say is write your book and sort out the rest later. That's the only way I can do it. It gets me in trouble soemtimes, but it keeps things fun. :)
Mary
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