How goes Christian fiction in the UK?

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logos1234567

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I know Christian fiction is the big thing in the USA, but I wondered what the market is truly like in the UK. I am thinking of writing my fourth book on this theme (although the other three sell well they are not Christian books and they are all self-published).

I don't want to waste my time though with a book that won't sell well ...anyone here a Christian fiction writer from the UK who can tell me their experiences and/or advice?

I think I may have to Americanize i as my feeling is there is not much of a UK market (my novel will not be end-times revelation style)...but if I do aim it for the US market instead of the UK market, how do 'proper' publishers view taking on 'unknown' international authors?
 
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Ralyks

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I'm not a UK author, but I've written a book that has Christian thematic content that has sold as well in the UK as in the US--it's a sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I don't get a since that there is a "Christian market" in the UK in the sense that there is one in the US, but that you would reach Christians more through the regular secular markets.

If you re-write a book for the US market, and you are British, you would need to work with an American editor to make sure your idioms/etc. are appropriate, because there's no way you can know them all. (I got slammed by some UK readers for some Americanisms I missed in my book...) Keep in mind, though, that the big Christian publishers in America tend to favor a pretty narrow cateogry of writing and don't publish much outside of those bounds...for instance, the reading level tends to be low (5th or 6th grade?), certain content is not tolerated, you have to be "theologically correct" by the individual publishers standards, etc.--so you'd need to make sure your book fit with those standards. There are some exceptions to these boundaries, but not many. I'm beginning to think I'd have a better chance selling my Christian themed work to secular publishers than to Christian publishers. This is happening more and more (Christian writers going through secular markets because of the narrow demands of the Christian market.)
 
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