Into the Fire

Steve Laube also remarked in his post that Christian publishing hasn't produced any noteworthy "breakout books" in a long time. And I quote: "(I define “breakout” as a title that rises to the top of the bestseller’s list and stays there for a long time, selling millions of copies.)" For me, the reason for this declaration falls squarely on the broad shoulders of the Christian publishing industry – all of it. 

When I think of "breakout" novels in fiction, I think of This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti and Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Both of these are timeless novels, each unique and well written, still selling, and still discussed. Both bold and controversial in their own right but beloved by many and totally redemptive.

But, although it might be all about producing a breakout novel to the publisher(s), to the "ambiguous average" reader it's about producing good books – and that is subjective beyond description.

When you ask a random reader how they define Christian fiction, the words that generally get tossed around are "religious", "poorly written" (which is a joke considering a lot of the writing in the popular and bestselling secular/general market novels), even "judgmental". When you ask a random Christian reader to define Christian fiction, you usually get responses such as "God-centered", "clean" – often meaning no "bad" words or graphic sexual scenes – "redemptive" whether overtly or subtly. 

Regardless of definitions and breakout novels, the economy did tank for the past eight years. It's making a remarkable comeback at the present time. However, during those hard years, many publishers pulled back and went into their "safe" mode. To an observer it felt like they went back to what they knew much of their familiar, faithful audience liked to read and figured if those readers would just purchase the same kind of fiction they'd been reading for years, the publishers would ride the slow wave until they could hopefully find a way to see a rising tide and maybe expand their menu. In the process they alienated many potential audiences who hungered for that deeper selection. By alienating a significant audience, their future success in reaching new or adventurous readers was jeopardized.

One of the alienations occurred when a portion of readers blanched at the inclusion of certain words which they loudly claimed were inappropriate for Christian readers and therefore writers (i.e. hell, damn, crap, boobs). Their vocal demands, accusations, and threats to publishers curtailed some realistic language spoken by characters in a limited capacity in the genre. The demands by publishing houses in the requirements for being selected for their houses stayed stringent and eliminated some authors from attempting to inquire. Once again, this isn't to say those words are necessary to present realistic drama in a story, but neither are they so utterly offensive or sinful to require being totally eliminated. The same complaints came from any romantic scene which implied sexual desire even in romance novels. Or where the physical appearance of a character became the subject of admiration. An example of this was a 70 year old female character in a bestselling Christian romance gushed over the attractiveness of a young, handsome male character. An Amazon reviewer was offended that a woman of her age rattled on about this hunk. Now that review offended me! 

Well, writers don't necessarily quit writing during a tanking economy, and readers never quit reading. When all of the e-readers became commonplace, and the cost of reading a full length novel for much less became practical, the popularity of the instruments boomed. Along with that trend, writers decided all those novels they'd written could be formatted electronically, their covers independently consigned, personal editors hired, and suddenly they could publish their own books! The kind of books they liked to read would be available because they would write and produce them! And for those who are/were less, or not at all, techy there were self publishers waiting for the opportunities to serve them for much less than it cost to do a soft cover copy. Indie publishing zoomed into the forefront of Christian e-books. And the prices were right because they were usually much cheaper than the e-novels from traditional publishers – with greater royalties for their authors than provided by traditional publishers – and suddenly the plethora of e-books presented readers with unlimited selections in all kinds of genres.

There were notable trends during this malaise in Christian publishing. At the time, Amish fiction and historical romances loaded the shelves of Christian bookstores. However, during that same time in the general market, fantasy novels were blowing off the shelves. Christian publishing houses insisted that "their" audience wouldn't buy Christian fantasy so very few were produced. As a side note, during this time I attended a Christian writers' conference where almost 90% of the attendees and aspiring authors wrote and read fantasy. This disinterest in fantasy/sci-fi by most Christian publishers did produce a couple of offshoots from professionals within the industry who tried diligently to produce those kinds of novels exclusively.

It seems possible to me from conversations I've had with some professionals that once settled into the routine of publishing and selling, a separation can occur between the publishers, the booksellers, and their consumers: the readers. Since there are innumerable types of readers with an endless variety of tastes in fiction, it's important to maintain a working relationship with the audience being served. If a publisher assumes a certain audience will always be there, that their desires will remain stagnant, they could forfeit an entire new avenue and possibly lose some of those they've counted on to stay the same.

I've said it before multiple times and I'll add it again here. Any business, Christian publishing, retail, or otherwise, can choose to conduct their businesses however they desire, to cater to a specific audience, to add or subtract from their author stables, their products, and/or employees. Their successes and failures rest with their decisions, right and wrong.

Another noteworthy item that bears mentioning is the mistake-laden production of books in the last several years. Errors have been plentiful in both physical books and e-readers and were surprising at first but now have become commonplace. A missing letter, a wrong reference to a character, a misspelling, incorrect punctuation . . . and this isn't particular to any division of publishing. It's happening in both general market and Christian publishing. Usually attributed to cutting costs in copy-editing, its reoccurring consistency seems a strange choice for professionals.

Finally, the ongoing mystery of how to successfully market fiction remains. It's not difficult to market the bestselling authors whose names are immediately recognized and whose new releases are welcomed in the pre-order offers. But, and it's a big "but", to market a new author, to expect any unknown author to do a spectacular job of selling his/her novel, this creates a significant problem. More of this job has fallen in the laps of writers with multiple and multi-faceted suggestions/demands from the publisher. Unfairly, I might add, because the publishers falter at it regularly and expecting an author to produce the knowhow is presumptuous and ripe for failure. Some are good at it, but many are not. Besides, it's a mystery how to approach selling each book.

I realize this is a long mishmash of thoughts regarding publishing, the Christian Fiction genre, and, honestly, I don't intend to tie them all together to make a convenient end to this post. However, I welcome any comments you'd like to offer or discuss.  

Father, you know the answers to all the questions. You know the questions before they're asked. You are the advocate of every believer, and we're desperate for you in all we do. Thank you for always being with us even when we choose the wrong way. Help us to remain obedient and eliminate those wrong turns. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.