Into the Fire

Christian publishing. CBA. Christian authors. Authors who are Christians. Christian fiction. Fiction written by Christians. Christians. Followers of Christ. These simple word choices hint at the contention in the body of Christ, the body of His writers.

It’s not uncommon to find conflicts, questions, confusion, and many, many opinions running rampant on the web in regard to Christian publishing often simply identified by three letters CBA that stand for Christian Booksellers Association. Technically this group has expanded since its 1950 formation and naming, but its new name hasn’t really taken hold in references to Christian publishing.

We’re all entitled to our opinions, and some of us get a little more passionate than others. When the pitch rises to produce the equivalent of shrieks, someone usually steps in to remind everyone that we’re Christians after all. Witnesses for Christ, either positively or negatively, but when we claim His name, we are no less responsible for being a representative of Him regardless of how ill-fitting our conduct declares us to be.

My opinion of the Christian publishing industry is somewhat irrelevant. As of today, I have no agent. I have no book contract. I have supposedly done irreparable harm to myself by self-publishing two of my seven finished novels. Nevertheless, I, too, have formed an opinion based on my observations, experiences, and personal associations within the industry so I’m going to be bold and list a few of my peeves before handing the next several days over to the professionals to allow them to express themselves with or without the inclusion of their names attached to their comments.

1.Lay off the platitudes. Not only (and not always) do “great writing” and “the best stories” get published. This is simply untrue.

2.Figure out a way to incorporate POD practices or get printers to reduce printing costs to insure that more genres by more authors get produced. The glut of the same genre(s) while substantially ignoring a vast alternative readership is just poor business and alienates other customers who won’t wade through the limited selections.

3.Do NOT allow books that are sold to be returned. Give a few “free samples” with a return policy if not sold by a certain date.

4.Produce all sizes of novels. From epics/sagas to these little 300 page jobs in multiple genres. Readers like long novels just as much as one market likes the quick reads.

5.Man (or woman) up. Most authors have no idea how to generate sales. If you have a marketing team, then have them figure out how to market a book, not based on if they think they can but because the publisher says we’re going to produce this book. When they have a plan, incorporate the author and bring him/her alongside. If something specific is needed from authors, tell them what to do. If the author is good at marketing, use his/her ideas. This isn’t to take the responsibility completely away from the author, but most of them have no marketing experience. If you want books to sell, that’s why you hire a marketing team, isn’t it?

6.Don’t sell these set-up series books. If you’re going to start a series, make that first book worthwhile. Don’t use it as a set up for book two and charge full price for both of them. Most series books are too short and should be incorporated into one or two novels instead of three or four or more.

7.Some readers are far too legalistic, unrelenting, and look for reasons to complain. Be courteous in addressing complaints but disregard those who are damning works by authors who’ve put their heart and soul into creating stories to honor the Lord. Life is raw, people are wounded, and someone has to write their stories in novel form. If a publishing board agrees to produce a book, stand up for it.

Now to switch gears. I’m a proponent of Christian fiction. I don’t have a problem with it being called “Christian Fiction”. I don’t have a problem with it having its own stores, its own placement in non-Christian bookstores if they could just get it out of the “Religion” section and place those novels with little or no evangelical/inspirational tendencies in with the other novels of the same genres (i.e. Tim Downs’ Bug Man books, Steven James’ Patrick Bowers Thrillers, Robert Liparulo’s Thrillers, and several other authors/books). Even “Inspirational Fiction” is a better label than “Religion” or “Religious Fiction”.

Christian fiction has advanced in recent years, steadily and impressively, in some arenas. There are some primo authors writing truly exciting, meaningful, interesting, and well-written stories in CBA. It’s easy to tell who either doesn’t have a lot of time to read them or chooses to read from ABA because their comments illustrate they haven’t touched on some of the great efforts of CBA authors. That said, there are some genres and niche market books which give us formulaic fiction, saccharine stories, with mediocre writing at best. My personal surprise lies in the number of copy-editing errors found in nearly every book I’ve read from all different publishers. What also surprises me is the copycat efforts of some cover designs from different houses which mirror or resemble other covers from different publishers. Still other covers don’t come close to depicting or hinting at the story inside. These kinds of things point to a lack of professionalism and of attention to detail. Since I’ve participated in self-publishing which gets so much criticism for being inferior, I’m keenly aware of these mistakes in royalty publishing.

And finally—I know: at long last—I believe God can use anything He pleases and chooses to save a soul. I know God uses creation itself to point to Himself as he explains in the first chapter of Romans. What I’m saying is this: He doesn’t need my story or yours to draw a soul to Himself. But He sometimes chooses to use us regardless of our talents because it’s His pleasure and His sovereign right, not because in and of ourselves we’re so special. We do not save souls. We do not write just the right stories to point an unbeliever to Jesus. But the Holy Spirit in God’s infinite wisdom can use our stories to do just that. It’s entirely His call.

God has a plan for each and every writer. If He wants us to write, He has a plan for the writing. Most of us hope it ends up in book form and is distributed to many readers. Many of us hope the writing will bless God and touch lives somehow, some way. Our conundrum lies in being satisfied with what God wants us to do, doing it, and resting in the outcome He chooses for it.

Some of us are implementers of change. We know there are needs in the community of publishing which should be met, should be validated, should be mediated. Some speak, some pray, some do. And some resist.

So. I think I’m finally done. Perhaps.

Tomorrow’s question for the pros in CBA: If you could change five things (or less) in CBA publishing, what would they (it) be?

Lord, we’re desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.