Into the Fire

4 responses to “What do you see?”

1. 

   Karin999@comcast.net

   January 17, 2019

   I think the book-buying, Christian public has always been more open to variety than publishers. Publishers–like record companies, broadcast TV stations, etc.–are behind the times when it comes to variety. I guess it’s the nature of traditional publishing to be timid. Not that I think changes in Christian fiction are all about pushing boundaries as far as language and sexual situations go. I don’t. But indie publishing has demonstrated that Christian fiction can exist in any genre. Trad publishing has limited Christian fiction genres to romance and “love-inspired” suspense. They don’t open the gates to crime fiction, science fiction, fantasy, etc. Honestly, except for one or two trad Christian authors I read, it’s all indie authors for me.

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2. 

   Nicole Petrino-Salter

   January 17, 2019

   I agree about the book-buying public. Christian publishers tried to tell the Christian reading public that fantasy and sci-fi were not being read by Christian readers. Ha! I happened to be at a Christian writers’ conference where all but a few aspiring authors had written fantasy novels and that’s all they were reading. I also agree that only a couple of traditional publishing houses are interested in anything but the old safe genres: romance, historical, rom-suspense. Such a shame.
   Indie authors are fearless but don’t want to pollute the Christian Fiction genre so they write carefully crafted realistic novels that stretch the trad publishers’ definition of “clean” without making it toxic.
   Thanks for taking the time to add your valuable comments, Karin.

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3. 

   Brenda S. Anderson

   January 17, 2019

   I think the access to indie-publishing has definitely enlarged the spectrum of genres to choose from, while the choices from traditional publishers keeps shrinking. And the booksellers are shrinking, too. I was in our “local” LifeWay a few months back and they’d cut their fiction section by 4/5ths! And the selection remaining was the same old stuff we’ve been given for the past several years. I have zero reason to ever step foot in that store again, which makes me sad. I used to LOVE spending time in a Christian bookstore. Sigh…
   As for indie-publishing, while it has produced a slew of new authors, you still have to weed through them to find something of quality. Typically I’ve found the proofreading to be adequate, but the story falls short. I’m much less worried about a misplaced comma than a story that falls flat in the middle.
   But, I have discovered a couple of new authors: Christine Dillon’s Grace in Strange Disquise is masterfully done. C.C. Warren’s Holly series is better than the majority of CF romantic suspense.
   So, to answer your question, CF is a work-in-progress. As long as the indie market continues to put out more realistic CF, I’ll give them a try, and maybe the world will rediscover Christian fiction.

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4. 

   Nicole Petrino-Salter

   January 17, 2019

   Agreed on Indie publishing enlarging the spectrum of Christian fiction compared to traditional publishing. And, yes, we do have to sort through them – but then it’s been like that in trad publishing as well.
   Christian bookstores have definitely succumbed to their inflated pricing and too much inventory. All of them have closed up shop in our area. Haven’t been in one for years now. That’s a sad commentary on how they did business.
   I guess traditionally published Christian novels will be satisfied to keep their romance/historical/rom-suspense readers and allow the indies to corner the rest of the market.
   Thanks, Bren. Always good comments.

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