Christian Fiction News: Tyler Perry Template for LionsGate

Christian Fiction News for the Week Ending July 19, 2008

The Shack Reaches British shore

John Sutherland of the Guardian asks "Is The Shack the Blair Witch Project of the modern book world?" The book reaches the British shore this week and will be published under European rights Hodder and Stoughton.

Urban Christian Honored

ATLANTA, Ga., --: Today the American Christian Fiction Writers Association announced their finalists for the ACFW Book of the Year. Atlanta Author Sherri Lewis’s debut and controversial novel, My
Soul Cries Out(Urban Christian) made the list.

ICRS A Weeklong Review

Laura McCorkle of Crosswalk.com will be sharing her experiences at the 2008 ICRS Convention.






LIONSGATE to Copy Tyler Perry Formula

Joe Drake, president of LionsGate will begin making changes to the movie company. He plans to offer more family friendly movies with Tyler Perry's blockbuster movies as a thumbnail sketch. Nikki Finke reports.

Christian Fiction News: The Shack Controversy

Welcome to this weeks Christian Fiction News for the week ending May 23, 2008.

The Shack Controversy

1. Are six-figure book deals for niche bloggers good business?
Newsweek article

2. Why aren't more memoirs made into novels?

Pamela Binnings Ewan of Mandeville, author of Walk Back the Cat, has just released The Moon in the Mango Tree (B&H Publishing Group), a novel based on a true story about an opera singer in the roaring '20s who must choose between career and marriage. Publisher's Weekly called it "...rich and heartfelt ... prose is laudably rich in specific and colorful detail ... Ewen is a talented writer, and this is a strong addition to Christian fiction." -Chere Coen reporting for The Advertiser

3. Is the Shack Heresy or a Miracle?

“This story[The Shack] is meant to teach theology that Young really believes to be true. The story is a wrapper for the theology. In theory, this is well and good; in practice, the book is only as good as its theology. And in this case, the theology just is not good enough. -Pastor Daniel Runke, former pastor at Albion Evangelical Free Church.

More: The Shack on NPR

"There is a God who is involved in things like this," he says. "There is really no human explanation for some of what's going on here." Young calls himself an "accidental author," one who has happened into a publishing miracle.

4. Are African American Christian BookStores going bust?

According to Christian Retailing, yes after New Life Christian(NY) and Rainbow Family in Ohio.