Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
There has been a controversy brewing for awhile now, ever since publishers started promoting books by offering a limited-time free or discounted price. Many of the Christian publishers have done these promotions, but whenever Christian novels are promoted on Amazon as free or discounted, many people download them without realizing they’re Christian. They start reading and when they detect faith-based content, they become enraged. They feel like they were hoodwinked. And then they leave 1-star, angry reviews on Amazon. Here are some Amazon comments on a recent Christian novel that was free for a limited time:
- “When you read the review for this book, no mention is made of the Christian nature of the book. This is misleading.”
- “I resent the absence of the Christian fiction label. “
- “Why is it that authors of Christian fiction often hide that fact in the descriptions? I am simply irritated when I buy a book based on a secular description only to find that the predominant thread throughout the book is Christian proselytizing.”
- “It is an excuse to promote a Christian agenda. When a book is Christian Fiction it should be promoted as such.” (Click to Tweet this.)
These responses are leading people to ask whether Christian fiction needs to be clearly labeled as such, maybe in the “Book Description” on the Amazon page.
I know a lot of Christians think it’s a real shame that people are responding this way. But I have to say, I’m not surprised. To understand what I mean, just imagine if the tables were turned. You are a Christian and you download a free book (or pay good money for a book), which you then discover contains a storyline that strongly promotes the Muslim faith, clearly saying Islam is the one true faith. You might not like it. You may feel disrespected as a reader. (Click to Tweet this.) You may feel tricked into buying something that goes against what you believe.
I think this is a classic “Do unto others…” moment. I see no reason to disrespect people of other faiths (or no faith) by refusing to clearly identify Christian fiction. (Click to Tweet this.)
In fact, I’d go so far as to recommend that if you write Christian fiction and your publisher is about to do an Amazon promotion, make sure the book description indicates that your book is “inspirational” or “faith based.” If you do this, you can probably avoid most of those angry 1-star reviews. (Click to Tweet this.)
What do you think? Should Christian fiction be clearly described as such in the book description? Why or why not?
A warning label? No, never. If anyone wants to one-star me because I have a Christian worldview, I welcome it. It means that Satan and his servants are REALLY irritated, and they’re running scared.
* There is no need for disrespect of other faiths. They are in God’s hands, as we are, and while there’s a lot that’s impossible for man, there’s more that IS possible with God. Making a judgement a to who is saved and who isn’t is simply none of my business. I talk about what JC did for me; period. And I once was solely a Buddhist.
* The folks who want a warning label are, please pardon this, cultural morons. We live in a country that enshrines Biblical principles in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It’s our cultural background, it’s where the USA came from…not to reference that foundation would have been impossible. The Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment does proscribe a state religion; very true. But to say that the Constitution is, in its heritage and underpinnings a secular document is ignorant rubbish.
* To those who want warning labels, I would answer thus: We live in a country of cultural Christianity, and I’m not going to apologise for what I am, nor cater to your delicate sense of insult. Grow up, and deal with it.
Andrew, ever since I was at school, I found that the problem is caused by an errant few. Its true of everything in life. Its not what you do, but, rather as my Dad always said about driving, “its what the other guy does that matters”. I don’t want labels either, but even so it might only apply to indie publishing, unless indies can fall in line with industry self-regulation to ensure that a book promotes itself honestly. Even then, indie tends to use channels like Amazon where they can be subjected to internal regulation without imposing labels or warnings on the entire Christian Book community. That said, Rachelle’s concern is absolutely valid – bad practices give us all a bad name and undermine our witness, so either we find a way to self-regulate or regulations will be imposed – as has happened in so many aspects of our society. Even the liberal internet has tacit rules of engagement and etiquette, so I see no reason why we can’t agree on some norms for all to apply. Even then, I dare say, some will break rank. For example, signing up to a Christian Book Code of Conduct and quoting that fact in the footnotes of every publication or advert, may be quite constructive.
Pete, I have to disagree with the idea of establishing norms, or a Code of Conduct.
* First, who’s to set it? Who do we put in charge of our literary pigeonholing?
* Second, It’s a defacto kowtow to those who hold that the Establishment Clause is designed to create a secular society, and has an eerie similarity to the wearing of yellow Stars of David. If we volunteer to register our literary works to a kind of regulatory process, this surrender of our First Amendment rights will become mandatory.
* Third, where would that leave works that have a definite and intentional Christian worldview, but don’e meet the ‘standards’ enshrined in the Code? I have two cinematic examples – “Fury” and “Man on Fire”.
* “Fury” deals with combat at the end of WW2 (and its ending is based on an actual incident), and there is no way that the story, as told, would fit into the box already defined by Provident. Yet, it’s far more compelling, because the actions of the very flawed characters only make sense when keyed to the Christian beliefs with which they were raised.
* “Man on Fire” deals with a bodyguard’s quest for vengeance after the child placed in his charge has been kidnapped. He’s not a ‘nice’ person, but he’s a real one, and he reads the Bible whilst performing enhanced interrogation to find the persons ultimately responsible. Again, his actions through the arc of the film only make sense when one takes his beliefs into account. Again, there’s no way that they’ll be showing this on on TBN, or at your church any time soon, but it’s far more courageous than “Courageous” (which is a film I do like).
* And for what it may be worth, my wife says that when I’m dead, all she has to do is pop one of these into the DVD player, and it’ll be better than a home movie. She’ll see me alive again.
* So you see, it’s somewhat personal. Christianity is not an external framework, but an internal one, and you can’t regulate the soul.
I can’t reply on all aspects, but a code of conduct is a voluntary concept that would carry a risk of censure or expulsion. Again, the concept is universal – it happens for doctors, lawyers, financial advisers, you name it and it is always an internal value used top protect that fraternity, keep it in the family and avoid dirty washing. I have even seen Christian business networks apply the idea. Facebook does it, so does google. I don’t see it as a Kowtow to the establishment – Paul made it very clear who was not so welcome and who was, but he taught that we needed to own that space and not “go to law before the unjust”. In other words he advocated self-regulation, which is more about the law of God written in our hearts, not compliance with human order. Even God “debarred” Ananias and Saphira for falsehood. The bible is clear: Judgment must needs begin in the house of God i.e. we must get our own house in order.
Should we label books to kow-tow to cultural police, or placate the type who vent their annoyance by leaving 1-star reviews? No, certainly not.
But there is a place for courtesy, not because we must, or because we’re afraid of offending someone with our beliefs, but simply because it’s polite. For every irate person who leaves a bad review there are probably five who are too reasonable to do so, and for their sake, I don’t mind labeling my books.
Rachelle, I detest manipulation. I agree 1000%. I get into a fair amount of trouble holding even the most reasonable of believers to the idea of doing right without waiting to be found out or to be told otherwise. Sure I have had my moments too, so I reference others when I face grey issues. A cornerstone of all marketing is to fulfill the promises implied by a book’s proposition. We will get regulated if we don’t get ahead of the curve here. It reminds me of the “Quaker Price” of early America, which was so trusted, so reliable that it became the benchmark for all other pricing. Not even the Puritans got that right for all their sanctimony. Its one of the reasons why Pennsylvania eventually provided a model for the US constitution, thanks to a principled way of life that even drew a salute from Voltaire. God help us to live the life that we profess in our writing.
Where can I find out more about the Quaker Price please?
*I don’t have a lot of patience for folks who are so impatient themselves that they need a warning label. Information is available at the click of my mouse. If I’m likely to be offended by surprise content, I have the choice of checking further before I buy. Go to the author’s website. Read the one-star reviews. Google the title.
*On the other hand, I have often been pleasantly surprised by the unexpected. Sometimes it is just worth the risk.
Shirlee, its not about what you need, per se, and I hope none of us need it. Its about ensuring a credible Christian witness in this industry. Sure, I agree that if a one-star is not hiding anything, that’s fine, but I think Rachelle is referring to misleading information, where the writer deliberately suppresses transparency to enhance sale-ability. In my own regulated industry, as is true of most professional industries, that is simply not on and can lead to debarring, but regulation came because too many bad incidents happened to leave it up to such professional industries to police themselves. That is life, but it will be a really sad indictment of our witness if the Christian content market ever needs watch-dogging – we are, after all, under enough scrutiny already not to invite further censure.
This morning I read, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:14
If we are commanded to love others, then I don’t want to trick them into reading my book.
If I write inspirational fiction, I’m targeting a specific market. And I need to be honest about that. God can do anything including getting our inspirational stories into the hands of unbelievers.
Since I write preteen devotion books it’s not really a problem for me. But I am working on a teen fiction book, and I think it would be good to have a mention of my main character’s struggle with whether or not there is a God who has a plan for her in the back cover description. Otherwise I think there would be teens who buy it for the freerunning (parkour) thread without realizing it’s “Christian” fiction.
I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you, Rachelle. If I pick up a book and I’m not sure if it’s ABA or CBA, I’m going to make an effort to see which it is before I commit to reading it. Which, by the way, I’ve done plenty of times as I have a part-time job in a library shelving books. I don’t want to disrespect anyone’s faith either but we’re not talking about that here. This is an issue of personal responsibility, something which in our society has gone downhill and straight off a cliff. If someone has the time to slap a one star review on a book they felt ‘duped’ into buying, then why didn’t they take the time to find out what kind of book it was in the first place?
Love your take on personal responsibility. I wonder if the next thing will be a lawsuit against an author who didn’t post fair warning to readers that a book is faith-based.
I had someone buy my girl’s book The Christian Girl’s Guide to Being Your Best from Christianbooks. The description is pretty accurate. But she gave it one star because she thought it was a Bible study and it wasn’t. People obviously don’t read.
I agree with you, Rachelle. I am not ashamed of the Christian “label”. My writing is aimed mostly toward Christian’s. If my book was YA, I would label it as such. I see this as just another identifier.
When I witness to a non-believer, I want my actions to be led by God. Otherwise, the one you are witnessing to becomes angry and tune out everything you have to say. This is no different.
Disclaimer: if this makes no sense, it is because I haven’t finished my morning coffee yet.
I like a book’s description to be clear because there is some subject matter I prefer not to read. My current WIP is a YA with a plot that I hope will appeal to both Christian and secular readers, but I want the description to leave no doubt it is faith based.
What i might not do is be overt and splash it all around as that can really make a book come across as syrupy, contrived and over-the-top. Sorry if I am making this sound like a “be nice to Rachelle day”, but saying, “Faith Based” and “Inspirational”, or at least the principle of a relatively understated, but not misleading footnote, is professionally adequate. I would expect as much from the very best of Christian authors. It reminds me of “Intel inside”.
I have mixed feelings on this topic. Should people do some investigating before they get a book? Yeah, probably. But, in the era of “get free e-books” people often download a book because it’s free, not because it looks like an amazing read.
* It seems like some people are looking for a reason to bash Christian-based books. Though I disagree with this, I kind of understand why it can happen. If I’m reading a book with sex scenes in them, and I didn’t expect to find that in the book, I might give it a slightly lower rating.
* All that being said, I think it wise to share, at least as you mentioned, that the book is “inspirational” or “faith-based.” Those kinds of “surprises” may be best revealed up front so readers at least have a notion that a book will contain some references to God or Christianity.
Rachelle, this happened with one of my books. Over 100,000 free downloads or low-cost downloads … and I had, maybe three, who blasted the fact that they didn’t know the story was faith-based.
I commented to each of these, telling them little ways to know the story if faith-based.
Someone else (not me, I promise) commented with something along the lines of: Get real! What did you lose? A dollar?? OR: You paid nothing for it! Why are you complaining???
So why do they get so angry then? Perhaps because our words rub a sore spot? Could be … only the Spirit knows …
But I agree with you that when we offer the freebies or the discounts, we should say something somewhere. It doesn’t have to be long and drawn out. A simple “faith-based” should do it, even if it’s within our bio.
I sometimes go through Bookbub.com to get e-books. I like the fact that books are in genres … contemporary romance, CHRISTIAN fiction … separating clean reading from erotic. I need that protection. I want that protection. And I’m thankful for it. I want the writing on the wall. I once clicked on an Amazon book advertisement, read the description … it was a romance … it seemed like a really sweet book, and it may have been … got to the end of the back cover copy and it cautioned: This is NOT a faith-based book. It was like McAfee virus protection raising the flag: Whoa! Are you sure you want to go there? No, I don’t want to go there. 🙂 Thank you, God, for protection.
And well, I don’t see the harm in proclaiming my work is faith-based … it might turn some away, but it might attract others. I always say that I’d love to proclaim on my works: Make no mistake, this is a God thing. Right or wrong, I like to know what I’m buying into … and I don’t mind others wanting the same.
When I go to the bookstore, I head straight for Christian Fiction … because I should be safe. That’s my preference.
I wouldn’t call proclaiming a book is faith-based a WARNING label … I’d call it informative. 🙂 That is what genres are for, are they not? The genre should be clear.
Shelli, I’m with you on wanting to be protected. I prefer inspirational fiction or clean reads any day. Like you, I’ve made it clear on my social media sites where I stand so readers won’t be surprised. 🙂
OK, I have a small challenge for y’all. I’m taking part in #BlogBattle, a weekly flash fiction contest. My entries have comprised a set of Viet Nam vignettes which are a part of my current WIP, “Travels with The Dude”.
* The stories have a Christian worldview (and the main character is devout), but they’re set against the backdrop of one of the more profane wars in our history. I write without bad language, but try to be faithful in description and action to What It Was.
* The current story’s up, if you care to click on my name…and its genre (required by the contest) is ‘Inspirational’. (This episode is not violent, unless you happen to identify with fictional leeches.)
* The challenge – where would this fit in with product labeling?
***
(Please understand that this is not an attempt to drive people to my blog; it’s just that the post that happens to be up at the moment could be be an easily-accessible ‘exhibit’ in this discussion.)
Leecherous. I don’t think it is “inspirational”, not that it isn’t, it just doesn’t exist to inspire. Its drama or action or something like that. It might somehow lift me up if down and indirectly inspire, but for the most part I would just enjoy it as I have done … next i please.
And then there’s Katherine Paterson, who said, “I think C. S. Lewis said somewhere that the book cannot be what the writer is not, and I think who you are informs what you write, on a very deep level. You reveal yourself whether you intend to or not. So you don’t put in stuff to signal that you’re a Christian; you write the story as well and as truthfully as you can because that’s how you glorify God, and you have to be true to the characters and who they are and how they talk. If it comes from a person who has a Christian hope and a Christian knowledge of grace, then I think hope and grace are going to infuse my work—not that I put them in, but because I can’t help having them there.” – from this CT interview: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/februaryweb-only/katherinepaterson.html?share=TlGHofcCbryMU8Y%2fGR4w43ZxTz2uP7mT
Here’s an excerpt from a Books & Culture article:
“Paterson and her work still defy easy categorization. Is she a Christian writer? Are her books Christian fiction? But maybe those are the wrong questions to ask.”
Full article here:
http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/2015/marapr/katherine-patersons-world.html
So, the writer has a responsibility (just write your book; don’t be manipulative). But the reader has a responsibility as well (remember that any author might be a Christian!).
Here’s another question: Do Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Les Miserables and Heidi need warning labels?
And that begs another question – will this carry over into films? Will MPAA ratings say something like…
* “This film includes intense and graphic violence, sexual references, nudity and prayer”?
Saaaay it, Monica! Say it.
( I love this comment on so many levels.)
No, not at all, because any faith aspects in those stories is contextual. Rachelle suggested a pretty subtle footnote and the general drift of this conversation is around principle, not taking it to extremes. Its a human flaw to always want to at the tidy extremity, namely all this or all that, but God advocates balance as in “grace and truth” or “justice and mercy”. That is the spirit with which we should approach this. If a book is clearly Christian genre, say so. If it is general, with some Christian flavor, then it all depends on the book’s motive.
I sort of like handling controversy with prejudice, but that’s just me.
* Pete you draw an excellent distinction between “Christian genre” and “Christian flavour”.
* The former is perhaps better described as allegorical apologia; a story related to elucidate a truth. “The Lilies of the Field” might be a good example of this.
* The latter is really reflective of us, and of fiction-as-entertainment, since most of our lives are really Christian Flavour; as much as we’d prefer not to face it, there are parts of most of our lives that we’d prefer God not examine too closely.
* There’s room for both. Christian Genre represents the goal; Christian Flavour is the rocky path that leads there.
I love your writing Drew … it was a good debate. Thanks Rachelle too. I might add that maybe, on reflection, “Warning Label” is a bit ominous. The content of the debate proposal was more subtle than that so I debated in that space, but no one needs to be warned about Christian content – it doesn’t harm, it helps. I only argued around principle. Be well, Pete
Exactly, Monica! I just finished Jane Eyre which is more Christian than many Christian novels I’ve read!
I’m commenting, not yet having read the other comments, because I’m possibly in the minority. I’ve had my share of poor Amazon reviews because I write Christian fiction (i.e., from a Christian worldview), even though there are no altar calls or conversion scenes in my books. The back cover material usually hints at what’s going on in the novel, but I take exception to having to “label” my work as inspirational fiction (which, by the way, I do like better than the “Christian fiction” designation). As one colleague says, “I’ll label my books right after those filled with erotica and profanity label theirs.” As for the comments by people who get the books free, there appear to be those who will take everything offered at no cost, without regard to content, and then knock the things they don’t like.
Richard, the final words of your comment made me think (and boy, is the hamster tired) –
* I wonder if some of the one-star reviewers are pursuing an agenda- they get the books for free and use them to specifically target Christian authors, to bring down rankings and thus sales?
* One could check the identities attached to the posts to see if they come up for other books thus attacked, but it’s likely that anyone who thought of this is using several aliases. I would, if I had a deliberate plan for this.
Richard, good point. You pick up what looks like a good read and before you know it, there’s all sorts of eroticism. You’ve wasted your time and sullied your mind.
I’d already made up my mind about this before reading this post, Rachelle, but you just confirmed what I had already been feeling. People do not come to God by being tricked. They must come to Him out of their brokenness and need, they must come because of His might and love. I’m all for having an “Inspirational Fiction” or “Christian Fiction” label on books. That is what they are, no reason to hide, I’m not ashamed.
Amen, Kristen.
Completely agree with you. I’m not ashamed to call my work what it is, Christian Fiction. I don’t see it as a “warning label” but as a call to action for those who share my love of a good, clean tale.
I have no problems with reading books by atheists; I feel sorry are denying themselves comfort, hope, and a dependable moral compass, but it’s their choice – and I don’t worry that reading their work will make me an atheist.
* I wonder if they’re afraid they may be converted? That Christianity is contagious?
Should read “…sorry that they are denying themselves…”.
Oops.
Christianity is contagious. In only 300 years even with repeated attempts to stamp it out, it went from a handful of followers hiding behind locked doors lest they be executed like Jesus was to becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire. I read the story of a Chinese soldier who was shooting missionaries during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. When he saw how the followers of Jesus died with prayers and forgiveness on their lips, he became a Christian himself. I read a recent story of an ISIS member who turned to Jesus after seeing the love of believers who risked death to save people who weren’t even Christian. He is now a security guard at a Christian-run refugee camp. I have a former atheist friend who was proud of talking nominal Christians out of their faith. He now travels the world teaching graphic artists how to produce professional-quality graphic novels to share the Gospel within their own culture. It is with good reason that atheists fear the power of the Holy Spirit to transform given even the slightest foot in the door.
Heather hit the nail on the head. Be honest on your blurbs and in your categorization. Honesty is huge.
My integrity is not so cheap to me that I would deliberately mislead potential readers about my book (providing I was actually published). What kind of hypocrite would that make me?
That said, there are those readers who will leave those reviews anyway. When I read the reviews of a book, I tend to discount the 1-stars and the 5-stars. I find the 3-star reviewers are the ones who will tell me what I want to know about the story, writing style, etc.
Perhaps one problem is that the overt Christian message is readily apparent from page one. What if the book’s beginning was so compelling, the reader read on page after page, caught up in the story to the extent that he or she didn’t care that the author was sharing a Christian world-view?
Someone who bought “Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart” (a member of a small and exclusive club!) wrote me to say that he didn’t expect Christianity in the book, but that by the time he got there he was caught up in the story, and so kept reading.
* He went to church for the first time in his adult life on the following Sunday, and signed up for RCIA classes a week later.
* For none-Catholics, RCIA stands for Roman Central Intelligence Agency…oh, wait, sorry, I was reading the classified part. It means Rite (of) Christian Initiation (for) Adults. Sorry, Please forget you saw the first explanation.
* Too late…there are a bunch of nuns coming through the gate, and they have RULERS!
And the angels in heaven rejoiced! If your book does nothing more than rekindle that one man’s interest in God so he accepts Jesus as Lord, every bit of effort you poured into it is worth it.
Its a great story, Andrew with a wonderful outcome, but I still think every consumer has a right to know. It is happening in the food, pharmaceutical, financial markets, so is it not fair that we at least respect a reader’s right to know, whatever that implies? You suggest lawsuits – that might be drastic, but don’t underestimate the level of scrutiny facing Christians in general and Christian outputs in particular. This is a great debate by the way.
Carol, yes! It was worth it.
* Pete, in reading over the post again, and the comments…I’m not sure. Most caveats placed on products and services are there to protect consumers from adverse consequences, but if we start labeling literary works in the same way, we open a Pandora’s box that will be very hard to deal with. We’ll start by labeling books that may cause discomfort to some, and the road to taking out everything that ANYONE finds offensive is short. ‘Christian’ can easily become synonymous with literary Pablum, promising readers a bland ride through Western upper-middle-class Christianity, the kind of mild feel-good adventure that is the antithesis of the experience of Jesus and His early followers.
* Yes, we’re under scrutiny. But if we accept a demand that we enter the marketplace shouting “Christian” with the specific intent of warning away those who might be offended by our work, we betray the One that made the work possible in the first place; we accept that we’re not fit consumption for the secular world.
* And we are talking about voluntary purchases with small dollar amounts. The “this isn’t what I expected” cry, and the demand that someone do something about it take the “be ye as little children” thing a bit too far.
This is about marketing, honesty and integrity. Don’t market your book for what it isn’t, market for what it is. Be honest. Are you preaching a faith-based world view? Or is it just the honest story. I never want anyone to say my book isn’t what I described it as. That feels dishonest to me. I have enough integrity to market my books as they are. And that way, people will know how to find my work, as it will be described in the right way.
While it is helpful to have the categories including “Christian” listed below the bar code when I’m shopping, I don’t think there should ever be a “warning label.” I’m trying to write emotionally intense stories of life-like people who face personal crises while falling in love. The main characters are a mixture of nonbelievers and committed followers of Jesus. Most of my plots involve at least one non-Christian who becomes a believer as one essential part of his/her character development arc. My career in science/engineering gave me many opportunities to talk with real people about God, creation, Jesus, salvation, the joy of being a Christian, etc. The characters in my stories have conversations that aren’t some formulaic presentation of the 4 steps. They are just like what I’ve had the chance to share with friends and colleagues in real life. If those real-life conversations earn one of my novels a one-star review, I’ll gladly take the hit. For every person who is upset to the point of writing a scathing review, there may be many who begin to think about the peace and joy that comes from being in relationship with God. If even one finds Jesus because my novel planted a seed…what more could I ever hope for? And if that seed gets planted accidentally when the reader wasn’t expecting it? I’ll give thanks for that as well. We often don’t even know we are looking for something until we find it accidentally.
“I know a lot of Christians think it’s a real shame that people are responding this way. But I have to say, I’m not surprised.” As soon as I read this, I thought of the passage my pastor preached this Sunday:
“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” John 3:20
Seems like anyone putting their faith forward is subject to harassment and even jail time (Tim Tebow, bakers in Oregon and county clerk in Kansas just to name a few). I am not debating the merits of how they stood up for their faith, but that they were persecuted because they did stand up.
I pray I will be overt for the Lord. And if that means less readers because the words “God” and “faith” on on the back blurb, I consider it joy.
I stand with you, Sarah.
Rachelle, I’m okay with having my work labelled as inspirational or faith-based. It amazes me how many times I end up having positive engagements with people who have a different world view, despite the fact I’ve been open about my own background. I think everyone appreciates honesty and mutual respect.
Blessings ~ Wendy
This is an excellent point, Rachelle. *I* know it’s Christian fiction because I work in the industry and I know who the publishers are. But most people don’t. Seems fairly simple to include the word “faith” in part of the blurb, or include a line about the book being “from Thomas Nelson, a Christian publishing company.” Or something like that. No harm, no foul.
I don’t see the problem here. For starters, it’s not a “warning” label, it’s a genre classification. And it’s not just a Christian/religious fiction issue. People who don’t like sci-fi get irritated if it shows up in a book that’s marketed as a mystery. People who don’t like erotica get irritated if it shows up in a general fiction. It’s simply classifying your book properly. Frankly, it’s smart book marketing to make sure your book is showing up in the categories and sub-categories it should be classified in, so that people LOOKING for that particular kind of book can find it. Think of the sales you might be missing from readers who ARE looking for faith-based books who pass yours by because there’s no indication it is such?
It’s not smart marketing to not indicate what genre your book falls within. But if you want to lose sales by marketing in a vast, over-populated sea of “general” fiction, sure, go for it. It means more sales for the people who’ve properly classified their book.
Is it a “warning” label to market a book as a mystery when it’s a mystery? No. Is it a “warning” label to market a book as sci-fi when it’s sci-fi? No. I think calling it a “warning” label is inflammatory and misleading and making a mountain out of a molehill.
I thought this would be a no-brainer, but I see not everyone agrees. However, we all place our books in categories almost everywhere we sell or promote them. I look at categories and content hints when I go to buy a book. I do not want to buy erotica, so I would be quite upset if I purchased a book thinking it was a cozy mystery only to find the characters cozier than I expected! Ditto with books laden with filthy language. That’s my money and my time I’m investing. I don’t always say the words “This is Christian fiction,” but I do try to make that evident in some way wherever I promote or post. I don’t think of it as excusing what I write. I think of it as truth in advertising. If someone doesn’t want to read my books, they shouldn’t have to. If someone decides they might want to read them in spite of their being “religious,” then that’s a plus–for me and I hope for them, too.
Sylvia, I see what you mean, but the classification can be awfully hard. As an example, if my “Emerald Isle” ever sees the light of day, I don’t know that I can call it “Christian” or even “Inspirational”; it raises the moral questions of supporting the IRA and abortion, and deals with serious illness as well. The characters process their experiences partially through a lens of faith, and that processing molds them and precipitates their actions. There is a ‘come to Jesus moment, but it’s not the heart of the story; it’s directly associated with an act of forgiveness, in a specific situation.
* The faith is IN the characters; it’s not the dominant plot element. My guess is that it’s not faith-based enough for believers (who might object to my calling it Christian), and too spiritual for seculars (who would be angry that faith can motivate). Hence my doubt that you’ll see the thing in a bookstore any time soon.
* But it was fun to write…and rewrite…and rewrite.
That’s the rub for many of us. We write fiction about the real world which can have some rough spots– tends to make some Christians uncomfortable, with a clear Christian message. Too pagan for the Christian, too Christian for the pagan. I struggle to find a balance and still tell the most compelling story possible. I’m not alone.
There are plenty of writers providing upbeat Amish romance. I write fiction that addresses real issues in this world that men can sink their teeth into. I don’t intend to mislead anyone, these are westerns and detective thrillers first and foremost, but I can’t leave out the struggle between light and darkness. I don’t think I want to write anything that is purely to entertain an otherwise bored mind, without any reference to faith, hope and love.
Yes, someone might be offended or disappointed. It happens to me nearly every time I think I’m going to see a “comedy” film. Not funny, just raunchy.
I feel the same way about comedy, Daniel. There’s very little good humour these days. (Not that I am a paragon…through life experience I have developed a degree of black humour that makes M*A*S*H look like kindergarten…including classic grenade fails that I personally witnessed.)
* I like the way you’ve phrased this, that these are westerns and detective stories first. When I was teaching, I was a structural engineer who happened to be Christian. I wasn’t a priest, or minister, and my faith was part of my life – not the whole of it. I didn’t (and was not supposed to) talk about religion to my students during contact hours.
* But the faith was always there, and while there was no particular faith arc to those years, the story was still that of a Christian man. It’s just that the clues were in my behaviour and deportment; in the real world that’s how we witness most effectively.
Actually, Andrew, that’s kind of where my books fall–somewhere in the middle. I’ve never felt like I belonged on either “side.” My stories aren’t what I think of as redemption/grace stories–more like Old Testament justice. Not enough grace for CBA, and a little too much scripture for ABA. Which is why I say I write from a Christian worldview. I write mysteries, and that’s the point of the story, but I wanted to write mysteries for people like myself who were tired of reading stories that were half gratuitous this or that–stories that I hoped wouldn’t offend the Lord. Someone else mentioned “target audience.” And I think that is as much a part of this discussion as anything else. All of that said, I struggled with writing my latest release. It ended up tackling issues I did not anticipate. And I know the resolutions and conclusions of the characters will raise some hackles on both sides of the CBA/ABA fence. The least I can do is set the scene! 🙂 I am glad Rachelle posted this topic. Because of the discussion, I will think a little more when I prepare an ad statement.
A friend of mine went with a bunch of co-workers to see The Ring. They all thought it was a romance.
It was a horror film.
They were seriously freaked out.
I want to know what I’m reading. Like Tymber said, it’s a genre classification. Simple as that.
Reading through the comments, it does make sense that there should be some way to differentiate Christian books from those with a purely secular theme, but it does seem to lead to a circular ‘argument’; that in applying a sort of code of conduct will block out some of the most compelling conversion stories and leave us voluntarily marginalized, speaking out only within the group.
* “Machine Gun Preacher” comes to mind. Sam Childers’ story is compelling, and we need to reach out to people from his background, but I sincerely doubt that a truthful telling of his story would have fallen within any strictures that would define “Christian”, because the first part of his life was a mess. We could end up preaching to the choir, and lose sight of one of Jesus’ main messages – to spread the Good News everywhere. Put a “Christian imprimatur” on it, and Christians will get something they did not expect – and they will be the ones to complain.
* My thought is to do what we’re doing, and accept the complaints. Jesus was willing to offend people by telling the Truth; He didn’t open His talks with “now I’m going to talk about My Father and the life I’ve come to bring, so anyone who might be put off, you can eave now”.
* I’m certainly not advocating bait-and-switch to trick people into buying books, but to backpedal as if we’re guilty of some kind of wrong against political correctness does not seem to fit into any definition of WWJD.
* People were disappointed that Jesus was not what they expected; many thought they were getting a temporal leader, and they got the Son of God instead.
You make fair points Andrew. I do see your concerns and maybe a code of conduct is overkill if it can be managed in a simpler way. Perhaps we are not talking about books that are genuine dramas with limited Christian aspects to it. Narnia comes to mind. Even fury. I have read many books and seen enough movies like that and its all contextual. For that matter sex or violence that is contextual to the story is also acceptable to me. Its not so okay when it a more obviously Christian genre book masquerades as something else, nor is it okay, as someone said earlier, when a book conceals gratuitous sex and violence. Then I have a right to know.
I agree with there, Pete. Completely.
There is nothing wrong with putting something like “inspirational fiction” on a review, but as far as any other label, it does not seem necessary. Maybe someone will come to the Lord from an unexpected book of faith, which with a label they would not have picked up. That is part of reading after all, not knowing what you’re going to find in the book. What happened to people doing their own homework, instead of thinking someone else is supposed to do it for them?
To me, the secular market needs labels. Such as “sex on every other page” or “full of killings.” What goes into the mind leaves a mark, whether it is a picture or words. I am very careful anymore with authors I’m not familiar with when choosing books to read.
I don’t consider it a warning when telling readers what my story is about. It is just the opposite. How many times have we been told ‘know who your readers are.’ My readers are Christian women who love to read Christian romances. The word ‘Inspirational’ is on my book covers. My subtitles reads, ‘A Contemporary Christian Romance Novel’. For the first book of my series, the second sentence in my book blurb mentions that the hero is a new Christian. The last sentence states ‘clean sweet romance’. If my kind of reader is looking for a book to read, I want her to know ‘THIS IS IT! You have found what you are looking for.’ I’m not issuing warnings. I’m broadcasting an invitation to my readers.
A book is a story. If someone reading it gets uncomfortable at any point, they can just stop reading. I write middle grade fiction. If my characters mention God and go to church, that is part of their persona and part of the story. Deal with it or stop reading.
You said in six words what I enslaved thousands of pixels to try to describe.
***
Deal with it or stop reading.
That’s missing the point. No one is concerned about contextual references to faith or God, that is life. The issue is a bit deeper than that.
I read a variety of genres depending on my mood etc., and one day looked for a new regency. The title of a book I found indicated a strong connection to Jane Austen, so I purchased it with certain expectations, although I did not recognize the author. Huge mistake, and I felt betrayed. I didn’t expect the quality of writing to equal Austen’s, but I was shocked at a detailed sexual scene and then at the vulgar language. I gave the book a lower review because I did feel tricked. So, I guess I get it. Without resorting to “Christian Warning Labels,” I can see good reason to not surprise our readers with anything besides wonderful plot twists and interesting characters.
I agree that a reader expecting nothing more than entertainment might be put off by a specifically Christian theme.
I have a review from a reader who really liked my writing, my characters and my story, but didn’t like the “religiosity”. Guilty as charged.
Clearly you’ve touched a nerve. Look at the number of replies. I plan to follow this discussion. It’s something I’ve been thinking about and I’m invested in the process.
No, I don’t believe authors/publishers need to label their works “Christian” to avoid those measly 1-star reviews. This is a personal responsibility issue. People have become so lazy and if they aren’t sure whether or not it’s General Market or CBA then they need to take personal responsibility and do some research.
If you think about it ALL fiction comes from a worldview. Do we need to label each? Sometimes I agree with them, sometimes not. The tables HAVE been turned!!! Many times over many years. Very often I have found that a movie I thought was about one thing turned out to have an agenda I didn’t like. But for some reason the Christian “agenda” seems to be the one the loudest voices are “offended” by.
Even though I label my books Christian, I had one review on Goodreads that hated my modern-day retelling of Beauty and the Beast because I mentioned “gawd” and “jee-zuss.” I had another that was mad that God figured more significantly in the healing of the main character than the woman. The reviewer said, “like a woman can’t save a man.” Well, having counseled too many women who date abusive men in order to “save” them, I generally don’t like to encourage that. And yet, even with these bad reviews, I still average 4.5 or higher.
I do label my novels Christian fiction. For one, it’s accurate and reaches my target audience better. Two, I am not ashamed of the label. I became a Christian not because someone snuck their faith into a conversation, but because they boldly proclaimed it, and I saw the fruit of it in their lives. But that’s me. I think we all need to do what God calls us to do, because He calls us all to be different members of the same body.
The thing with free books is that most people (I think it is the majority) will not take the time to look into what genre they are getting. I raise my hand here, that’s me. I’ve been one to get free books only to start reading and realize it was not what I was hoping or ever wanting to read. Now, I did not go write 1 star reviews, but I did feel blind sided. It’s so easy to click on that button and get a free book that has lots of reviews with a 4+ star “rating” on Amazon. Presently (because I have learned my lesson) I look at the publisher, reviews, and genre carefully. So now if I get a book it is because someone I know has recommended it, or it is a book I have been wanting to read, or I got it at the library and have already read it and want my own copy.
I think making the genre clear and prominent is a good idea for ALL books.
When I recommend a book, if I recommend Christian fiction, I tell people, “It’s a Christian novel.” As someone recommending a book I feel it is important to disclose what type of book I am suggesting someone reads. The same way when I talk to Christian friends who ask for book recommendations and I tel them, “Just know it is not a Christian book.” Again, I think the disclosure is important. I am a pastor’s wife, so I don’t want people feeling, “Can you believe she recommended that book with swearing!” Or, “Yeah, that pastor’s wife gave me a preachy book!” I feel I have that responsibility with books, as Christian writers/publishers, I think that responsibility is there too.
My Daily Deals have found me MANY new readers. Readers who didn’t know clean romantic suspense existed. They might not have picked it up if there’d been a warning label for fear that it was preachy. I always do a bit of research before I download any new book to my Kindle. I don’t want anything cluttering it up that I don’t plan to read.
I’ve had a few of those one star reviews because it’s faith based fiction, but the happy new readers FAR outweigh them. I don’t plan to change anything. 🙂
Colleen,
I discovered your Kauai-based series at Walmart. Like Dee Henderson’s novels, I would be very comfortable recommending yours to secular friends as exciting reads with realistic people who might even struggle with their faith after a crisis. The major female characters in the first two being research scientists is a nice twist that makes them especially good for my colleagues who are scientists or engineers themselves.
Thank you, Carol!
From Dee Henderson’s new book, Taken:
God, help me. The quiet prayer went straight to his Father…
Back cover genre: Romantic Suspense. Most secular readers wouldn’t know that winner of the Christy Award means a strongly Christian world view, so there is no indication on the cover that the main characters will be people of deeply committed faith and that mention of God will arise naturally and frequently throughout the novel. I’ve found more explicit expression of faith in Henderson’s novels than in many I’ve read bearing the Christian genre label. While I enjoy a sweet Christian romance, I also want books where challenging real-world problems are faced and conquered by strong characters who walk with God. The latter are the kind that I can recommend to a secular friend who might not read anything explicitly labeled “Christian.” There’s no bait and switch or attempt to deceive here. I like Connie Almony’s comment above: “I became a Christian not because someone snuck their faith into a conversation, but because they boldly proclaimed it, and I saw the fruit of it in their lives.” Uncategorized books like Henderson’s do exactly that- boldly proclaim what God can do in a person’s life.
Warning… the following is written from a Christian perspective. I mean a Conservative perspective. Wait, a Liberal perspective. I mean Happy HannuChrismaKwaanzaDan.
Our culture is ridiculous. And sick. And needs Jesus.
Bill
Very, very wise counsel, Rachelle. Unless an author is a bit of a vigilante or naive, it makes sense to avoid throwing work under a buzz saw by including a simple phrase to avoid that disaster-in-the-making. Thanks for sharing these thoughts and suggestions.
If one writes adult Christian inspired fiction that has some loving sex scenes, would one have to state that as well?
Of one writes adult Christian inspired fiction with some loving sex scenes, would one have to declare that as well?
My husband is writing Christian fiction novels which I believe are really well written (with quite beautifully written passages here and there . . . gold nuggets, I like to call them) as well as fascinating, entertaining, and inspiring. His writing challenges me to a higher level of integrity and faith. And finally, his novels, while fostering conservative values, are not preachy and many of the episodes are taken from real life events. How should I identify his “Target Audience,” to literary agents?