Pete and Dorothea talk about participating in the recent Facebook Event: March to a Bestseller 2, genres, validation and the coming release of the first novel, Kneel & Prey.
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Topics Covered:
- Facebook Event
- Defining a New Genre
- First Novel Kneel & Prey
- Beta Reader Feedback
- Marketing Strategies
- Focus on Core Audience or Extended Audience?
- Fluid Independent Publishing Landscape
Oh this funny! Great podcast! So, this is the Shari that was mentioned in the podcast, but I’m not Mormon and living in Utah; I live in Florida. LOL.
What I was trying to say during the facebook event is that we can look at what the Mormons are doing for marketing some of their books, because they have a huge publishing community. But beyond that, I agree that we need a mashup of faith-filled characters just living in the real world, like all of us do, without being held back by the parameters of the Christian publishing industry. Our characters, just like their authors, are Christians first and foremost, living in the world, but not of the world. Which means that our characters make decisions based on their biblical world-view, just like real Christians do. ….So yes, this makes it a bit more challenging to market these types of books, but I really think that this is where God is leading a lot of Christian writers. In the past, the choice was either you write for the Christian market, or you write for the secular market, but I would prefer to write for both. I’m a pre-published author, but I already know that I don’t want to just write for the church, I want to show how we Christians live in the world, in a real way, and deal with real situations, without losing that fun, thrilling edge to the work. Anyway, that’s what I’m working toward. … And thanks for the mention Sonlight Press! 🙂
Shari – sorry for the mix-up. You know what they say about assuming… I have made an a$$ our of you and me, but mainly me. LOL
I’m glad you feel more Christians are trying to write move toward the secular, not to diminish the faith, but widen the message. I love reading a good book or watching a movie and seeing the Christian symbolism layered in that doesn’t get in the way, but is part of the design. Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas series, especially the early ones, have numerous Catholic terms and symbolism. The movie The Island is one of the most overtly pro-life movies Hollywood has ever put out, even though I’m not sure the filmmakers realized they were doing it.
I think the freedom Amazon has given to writers in regard to genre identification has allowed for this different approach to be more acceptable to the public. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.