| The Christian Book Market |
| Question: I continue to notice there is not much information being posted or resources being provided for authors who write Christian literature. It seems to be an isolated area of publishing--sort of in it's own world.
Even in book clubs, there is not much of a genre' for Christian literature and people don't respond to emails and other related subject matter. Seems they overlook these authors and focus on novels, short stories, and fiction more. Doesn't seem fair. Do you know of any resourceful outlets and/or handy marketing tips or information for authors of Christian books? Answer: There are several Christian book clubs. You can find a listing of some of them at http://www.bookmarket.com/bookclubs.html. There is the Christian Booksellers Association out of Denver, Colorado. As you might know if you get my Book Marketing Tip of the Week via email that I often list religious specialty booksellers in my listings of bookstores. There are many religious magazines. You can find them in any media directory. And, of course, churches are also a great market for religious titles. Target those churches that your book supports in some way. Most churches have bookstores, even if opened only on Sundays after services. Some of the biggest bestsellers of the past few years have been Christian titles: The Prayer of Jabez, The Purpose Driven Life, the Left Behind series, and Joel Osteen's new book. The world is wide open for good books for Christians. -- John Kremer |
posted by John Kremer @
11:27 PM
5 comments |
John Kremer's Ten Million Eyeballs Internet Marketing Event
5 Comments:
All the information you want to know about Christian publishing is available in Christian Writer's Market Guide, by Sally E. Stuart, published annually by WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House. You can get it on Amazon.com.
Publishers Weekly magazine has a regular update on Religion books and used to run a Religion bestsellers list. I don't know if they still do. You can read back issues of PW at any large metro or university library.
There are a lot of sites about Christian writing and publishing on the Web. Google can help you find them.
Jack Zavada
A Christian Writer
Streator, IL
It is virtually impossible to sell to Christian Bookstores or get accepted by a Christian book distributor unless you have ten books, (the magic number) however that does not mean you can't sell your Christian book successfully. I teach seminars on how to market your Christian book without going thru the conventional Christian market. Drop me an email and I'll send you a brief analysis of the problem, and tell where you can sell them.
Just remember, all is not lost. Christ didn't tell us to "go ye into all the Christian bookstores and preach the Gospel."
bfilley@yahoo.com
Not true about having to have 10 books. I only have 2 books published, and I was picked up by Faithworks, a division of the National Book Network. My books are available for ordering world wide.
http://www.faithworksonline.com/
The previous poster is right -- you don't need to have 10 books to get in a Christian bookstore.
Publishers Weekly still does Religion Update. The next one appears in the March 28 issue. (I'm actually working on a feature for that issue at the moment, or should be.)
And the Christian Booksellers Association is based in Colorado Springs, not Denver. The web site is www.cbaonline.org. Parts of the site are available only to members, and the membership costs are steep.
There's so much information on the Internet about the huge Christian market that I'm certain you can find answers to any question you have.
I'm a book author who is a part of the Christian Authors Network--a co-op of authors in the Christian market who help market each others' books. We have a blog just on Christian book marketing at http://canblog.typepad.com/canbookmarketing/
Check it out--hope it helps!
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