No Christian writers in SYW?

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pschmehl

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I looked for things to read, and everything is really old. Is no one writing now? Is there no one with anything recent to share? How about some beta reading? I'd be happy to provide input to anyone who's working on something now.
 

CathleenT

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Plenty of Christian writers (I'm one, if you include Catholics in that), but not a whole lot of Christian fiction. That genre seems to have a religious experience at its heart, and I've noticed a real preference for true stories rather than fiction among people I know who read this stuff. For the most part, I think people want to read about something that happened to a real person. A lot of memoir has Christian perspectives. I see a lot of it while making reciprocal blog visits.

And while I hope it's no surprise that I'm Catholic from my stories (I wrote seven novels with Irish-Catholic protags), it's more a matter of world-building than anything else. I've written historical fantasies, mostly fairy tale retellings. Short stories run the gamut from high fantasy to magical realism. Fantasy is really where my literary heart is, although definitely not grimdark or paranormal romance.

You might have more luck finding beta readers by blogging. There's a strong Christian blogging community, and you might find it more fruitful to contact potential Christian beta readers via that medium.
 

pschmehl

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It seems I have chosen the most difficult path possible—a Christian fiction novella.

It is what it is, so I guess I'll find out if there's a market for it.
 

vicky271

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I'd like to write Christian Fiction. Not right now. But in the future. I'm not a fan of Christian fiction, but i've got some ideas for some.
 

SwallowFeather

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It seems I have chosen the most difficult path possible—a Christian fiction novella.

It is what it is, so I guess I'll find out if there's a market for it.

I believe novellas are most often marketable as "gift books" in the Christian market, you know those kind of fancy slim little hardcover books? I think it helps to already be known though. That's what I've mostly heard of, is a known author writing a novella as a gift book.

Take me with a grain of salt (I'm published but just 2 novels and due to living rurally, getting to know the industry has gone slow.)
 

pschmehl

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I guess I'll find out. I'm waiting for my proof from Amazon. Then I need to figure out how to market the thing.
 

CJSimone

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I looked for things to read, and everything is really old. Is no one writing now? Is there no one with anything recent to share? How about some beta reading? I'd be happy to provide input to anyone who's working on something now.

Hi pschmehl. If by "Christian writers" you mean writing fiction that will be marketed as Christian fiction, it doesn't seem there's a whole lot in SYW. If you mean Christians writing any fiction then I think there are a lot of us. :)

CJ
 

pschmehl

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Hi pschmehl. If by "Christian writers" you mean writing fiction that will be marketed as Christian fiction, it doesn't seem there's a whole lot in SYW. If you mean Christians writing any fiction then I think there are a lot of us. :)

CJ
I meant the former.
 

Deb Kinnard

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I've never put anything in SYW. I have dependable first-readers and a crit partner who holds my feet to the fire, and an editor who's savvy about all my bad habits.

That said, C-fic these days bores me to sleep. I haven't read anything good since Susan Meissner's A SEAHORSE IN THE THAMES and this next project may be my last C-fic ever. My indie stuff is all general market and that's where I feel more at home these days.
 

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I wouldn't pay too much attention to the sub-divisions. After all, many writer boards just have all genres lumped together. Most of the issues people crit about, by far, are basic and therefore cross over to any genre. You can crit in any section and just list yours wherever it best fits.
 

pschmehl

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I've never put anything in SYW. I have dependable first-readers and a crit partner who holds my feet to the fire, and an editor who's savvy about all my bad habits.

That said, C-fic these days bores me to sleep. I haven't read anything good since Susan Meissner's A SEAHORSE IN THE THAMES and this next project may be my last C-fic ever. My indie stuff is all general market and that's where I feel more at home these days.

Maybe you should read mine. ;)
 

Gravity

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Like Deb, I finally stopped working in the Christian market, for reasons too many to list. Pitfall, the first of my new suspense series, sold to a general market house in 2015, and absent a big (read: BIG) nudge from God, I doubt I'll ever again write for the CBA.
 

Carrie in PA

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Deb & Gravity --- what made you leave CBA? I'm having my own issues with what direction I want to go in, and I'm curious about what things are nudging you away from CBA.
 

pschmehl

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Like Deb, I finally stopped working in the Christian market, for reasons too many to list. Pitfall, the first of my new suspense series, sold to a general market house in 2015, and absent a big (read: BIG) nudge from God, I doubt I'll ever again write for the CBA.
I can't do that. So, I'll labor away in the nether regions and pray for the best.
 

SwallowFeather

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Deb & Gravity --- what made you leave CBA? I'm having my own issues with what direction I want to go in, and I'm curious about what things are nudging you away from CBA.

I'm also curious about this. I'm in the CBA for sure for the duration of my current series (one more book after this one...) and after that I don't even know what I'll write. But I definitely have questions about whether to commit to CBA for my career.
 

Gravity

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in a nutshell, Christian fiction is (mainly) written by 30-year-old white soccer moms for (mainly) 30-year-old white soccer moms. That ain't me, and that ain't my audience. After four failed novels there, trying my best to fit that mold, I finally bailed. And with one exception, so has every other male Christian writer I know.
 

pschmehl

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Wow! What am I doing writing CBA at 69 then? And who are the 20 million people who bought The Shack? They can't be all 30-year-old soccer moms.
 

Calla Lily

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I started out thinking I should write for the CBA. Finaled in the ACFW Genesis contest back in 2006 (lost). Joined the discussion loop. Tried to read more C-fic.

The more I tried to fit in and the more C-fic I read made me realize, like Gravity, I don't write what C-fic pubs will buy and readers will read. The rules are wicked strict. Once I admitted the fact and shifted my focus to mainstream publishing (and rewrote my losing book FIVE times), things started to happen.

YMMV. This is how things are working for me. :)
 

Carrie in PA

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I started out thinking I should write for the CBA. Finaled in the ACFW Genesis contest back in 2006 (lost). Joined the discussion loop. Tried to read more C-fic.

The more I tried to fit in and the more C-fic I read made me realize, like Gravity, I don't write what C-fic pubs will buy and readers will read. The rules are wicked strict. Once I admitted the fact and shifted my focus to mainstream publishing (and rewrote my losing book FIVE times), things started to happen.

YMMV. This is how things are working for me. :)

Thanks. Sorry I kind of derailed the thread, but my experience so far has been frustrating. The pool of legit agents is ever-shrinking, and I've queried almost all of them.

I submitted my novel to the ACFW contest last year (not sure if it was Genesis??) and I was so frustrated by the feedback. My book starts with my MC being asked to leave her church after her husband's affair. The pastor is a douche. Of three judges, two of them scored me *very* high - 89 and 92 out of 100, with great feedback, and the third judge scored me a 47, because "a pastor would never behave this way." :Wha: (Newsflash, judge... it happens!)

I'm in several FB groups for C-fic readers/writers, and sometimes I'm just astounded at the comments and expectations.

On the other hand, I'm torn because there are people like me who are hungry for C-fic that reflects real lives and tough situations. *sigh*
 

pschmehl

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Carrie in PA, that third judge lives in an alternate universe. What FB groups are you referring to? I'd like to join them.

If you want a pen pal, I can be one. I won't write anything else, so I'm not going anywhere no matter how difficult it is. I'm not in this to make money. I'm in it to get my stories read. Fortunately, you don't need an agent now. You can self-publish.
 

Calla Lily

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Thanks. Sorry I kind of derailed the thread, but my experience so far has been frustrating. The pool of legit agents is ever-shrinking, and I've queried almost all of them.

I submitted my novel to the ACFW contest last year (not sure if it was Genesis??) and I was so frustrated by the feedback. My book starts with my MC being asked to leave her church after her husband's affair. The pastor is a douche. Of three judges, two of them scored me *very* high - 89 and 92 out of 100, with great feedback, and the third judge scored me a 47, because "a pastor would never behave this way." :Wha: (Newsflash, judge... it happens!)

I'm in several FB groups for C-fic readers/writers, and sometimes I'm just astounded at the comments and expectations.

On the other hand, I'm torn because there are people like me who are hungry for C-fic that reflects real lives and tough situations. *sigh*

Thing is, pubs can be unwilling to take a chance on non-mainstream C-fic. It's worse now than it used to be because of your sentence above, the one I highlighted in blue.

In my generalized opinionated opinion, C-fic pubs appear to think their readers want only a certain type of book. Amish romance, for example, which is still popular. Of a 4-sided rotating carrel I saw in May in a C-fic section, one side was super-positive-happy Christian self-help, one was Bible studies, 1-1/2 was Amish romance and the other half was non-Amish sweet romance. (I have nothing against romance. One could say the same of cozy mysteries featuring cats.)

So, if the pubs think AMISH ROMANCE! and acquire only Amish romance and stores offer only Amish romance, C-fic buyers may think, "Oh, well. At least I know it'll be Godly." And the cycle continues.

Even C-fic "romantic suspense" might have an uphill climb in the mainstream market. I vividly remember Barbour's guidelines from 10 years ago. They've since taken them down, so I don't know if they've changed. But back then, the rules included: No character may drink, dance, or attend a Hallowe'en party. If a character (even a villain) needs to tell a lie, it must be cleared with the editor. At the end of the book, MMC and FMC must both belong to a Bible-believing church.

That's when I jumped over the canyon to mainstream. :)

Carrie in PA, that third judge lives in an alternate universe. What FB groups are you referring to? I'd like to join them.

If you want a pen pal, I can be one. I won't write anything else, so I'm not going anywhere no matter how difficult it is. I'm not in this to make money. I'm in it to get my stories read. Fortunately, you don't need an agent now. You can self-publish.

True, anyone can SP. It's the right choice for many, and I know several folks who've taken that route.

Here's why I chose not to when my first publisher dropped me:
-I didn't have a big enough fan base
-edits and cover design and especially all marketing/publicity would be on me

That being said, I got the rights back to my first 3 books and come September I'll be re-issuing them because I have a several-book contract with a publisher and a larger fan base. I paid for professional covers and even though the publicity will be on me, the editing won't because the books were already edited. I have fans of the rebooted series who haven't read the first three.

But I will repeat: Even though SPing wasn't the right choice for me, it is the right one for many writers. Like anything in this business--agent hunting, subbing to pubs that take unagented subs--research and keeping our eyes wide open is key.

:e2dance:
 

pschmehl

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Even C-fic "romantic suspense" might have an uphill climb in the mainstream market. I vividly remember Barbour's guidelines from 10 years ago. They've since taken them down, so I don't know if they've changed. But back then, the rules included: No character may drink, dance, or attend a Hallowe'en party. If a character (even a villain) needs to tell a lie, it must be cleared with the editor. At the end of the book, MMC and FMC must both belong to a Bible-believing church.
IOW, they want non-human characters. That's ridiculous. I think I'll stick to self-publshing. The last thing I need is to deal with "Christians" with a stick up their butt.

I firmly believe that there is a readership for C-fic, but not when it's constricted to a ridiculous unrealistic subset of the most zealous followers of all, especially when, if you actually investigate their lives, you'll find they're not nearly as "holy" as they pretend to be.

My books will be about real people. People who hurt, have self-doubt, wonder if God is real, get angry at God when life takes a bad turn, etc., etc., etc. IOW, real people.
 
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