If you're working on a novel or a non-fiction book, be certain you know your audience. Your audience will determine which avenue of publishing you should pursue.
There are two avenues for publication: the Christian market or the secular. It can get a bit confusing when you research the major publishing houses and learn that the big secular houses like Random and Time-Warner own most of the Christian houses.
However, for your purposes, think of publishing as loosely categorized into two major associations. American Booksellers Association (ABA) is made up of all the publishers who produce mass market books for the secular reading public. Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) caters to the Christian market and the content of the books is quite dissimilar.
If your novel includes Christian elements involving salvation by faith and references to God and Jesus as Persons with whom your characters have a personal relationship, your novel will never see the light of day in the ABA. As with many other media biases, books can contain just about anything perverse, graphic, Satanic, vulgar, or heretical...anything except Christian thematic elements.
Many beginning authors desire to write books that will appeal to both secular and Christian audiences, while remaining true to their faith and including elements of faith in their writing. They reject publication in the CBA, fearing their book won't be read by the ones they hope to reach. It's a naive desire and one quickly squelched as they investigate the realities of publishing. Christians are portrayed in popular novels the same way we are portrayed in television and movies--as quirky hypocrites and not worth taking seriously. There have been a very few "religious" heroes who have managed to make it past the editor's desk who are portrayed with integrity and honesty, but they are usually the property of a well-known and well-established author who can write anything they like! (Faye Kellerman comes to mind with her orthodox Jewish heroine.)
So the choice is already made for you if you plan to include God in your book. That is one reason the CBA exists--to give Christian authors and readers who want to read clean books that include God a place to meet.
When I first began write, I tried to write from a purely secular perspective, desiring to reach a larger audience. But every author's personal beliefs come through in their books and I found I could not write well without including God. It wasn't honest. Life does include God, whether we acknowledge him or not. I knew my heroine would cry out to God at a certain point, and if I develop that idea further than a generic prayer, it would never be published in the ABA.
Above all, your writing must be REAL and if it's not real to you, it won't come across as real to your readers.
My agent, Rachelle Gardner, has a great post on this subject on her blog. Click the link to read more. Remember: write for your audience and write REAL.
No comments:
Post a Comment