Christian Fiction Expanding Bounds

An article in The Washington Post points to an encouraging trend among Christian authors and publishers. "The Christian book business, optimistic that a little literary escapism might be an antidote for readers in hard times, is turning to bonnets, buggies and bloodsuckers," wrote AP's Eric Gorski.

"Even as Christian publishing suffers during the recession - one study found net sales for Christian retailers were down almost 11 percent in 2008 - several publishing houses are adding or expanding their fiction lines with both the tame (Amish heroines) and boundary-pushing (Christian vampire lit).

"The undisputed industry leader is so-called Amish fiction - typically, romances and family sagas set in contemporary Amish communities. They're a surprise hit with evangelical women attracted by a simpler time, curiosity about cloistered communities and admiration for the strong, traditional faith of the Amish."

The success of the genre is promoting authors and publishers alike to yield to the temptation of spinning off new series about other cloistered communities. "If you want to sell it, as one literary agent put it, put a bonnet on it."

Could there be a book somewhere down the road entitled The Ephrata Cloister Meets the Taliban Anti-Christ? You tell me. - D. J. Herda

AmSAW Home - Free Associate Membership - Writer's Toolbar