Into the Fire

If you could change five things (or less) in CBA publishing, what would they (it) be? (Unabridged and unedited.)

From Author Sara Mills:

I would have publishing houses commit to authors over the long term, not just for a few books. I think so much potential momentum in an author's career is wasted by the stop and go of moving from publishing house to publishing house every few books. There are a few publishers who seem to recognize this and work to develop authors over the longer term but I'd very much like to see more of this in the future.
 
I would love to see CBA readers venture out of some of the more familiar genres (romance, amish fiction etc) into a variety of genres. Detective fiction, mysteries and science fiction are all very popular genres outside of the Christian market and I would love to see readers embrace those types of books within the Christian marketplace.

From Author Merrie Destefano:

Title: If I was queen

Nothing’s perfect. Not people. Not books. And take it from someone who’s worked in the publishing industry for 20 years—certainly not publishing itself. Today’s editor struggles with longer hours, a smaller staff and a lower budget than she/he did five years ago. Add to that stress, the fact that publishing costs have gone up at the same time that newsstand sales have gone down, and well, you can see that it just isn’t the same ball game it used to be.

And I know wishing isn’t having. I’d love to change it all, but obviously I can’t. I can only poke at that elephant in the middle of the room with a very long stick and hope I don’t make him mad enough to charge at me.

So, the question of the day is this: If I could change 5 things in CBA publishing, what would they be?

Just remember that all this is pretend, the kind of stuff I do when I’m making up another novel…

If I could change 5 things, here’s what I would want:

1. More Aliens: I’d put an alien in every Amish story. They could be disguised—the reader wouldn’t even have to know that the aliens were there. I want more vampires and werewolves, more immortals and spaceships, more talking dogs and flying monkeys. Seriously, I’d like to see more science fiction and fantasy woven into novels with spectacular writing. I know. I know, it probably wouldn’t sell. I just wish that it would.

2. More Money: I wish CBA publishers had a bigger budget for promoting their authors. And I wish new authors would get special attention and guidance in their careers. I wish authors got bigger advances and that all their books would hit the bestseller lists. I wish readers had an extra $20 bill in their pocket every time they walked into a bookstore and that they would pick up a CBA book, just because they want to support the artist. Got books? Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.

3. More Shelf Space: I’d like to see more CBA fiction on end caps, more shelf talkers, more posters, more shelf space in both CBA stores and the general market stores. Bigger displays, books facing out, tables near the front of the store with staff favorites. More bookstore employees who are excited about the latest hot-off-the-press novels, taking time to hand sell the books that have really touched their hearts.

4. More Books That Don’t Preach to the Choir: I’d like to see more stories that depict real life and believable characters whose faith is challenged. I don’t need to see a happy ending, I just want to see hope. I’d like to see deeper themes and classic writing. I want to see characters who rise above the muck, but yes, that means there’s needs to be a little bit of muck. I don’t want to be told what I already know about salvation. I want to see it lived out. I’m not saying this type of book doesn’t exist. What I’m saying is, I’d like to see more of it.

5. More Open-Mindedness: I wish CBA readers could be a little bit more open-minded. I know. I can’t believe I said that either. I’m not saying I want books you’d be embarrassed to have your pastor see on your coffee table. I just think we have a double standard. We expect a certain kind of book when we walk into a CBA bookstore. Then a lot of us (not all of us) turn around and buy the opposite sort of book when we walk into a Borders or a Barnes & Noble. We allow more artistic freedom in the general market than we allow our own writers.

Well, there you have it. That’s what I would do if I was queen. On top of that, I’d give everyone a puppy and a three-day work week. And a credit card that could only be used in bookstores.

To be continued . . .