In that weird gray zone.

1sa1ahsMum

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Newbie here. I just wanted to introduce myself and vent in the same breath!
What is up with our genre? It seems all the agents want are stories of Amish finding love ( a la against all odds) or southern belles sipping ice tea while swooning over square-jawed generals. Is there room for christian fiction that is not all la da di da? How about real books with real characters tackling real issues while still holding on to their faith?
Thank you for listening. I feel better.
 

Calla Lily

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Welcome to AW and you're preaching to the choir about C-fic. :) There are a few discussions about what publishers want here. The acquiring editors seem to be on a hamster wheel dressed in Amish clothes while reading Bowdlerized versions of Shakespeare.

Last I heard, Enclave (formerly Marcher Lord) was pushing the envelope, bit I don't know about anyone else. I'm published by mainstream publishers, but the regulars here will have more information. Glad to meet you!
 

litdawg

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Enclave is still in business. There was a bit of a scandal when an executive with Gilead Publishing (who bought March Lord) had some issues that could get his books banned from LIfeway. Then Steve Laube bought the label back, and they are making a push this spring to get its backlist back into publication and a few new books in the pipeline.

Are you looking for mainstream lit Christian fiction? Not speculative, romance, suspense, or fantasy? Then you probably want to go mainstream. No truly excellent book need be ghettoized by being marketed only to Christians.
 
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1sa1ahsMum

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Welcome to AW and you're preaching to the choir about C-fic. :) There are a few discussions about what publishers want here. The acquiring editors seem to be on a hamster wheel dressed in Amish clothes while reading Bowdlerized versions of Shakespeare.

Last I heard, Enclave (formerly Marcher Lord) was pushing the envelope, bit I don't know about anyone else. I'm published by mainstream publishers, but the regulars here will have more information. Glad to meet you!

Thank you! Nice to meet you too. I've not heard of Enclave; I will check them out.
 

1sa1ahsMum

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Enclave is still in business. There was a bit of a scandal when an executive with Gilead Publishing (who bought March Lord) had some issues that could get his books banned from LIfeway. Then Steve Laube bought the label back, and they are making a push this spring to get its backlist back into publication and a few new books in the pipeline.

Are you looking for mainstream lit Christian fiction? Not speculative, romance, suspense, or fantasy? Then you probably want to go mainstream. No truly excellent book need be ghettoized by being marketed only to Christians.

I write Women's fiction and my dream is to traditionally published. So far, I've received 20 query rejections with most of them being "Ohh! Nice story. I just don't know how to sell it." and a few "Not the right market."
 

Taylor Harbin

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Might I recommend Mysterion Magazine? It's speculative fiction with lots of Christian elements. One story "Job: A Fairy-tale of God, Satan, and Us," does a brilliant job flipping the themes of the original story on its head.
 

1sa1ahsMum

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Might I recommend Mysterion Magazine? It's speculative fiction with lots of Christian elements. One story "Job: A Fairy-tale of God, Satan, and Us," does a brilliant job flipping the themes of the original story on its head.

Oh wow, thanks.. Unfortunately, I only write Women's fiction.
 

Calla Lily

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Oh wow, thanks.. Unfortunately, I only write Women's fiction.

When an agent rejected my horror and suggested I write a crime-fighting ex-nun story, my response (to myself) was: "I write horror." 9 months later I had a crime-fighting ex-nun novel, which ended up selling before the horror.

You never know. Just sayin'. :greenie