Question about non fiction publishers

Look for books with subject matter/slants similar to your topic and see what companies published them. Those would be the publishers to approach, whether or not they are specifically publishers of Christian books.

If it is a factual history, say, of the Enlightenment's influence on the literature of the late 18th Century, then nonreligious publishers will likely be interested. If, on the other hand, the tone is inspirational (say, employing Enlightenment principles in our daily lives) then a religious publishers will be a better bet.

Christyp said:

Actually, I've been researching the different religions to find how far humanity has strayed from the original teachings. I'm a Christian, and believe in forgiveness, love, yada yada. The Muslims I know believe in peace.
Then you have people like the Westboro "Baptist" Church, and Muslim Jihadists. I want to find the correlation between the perversion of the original teachings to the violence that has come from religious beliefs.
Now, how about some ideas for publishers/agents...lol!

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Hmm.... Outfits like Oxford Press probably will not be interested, as there is an implied or even overt agenda beyond scholarship (not that that's bad; such a book can be very effective) and traditional Christian presses such as Zondervan will probably shy away from such a title.

As Giraffe said, check the current events/commentary section of the bookstore and see who is publishing similar materials.

I have trouble seeing how anything based on the idea of "original teachings" could be neutral in the way a general non-fiction work would require. Religious teaching have tended to have pacifist and aggressive uses right from times contemporous with the original teacher. This seems to be true, for example and as best as scholars can determine, of the times of Jesus and Mohammed.

The original teachings (as best we can reconstruct them from writings made centures later) tend to also involve some mention of smiting and similar nastiness IMHO. If you can make the case, go for it. But I think it would be a work of advocacy rather than history. You might want to look at publishers that focus on tolerance and non-violence (e.g. Evolving editions?)

Christyp said:

That's my point, the teachings of Jesus as I understand them, is to 'turn the other cheek', love your enemy as your brother, etc. THe Westboro church seem to think that his teachings persuade something very near violence. I want to research and find how each of the religions have swayed from what the original word says, and how it's been translated and understood. I want to research the different holy wars to see how much was contributed solely to divinity, and how much was power gain.
Does any of that make sense, or should I pass on this topic?

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I don't think it's necessary to pass on the topic, although your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be made more difficult by the fact that anyone can write an 80K op-ed piece about someone (group or individual) with whom they disagree. The world is full of "why I left the church" memoirs or "how are these idiots getting away with it?" books. Neither sell very well or do much to convince anyone of anything.

I see you as having two options (although there might be more). 1) Write a scholarly appraisal of particular teachings and their evolution over time. You can include the current interpretations of Westboro, and let the readers make up their own minds about who's "doing it right." 2) A more challenging (and much more fun!) way would be to write a satirical novel of the group, similar to how Primary Colors lampooned the Clinton campaign in 1992.

Either way, if you feel compelled to write this book, then write it. I wish you well!

There was a flurry of "God is dead" kinds of books in the last couple years, such as Hitchens' God is Not Great (which sounds a bit like yours), so I don't know why some of the above posters see yours as simply an expanded op-ed piece or obscure scholarly treatise. Sounds both mainstream, and timely. If you can go beyond simplistic comparisons between jihadists and Christian fundamentalists, and provide some historical background, that would underscore the validity of your argument without making it either scholarly or a rant. I'd send it around to plenty of agents, those who deal in religious and philosophical topics, but not overtly Christian agents and publishers (their market will likely not include those who wish to criticize Christianity) and see what they say.

Christyp said:

I want to research and find how each of the religions have swayed from what the original word says, and how it's been translated and understood. I want to research the different holy wars to see how much was contributed solely to divinity, and how much was power gain.

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This could be a massive project as you would need to become an expert on each of the major religions, their early and later development, and the ways in which scholars in the field interpret these transitions. It strikes me as a subject that would typically be undertaken by a scholar with many, many years of experience in the field of religion; do you have considerable scholarly training in the area? In order to sell a proposal of this sort, I believe you would also already need to have done enough research to have developed a plausible thesis identifying commonalities and differences in the ways the various scriptures were reinterpreted over time, and this would need to be an argument that would be convincing to religious scholars.

Christyp said:

That's my point, the teachings of Jesus as I understand them, is to 'turn the other cheek', love your enemy as your brother, etc. THe Westboro church seem to think that his teachings persuade something very near violence.

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Here I think you have a much more manageable and saleable topic. If you have a particular interest in the Westboro church, why not investigate its development and practices; interview members and clergy; explore its importance to the wider society, etc. With proper organization and good storytelling, I bet you could turn that topic into an expose or the like that would have commercial appeal.

I would agree, the later could be done on an investigative basis with the help of bible scholars. The former is... ambitious.