Christian Speculative Fiction discussion

I'm in the midst of gathering ARC readers for my spring novella release, EVIL REALMS. It's a psychological/horror/supernatural/thriller story that deals head-on with the good vs. evil spiritual battle that Christians fight. There have been inroads in this genre, all of speculative fiction's genres, thanks in part to the now-defunct Charisma House Realms-Fiction imprint. Enclave Publishing is another I believe still produces spec' fiction.

I know with EVIL REALMS I'm dealing with some dark subjects, but does spec' fiction outside of trad pub names like Dekker, Healy, and Peretti have a chance at success in today's market? I read this article on the subject from author Ben Wolf. I debated on posting it all here. It's pretty long as it is informative so I'll just give the link. Tell the group what you think about this. Thanks all!

http://benwolf.com/4-hard-truths-abou...

I skimmed the article but it seems pretty spot on. I don't think you have to classify your work as Christian for it to be so. However, if it's too dark it's possible you'll miss the Christian audience entirely unless you do brand it as such. (I'm operating on the assumptions that most Christians will read "dark" Christian material but not so much with dark non-Christian.)

Stoney wrote: "(I'm operating on the assumptions that most Christians will read "dark" Christian material but not so much with dark non-Christian.)"

I'm reading a collection of dark non-Christian short stories right now. I was misled by the name of the book. I knew it wasn't Christian, but I didn't know it was horror/fantasy (only 1 Sci-Fi story so far).

One thing I'm learning from it though, is that the authors write better than many of the Christian authors I've read. Some of it is worthless trash, of course. But, two of the stories are extremely interesting where gods and seerers are concerned, to the extent that one could weave a monotheistic, redemptive message into the world.

On a side note, I don't plan on reading any other books like this one, not intentionally anyway.

The article seems right on. This why I don't advertise my books as Christian fiction or have a strong overt gospel message. It isn't that I want tons of money for my books, I often give away copies for free, but I do want to reach a broad audience. I don't hide my faith, but I don't use it for marketing either.

At the same time, my fictional world has a creator God who loves his creation. I can't help but write from a Christian point of view and deal with Christian issues like "why do bad things happen to good people?" I hope that even non-Christians will read these books and learn about a good God and what hope means.

I think there is always a market for good books, Christian too, but the issue is how to market it and describe it. I think Christians need to be clever in the way they approach the market just as we need to be clever in the way we share the gospel. If a person wants to write only to Christians, that's fine. Non-Christians, though, want to know the story is good. Sell the book by its story just like we share the gospel with a compelling life.

Saint Frances of Asis said, "Preach the gospel always, and when necessary, use words."

Great thoughts from Stan, Stoney, and Lara. With EVIL REALMS, the protagonists are pretty on-the-nose as ministry people. But I loved their relationship so much I didn't think too much about attempts to alter their professions. Too, I think my motivation was to write a 'love letter' to the five-fold ministry gifts who haven't quit in these Last Days. So, yes, it's a fine line with the marketing. I'd rather be upfront with the subject matter/genre selection than have a reader start in and find out it wasn't what was advertised. It's a fine line sometimes. Again, great thoughts. Hope others chime in.

I'm new here, so feel free to tell me that I'm nuts/ignorant - I may very well be. My background is in Design Thinking, which leads me to wonder what readers want from Christian Speculative Fiction. I suspect you'd have to be a Christian to read Christian Speculative Fiction, and I suspect that Christian readers want correct theology & they suspect that they'll hear heresies from "fiction" writers -- note that the author who best "cracked" this market is CS Lewis, who was a trusted theologian. Is that the problem? Are we, as authors, losing potential readers because we can't sell them on the theological correctness of our stories? Note that nobody thought art history would be a great subject for fiction either, until the DaVinci Code, but people trusted that the DaVinci Code was good art history (even if it was terrible theology). See my point? Is the problem that we haven't managed to sell Christians on the theological soundness of our works, thereby alienating them? If all we're selling is prayer/faith/love is the solution, then it's not very interesting theologically speaking. It's sort of a story with Christianity pasted on it. In contrast, if we go a little further into the subject, it becomes more interesting. I guess if I had to summarize my point: is the problem with Christian Speculative Fiction that we haven't been Christian enough, we haven't PUSHED the boundaries on theology - instead selling a fairly limited, conventional Christianity. Hope I didn't offend; as I said, I'm more of a qualitative researcher than anything, and that's what I (as an outsider) see as a potential problem.

Great insights Christopher. I think the risk of targeting a Christian audience is that they are easily offended by anything that seems to venture outside of their own theology. Especially when it comes to fiction. It's funny that we'll put up with it in the secular market (because we don't expect better) but in the Christian market, I think it gets difficult to push.

I recently read Ted Dekker's Rise of the Mystics. Great story but it almost *seemed* to venture into territory that doesn't match my beliefs. (The Shack as well, but I still loved that book.) But in stories like that, I'm willing to give a lot of room for authors to hit on the aspects of God's love that appeal to them most while leaving the other things to be tackled in someone else's story. It's simply impossible to write a fiction novel that covers every aspect of God's love, righteousness, and salvation.

I agree. Of course, whether the book offended you or not, you bought it; see? Controversy isn't necessarily bad for sales.

But I don't mean to be flip - we seem to be more cautious about upsetting readers on religious grounds than upsetting them in general, and there's good reasons for that, but maybe we should reconsider. Would it be the worst thing ever if somebody wrote a book that "offended" lots of Christians so much that they went out & bought it (just to see what it was about)? I noticed you mentioned the Shack, which sold well despite some very questionable theology (to say the least). Maybe we need to question our assumption that offending people is a bad idea (from a sales perspective). I don't know about you, but I'd rather read a really well-written defense of Catholicism than a poorly-written defense of the Protestant position, even though I'm a Protestant.

I think we have to be careful going down that road. I don't think we should be controversial just to sell books. I don't think that's honorable to the Lord in any way. But that doesn't mean we don't be controversial if there is meaning behind it. Jesus was quite controversial. Or, as Steven Furtick says, He's Savage.

Point taken, but let me be more specific: Darbyism (Rapture) is the only form of eschatology that exists in popular culture, even though Darbyism is a) of recent origin, b) not promoted by any large Christian sect, and c) in Biblical terms, highly problematic. Of course, if we challenge that in a work of fiction, it'll be controversial (to say the least), but wouldn't many readers be curious? As near as I can tell, "how it all ends" is one of the most frequently asked topics - yet, nobody writes about it; why? Are we so worried about being nice that we've forgotten to sell? As you noted, Jesus wasn't "nice"; shouldn't we follow His example & tell the truth, even if the truth "offends"? I just think there lots of ways to talk theology in ways that would interest people.

Christopher wrote: "Of course, if we challenge that in a work of fiction, it'll be controversial (to say the least), but wouldn't many readers be curious? As near as I can tell, "how it all ends" is one of the most frequently asked topics - yet, nobody writes about it; why? Are we so worried about being nice that we've forgotten to sell?."

If you look in an independent Charismatic/Pentecostal book store, you will find tons of books on this theme from lots of directions. One of the issues I find with writing Christian fiction is that the theological position a person significantly influences the market for that book. My husband spent many years working in Christian bookstores for various denominations and the politics over what to sell has dramatically influenced my marketing strategy. Very few speculative fiction books are carried in these books stores except those by the big-name authors. It is mostly historical fiction or Christian romance. Even with the big names in speculative fiction, you will find that it is focused on spiritual warfare, allegory, or apocalyptic/end times.

Since I love fantasy (of which you will find only Tolkien and C.S. Lewis in these stores), I have decided there was no point in marketing myself as Christian even if my books deal with Christian themes. Who am I selling too? Christians who won't buy my book?

I like sticking with Christian themes rather than theological issues because outside of reality, theology doesn't make sense, and we are often struggling to recreate the logic of God. I find that most books (indie and traditionally published books alike) that try to deal with the issues of salvation or theology in a hypothetical world have major theological issues. To enjoy the books, I often look past the logical fallacies to the images the author tries to paint. I appreciate what the author is trying to do, but I find myself dealing with so many people who have baggage they can't carry from ideas just like these. Mature Christians are edified by these books because we can see what the author is doing, but immature Christians easily swing to extremes in their theology because it seems right. Just take all the people who think the Left Behind Series is true theology.

This cause so many problems. Why not deal with Christian themes instead: Why do bad things happen to good people? The sovereignty of God, the love of God, our dependence on the God who created us, God's grace when we have to make morally difficult choices, our obedience in forgiving others or turning the other cheek. These issues are not divorced from theology, but they are more universal and personal. We can keep God more hidden (i.e, don't talk about His origins, His work in history, His salvation plan, or His cosmic plan for the universe) which often don't work in hypothetical worlds and focus on the effects following God brings into a person's life.

Maybe this doesn't seem possible, but I argue that it is more relevant to Christians and non-Christians alike. It isn't what God is doing out there and separate from us in His grand plan for the world. Instead, deal with what it looks like to live as a Christian on a daily basis, the internal character development from morally grey to finding strength in the ways of God. It is something that can be even more difficult to wrestle with in a novel because it is not easy and does not often fit the typical fantasy tropes of revenge, assassination, theiving, trickery, or being the prophesied one. The internal reality of what God's work does inside of us causes conflict in the face of crises. Do we do what is easy or do we do what is right? I guess each author has his own story to tell, but when I read secular books, I see a need for an internal struggle that is compelling that most Christians leave out because they are so focused on the cosmic battle between good and evil.

Pilgrims Progress is an allegory which I am typically not a fan, but it does illustrate what I am trying to say. God is not a character in the book. Jesus's salvation act is not specifically depicted in the book. Instead, the whole book is about the development of Christian in response to what God has already done. Is there any denomination who has a problem with Pilgrim's Progress? No, because this internal struggle is universal to all of us, yet this book is not lacking in spiritual relevance. I suppose my use of the term "theology" as referring to the grander issues of God's cosmic plan, His nature, and His mind is a problem because this is theology too. My point though is that there are only a few points in this book that would make it obviously Christian (the name Christian, the names of various other characters, and the scene with the cross). If you changed those (a different image to represent the cross) and wrote this book today, would it be accepted as Christian fiction or just become a typical fantasy quest novel?

I honestly don't know how well this kind of book fits in either Christian or secular markets, and I still struggle to figure out where my books belong in that respect. I guess I am just muddying up the water some more.

Great points - I have to take some time to think about it.

What’s the problem with Christian fiction? God.

To be clear, I don’t mean that He’s not sending us enough sales or great writing ideas (although more of both would be nice); I mean He’s the problem – His nature doesn’t easily lend itself to great fiction. Not that He can’t be part of great literature; rather, it’s just that He’s an exceeding difficult character to work with.

Unfortunately, few experts in literature devote their lives to modern Christian fiction; consequently, we Christians don’t enjoy the benefits of their technical expertise. As a result, almost all Christian fiction uses God as Deus ex machina; that is, He resolves the plot’s central conflict, making Him the functional protagonist. And, as a protagonist, God’s terrible because He’s never in any danger – as a reader, we already know how the conflict will end.

Basically, all Christian fiction takes the following form: protagonist has faith or doesn’t, protagonist loses it or nearly loses it, hero regains and/or finds faith, God solves hero’s problems. Worse yet, God solves hero’s problem in the way the hero would have wanted (cures hero’s cancer, saves hero’s home, etc.)

Is that plot device and/or that plot structure bad? No, of course not – but it’s a tad repetitive. To illustrate my point, nothing wrong with the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl for the third time in five years, but the ratings will suffer from the familiarity.

And then there’s the theological point. Why interrupt this writing post to discuss theology? Because I think the answer to Christian fiction’s woes, like most answers, lies in the Bible.

We’re selling Him short. He simply never promised us that faith would be the answer to all of our questions; to the contrary, He always said faith would be the start. What did He tell the thief on the Cross? Not that, “You’ll be fine.” Nope, He told him that he’d die and then be in paradise. He told people who followed Him to expect trouble as a result; He warned them repeatedly – even Peter, whom He said would deny Him rather than bear the burdens of faith.

So why does our literature pretend faith is the answer? Why do we pretend that God is like some Genie who grants wishes if and only if we believe? Why do we present a cheap and easy version of the Lord?

Now I know what you’re thinking: here I am criticizing other writers for using God as the solution to their plot problems, and I’m using God to solve Christian fiction’s problems. Pot call the kettle black, much?

You got me, but my point still holds: the problem with Christian fiction is God – we need to put more of Him in our literature. Why doesn’t God (or His angels) simply appear and sweep away our problems? Lack of faith? I think the Apostles had faith – where did that get them? As authors, we Christians need to answer the big questions of life with something more than “faith” – an argument that seems to imply our problems are something we did (or, more precisely, didn’t do), when – in fact – our problems are part of God’s Plan. Why? What does that mean? Does God Will our troubles or simply permit them? Is there a difference? These are questions that we need to discuss, through fiction.

After all, Les Mis is one of the most popular novels and plays of all time, and it’s nothing, if it’s not Christian fiction (the Hollywood version removed God from the story, and never managed similar success). We need more Christian fiction like that.

Christopher wrote: "As authors, we Christians need to answer the big questions of life with something more than “faith” – an argument that seems to imply our problems are something we did (or, more precisely, didn’t do), when – in fact – our problems are part of God’s Plan. Why? What does that mean? Does God Will our troubles or simply permit them? Is there a difference? These are questions that we need to discuss, through fiction."

I very much agree with you. God is nearly impossible to write in fiction because we can't create a predictable pattern to the way He works and develops us in our Christian walk. Why does He act at one time and not in another? Why is it so hard to know what to do at so many major crossroads in our lives?

I also like your example in Les Mis. I once had a friend who said Ben Hur was the greatest Christian fiction movie ever for him. Jesus's face was never shown, yet there was so much God in that story. I also love The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. In all of these examples, the characters have very difficult lives with very difficult choices. Deus Ex Machina doesn't just make everything ok. It is their obedience to God that makes the main difference. These books don't try to deal with who God is, but who we become because of Him. These are not cosmic stories, but stories about individual people.

I think this is part of the reason Paul in the Bible puts so much emphasis on our testimonies. The gospels tell us what God did, but our testimonies and what he does in individual lives explains the "why" better than anything else. What does it look like when God and man are reconciled? How does that really change us and the people around us?

It is interesting that both Les Mis and Ben Hur are not sold as Christian fiction, but either classics or historical fiction. A person might be able to find them in a Christian book store (maybe in the homeschooling area), but plenty of non-Christians read these.

I am appreciating this particular conversation because I have been wrestling with my ideas for a book. I've been wondering how to deal with the moral foundation of my protagonist's development and difficult choices. Writing all of this out is helping articulate what I want to accomplish as a Christian writer. I'll leave the marketing for later and just deal with the story God has put on my heart to write.

I totally agree about Christians needing to write more diverse Christian topics. Conversion is important, but most people reading Christian fiction of any kind are already Christians.

Daria wrote: "Why can't the story be about the real supernatural?"

A valid question. I think you should take a look at The Restorers by our own Steve Pillinger. His two books deal with spiritual warfare that has a lot to do, in my opinion, with real spiritual warfare. It is not identical to real spiritual warfare, but it has strong elements that seem to be closer than a lot of people want to admit. It, so far, isn't a stereo typical "conversion" narrative. And, it has some elements of romance, but not over doing it. It is gritty too. Personally, some of the best Christian Spec Fic that I've read.

I am currently plunking away at a novella (along with a few novel length ideas) for Christian Spec Fic set in a Cyberpunk reality. The novella idea came recently and it is growing. It didn't start out as an idea dealing with spiritual warfare, but it is developing in that direction. It will be fiction, but I want aspects of the spiritual warfare to be very close to how I understand spiritual warfare. As a novella, it fits within a series of short stories and novellas about two important characters in the other novel length stories. So, kind of a developed backstory that connects to one of the novels. Anyway, I'm looking at a slightly futuristic, Cyberpunk dystopian world. So far, the Christian element will express itself in a Celtic monastic style of our faith. And, during my studies of Celtic monasticism I read the observation that the Celtic monks regarded spiritual disciplines as preparation for spiritual warfare. So, yes, I plan to include that.

You asked a very good question. I wanted you to know some people are trying to break the mold.

Very astute comments all! I think the big issue (from a marketing perspective) is identifying the NEED, not the want, that Christian lit serves. That is, what do our readers need that they can only find in our books as opposed to other books. Since (ultimately) all Christian lit is based on the Book, we have to add something w/o changing anything, which is no mean feat. I think that means we have to find a new way to explain the faith, new language, metaphors, images that are more readily intelligible to modern audiences. Now I don't mean a retelling of the Bible (as that would be pointless), but I do mean illuminating those great ideas in some new way. Ultimately, for example, Narnia is a retelling of the Bible, but it's also different in important ways. It gives the reader a much better sense of the radicalness of Christ and the painfulness of His sacrifice.

Christopher wrote: "Very astute comments all! I think the big issue (from a marketing perspective) is identifying the NEED, not the want, that Christian lit serves. That is, what do our readers need that they can only..."

Now this really gets to the crux. Who is our target audience? Is Christian Spec Fic written for Christians? Or, is Christian Spec Fic written for non-Christians? Can it be written effectively for both?

Only after determining the answers to those questions can we even fathom how to write the stories we're writing. And, that will also help us with the marketing angle (since this is in the marketing thread).

Personally, my Cyberpunk novella is not targeted at a Christian audience.

And, in reading Alister McGrath's If I had lunch with C.S. Lewis, it very may well be the case that Lewis didn't write the Chronicles of Narnia for a Christian audience either.

This really is a vital point to understand as we write Christian Spec Fic.

If Christian fiction isn't targeted at Christians, are you attempting to evangelize (convert) them? If not, you're likely to be seen as a marketing scam. That is, lots of Christian readers regularly report that "Christian" books seem like an attempt to sell books to Christians, rather than actually Christian in purpose, concept, etc. If you aren't targeting Christians, then you've got to explain to readers why it's a "Christian" book - by explain, I mean it must be obvious from your story why this is "Christian" or they'll feel ripped off. Put it this way: would you make a vegan cake that wasn't targeted at vegans? Why? And why would non-vegans want such a product? Readers won't bother sorting through your marketing efforts; you need to make such things clear and obvious, rather than something they're struggling to understand. So, long and short, I think a Christian book not targeted at Christians has a huge marketing problem trying to explain to readers why it's not targeted at Christians.

My approach in writing Angelic Wars,First Rebellion is that it can be appreciated on three levels. I make this clear in the Preface. Non-Christian is the first level: I know a number of non-Christian friends who are reading it and like it. If you like Star Wars, I want that reader to like the book on their level--no strings attached. The second level is the Christian: I have over 196 Scriptural citations in the footnotes. The purpose of this is twofold: a) to lend some legitimacy to the fantasy story. And b) to teach the Christian about these passages in the Bible. One Christian read the book and was excited about these references. The last level the book is written is connected to a free New Adult Bible Study on my website. This is for the deep-diving Christian. In my 30+ years of teaching the Bible, I always tried to meet a person at THEIR spiritual level. I respect their point of view and try not to push mine on them. After all, my father, uncle and other major male influences in my life were atheists. In a marketing process, we are directing it first to Christians, but I have passed out cards to many who are of different, or no, faith. They asked for the information. We'll see if my approach works...to be continued.

Christopher wrote: "Put it this way: would you make a vegan cake that wasn't targeted at vegans? Why? And why would non-vegans want such a product?"

Funny you should ask this question. My favorite protein bars are vegan. They are plant proteins. They are not full of chemicals. They are very healthy. I'm not vegan. The product is not marketed directly at me. But, it is a nutritious, wholesome, earth-friendly, tasty product. Who wouldn't want that?

Now, to apply this to books, is there any evidence that The Chronicles of Narnia were originally marketed as Christian fiction? That does not seem to have been Lewis' point. He was crafting the Christian worldview into fiction to combat the worldview issues of secular people (atheist and agnostic) of his day. Alister McGrath in If I had lunch with C.S. Lewis explains some of Lewis' strategy in using imagination and theology together in apologetics. I had not made the direct connections that McGrath explains. It is mind-boggling when you begin to see the depth of crafting that Lewis achieved.

That said, every book expresses a worldview. The question is whether a Christian can write Spec Fic using the Christian worldview in such a way that non-Christians enjoy it, and even find it superior to their own worldview? Can we present the truth of God in an enjoyable way, even for non-believers?

I believe it is possible. I also believe it is a lot more work than many authors are willing to put forth. But, that's why I like this group. We get to know each other and the heart's desire that goes into the works being produced.

Anyway, that's my two cents why a non-vegan would buy a vegan product and why Christians should be writing spec fic that even non-believers would enjoy.

Let's look at Jesus's teaching method. He used parables of every day life. Who would think (on its face) that each of these parables had a spiritual meaning unless it was explained: Parable of the sower, parable of tenants, parable of the sower, etc. He had to explain the spiritual application in his parables for the hearers to understand. However, he used every day events. The same can be said for Christian Sci-fi/fantasy. Use a commonly accepted subjects (Such as a lion, a witch and a wardrobe) and allow the reader to make the connection.

Rick wrote: "Let's look at Jesus's teaching method. He used parables of every day life. Who would think (on its face) that each of these parables had a spiritual meaning unless it was explained: Parable of the ..."

Yes. But, according to McGrath (I'm loving his book, if folks couldn't tell) Lewis went very deep. In The Silver Chair Lewis puts his characters underground and under a spell. McGrath, having studied Lewis enough to write a respected biography of him, relates Lewis drawing from Plato's cave in this scene. And, Lewis is combatting Freud's idea of "wish fulfillment" saying that the idea of God is just a projection of people's concept of "the ideal father". As Lewis plays out the scene, he completely offers readers an opportunity to consider that Freud was wish-fulfilling God away. McGrath explains is far better.

Lewis was using Christian Spec Fic to undo Freud's falsehoods that had been widely accepted in Europe at that time.

Daria wrote: "Besides all that, if we only mention God but not Jesus, is that just being religious or is the metaphor still meaningful?"

Excellent point! Where I live, there are at least 6 non-biblical, religious Jesuses within a 30 mile radius of my house. Is even writing "Jesus" enough now to define which Jesus we're talking about?

My current novella is working with the idea of "the keeper of the narrow way" or something like that. As it is planned to be a series of novellas and shorts in a world that will include novels (if I ever make the time to write them), I believe I have time (pages) to develop out the idea. At what point do I reveal this keeper to be Jesus? I'm not sure yet. I will stick with the followers of the narrow way being Christian in worldview and faith. I don't think that requires me to use words like church in the beginning, especially when point of view is non-Christians looking in from the outside. I'm going with a Celtic-style monastic community in the first novella. So, not exactly what most people would assume church to look like anyway.

As for metaphors, it is okay to use them. But, are we juxtaposing two different worldviews in our writing? Or, are we just writing in a way that preaches to the choir? Are our novels squeaky clean - every character but the antagonist is good, upstanding, moral "person"? Or, is our world gritty and sinful and our protagonist the one who stands out as different, and in a better way?

If our goal is to write Christian Spec Fic for Christian consumption then we'll write in a certain way. If our goal is Christian Spec Fic that will reach non-Christians then we'll write in a different certain way.

Honestly, a good Christian Spec Fic that flays the moral bankruptcy of post-modernism along side the moral bedrock of the Christian worldview written in such a way that non-Christians would read it would be quite an accomplishment.

I write thought-provoking Spec-Fic (from a Christian worldview) and my first two books deal with conspiracies, so as you can imagine it’s an extremely small niche for me to work in, especially when you consider so much of today’s Christian fiction is copycat shallow tropes (sorry to be so brutal).

For the sake of not filling up this comment with writing their descriptions here, if the admin allows I will just post a link to the page on my website where you can read each of the books’ descriptions. That way you can see the “kind” of stories that I write, and how it’s possible to break from the typical Christian fiction mold to tell a good story, yet remain loyal to your convictions.

https://www.jlpattison.com/books

Agreed. Finding the readers who would be interested in these kinds of books is the challenge. And it’s a challenge I have not yet conquered. Especially disappointing is not garnering the interest among those who I would most expect to be interested in those kinds of plots.

I missed the bulk of this discussion, but I love the direction it went.

I am working on my 6th and 7th books, and they are each taking different directions on what market they target. All my books so far, continuing with my sixth book, are not overtly Christian fiction. I am intentionally trying to follow C.S. Lewis and Tolkien in conveying a Christian worldview of hope to start my readers on a Christian path.

My 7th book, though, is very explicitly Christian in a completely different world (a fantasy version of medieval Italy) with churches and the gospel message as we know it. The main characters are Christians and have been Christian for a long time. This book is going to be very gritty and extremely different than anything else I have ever written because these characters are going to be put through a series of moral dilemmas that are not clearly right and wrong by scripture alone. As with our real Christian walk, sometimes God does not save us in the nick of time, just like Joseph in Egypt. Sometimes, we have to make choices that the greater church may not understand or may misinterpret.

So, what I am saying is that there is room for different kinds of books. The thing I like about indie publishing is that we don't have to be constrained by genre definitions to publish. We do have to be very focused in our marketing to the correct audience, though. I honestly believe that there is an audience for any well-written book. It's just the marketing and getting those books before the right audience's eyes that is the hard part. I find that most genre boundaries are blurry, and it is the publishers, not the audience who typically define those boundaries.

Lara wrote: "(a fantasy version of medieval Italy)."

Sounds enticing!

Warrior Saints - Creator: Stonehaven Academy Saints Book 1

I enjoyed Ben's article. Thanks for reminding us about it. It's from last year, and I think there will be even more attendees at RM in 2020. That should tell us something.
The YA series I have coming out this spring is from an idea I had years ago. If I would have written it then, it would have been categorized as Teen Christian Fiction and solidly rejected by all publishers and agents. I may have self-published as Teen Christian Fiction - and wouldn't have sold books because I didn't know then what I know now. Most teens don't want Teen Christian Fiction - they want anything else. So I have great covers that are on-market trend for YA supernatural/fantasy mystery, and I have created a good vs. evil realm. They are clean and entertaining - and I don't talk about scripture or being a Christian. I talk about supernatural good vs. evil battles. I feel good about it, and not like I denied my good roots. We shall see...

Daria wrote: "Carla wrote: "I talk about supernatural good vs. evil battles. I feel good about it, and not like I denied my good roots."

Carla,
It looks like you nailed a very popular trope, the YA supernatural..."

Thank you for noticing! I seriously listened to YA requests. They are tired of authors not giving them real meaty topics - so I went there. They say they are tired of YA authors trying to sound like them - I didn't. I wrote to them to them like the smart kids they are. They say they are tired of overused tropes. I did my best to go somewhere fun and different. And oddly, they are tired of covers with people on them. They want to decide what the people look like for themselves. I gave them silhouettes. Now I need to find my audience...

Daria wrote: "Carla wrote: "Now I need to find my audience..."

Carla,
It seems you study and analyze quite a bit, like me. If you haven't read this series already, it's the best advice I've found and goes contr..."

Thank you! I'll check this out.