No longer is Christian fiction solely the realm of prairie romances—and no longer is it only sold in Christian bookstores. While percentages vary by publisher and by author, roughly half of Christian fiction sales now happen in the general market.
Chip MacGregor, associate publisher at FaithWords (formerly Warner Faith), says, "The bulk of our sales come from the general market. Actually, the entire objective in creating Warner Faith was to take faith books into the general market." Other publishers, like Thomas Nelson's WestBow imprint, have attempted to distance themselves from the "Christian fiction" label. According to publisher Allen Arnold, "WestBow has never been a publisher of what is traditionally defined as Christian fiction, meaning G-rated stories with a lesson to teach or an agenda to preach. From the start, we've been a publisher of great fiction from a Christian worldview. That distinction is far more than simple semantics." That theme is echoed by Dudley Delffs, editor-in-chief at WaterBrook: "Good fiction is good fiction. The best stories aren't driven by an agenda."
It's clear that the content of Christian fiction has changed dramatically in the past 10 years, with new genres like chick lit and mystery thrillers, and with edgier story lines. Christian writers "aren't sugarcoating as they may have in years back," says Sue Brower, senior acquisitions editor for fiction at Zondervan. "There are no pat answers. Not everybody gets converted in the end." But publishers who tend to include more specifically Christian content and a more traditional approach are also selling into general market stores. Carol Johnson, v-p of editorial at Bethany House, estimates the split between Christian and general market sales to be 50-50 for its bestselling author Beverly Lewis.
Most publishing executives, while thrilled with their general market presence, are careful not to say anything negative about declines in Christian retailing. And some, like Zondervan, have not seen CBA sales drop, suggesting that the audience has simply broadened rather than shifted from one retail channel to another. Christian publishers know their customers shop in Wal-Mart, Costco and the national chains, and want their books to be available there. "We're not making the customer come looking for us," says Brower.
FaithWords' MacGregor credits much of its success in the general market to its sales team. Because all Hachette Book Group sales efforts are consolidated in New York, FaithWords titles are sold alongside everything else the company publishes. Asked if that aids their credibility, MacGregor replies, "Absolutely." WaterBrook recently created a sales position that focuses solely on ABA stores and brought in Carie Freimuth, who has years of experience working for New York houses, including Random House, which owns WaterBrook. "We're exceptionally thrilled to have her on board," says Delffs. "I think she brings a unique vantage point."
Moved Ahead with Left Behind
In many ways, this trend began with Tyndale's Left Behind series, which wasn't picked up in general market stores until the release of the fourth book, Soul Harvest (1998). According to Dan Balow, director of business development for the series until 2004, general market retailers "loaded in" the fifth book, Apollyon (1999). That title sold half a million copies (the entire series had sold roughly one million by that time) and ended up on the national charts, including those of PublishersWeekly and the New York Times. Publishers and booksellers alike recognized a new source of revenue: customers in general market stores looking for Christian fiction.
"The general market tends to reflect success rather than create it—at least, back then that was the case," says Balow. There is some debate among publishers about whether this is still true—do general market stores really contribute to getting Christian books off the ground, or do they just pick up things that have already done well in the Christian market? "You still have a better chance with something that's a bestseller in the Christian market first," says Brower. But Larry Kenderski, who buys Christian trade books for Borders, believes both are true. "We look for both," he says. "Established authors—people like Beverly Lewis, Karen Kingsbury, Dee Henderson, Jenkins and LaHaye—obviously they've done very, very well. Then there are newer authors that have popped up within the last three or four years that have done well for us—Ted Dekker, Catherine Palmer, Tracie Peterson."
Where to Shelve?
Aside from a handful of authors, all the Christian fiction that makes it into general market stores gets shelved in the religion section, generally in alphabetical order by author. Many publishers and authors would rather have their books in the general fiction section, where they could get exposure to a broader audience.
MacGregor cites Karen Kingsbury, whose novels under the Center Street imprint are geared to a general market. "We can't tell bookstores where to sell her, but my guess is she goes straight to the religion section. Retailers still have pretty well-defined limitations for people who came out of the Christian fiction group."
Kenderski has a different take. "Sometimes it can be a very fine line," he says." "Ninety-eight percent of Christian fiction goes within our Christian fiction category, and usually that is determined more by the publisher. When we look at it, we ask the question, 'How much Christian content really is in this book?' Borders decided to shelve Jan Karon in general fiction instead of the religion section because, according to publicist Holley Stein, "we feel her books are best served there. For us, religion fiction contains religious plots and covers from publishers and imprints that have defined themselves and the books as religious"—perhaps confirming some publishers' worst fears about not being able to break out of the religion section.
Publishers report that getting a book into general fiction often requires talking to a different buyer, which creates roadblocks. One even reported having a religion buyer tell him she hoped their book wasn't too successful, since that would mean it would be taken away from her and given to the general fiction buyer.
But, says Brower of Zondervan, "On one level, we would love to have titles shelved in general fiction. Some readers would love it. But where do Christians look for Christian books? They go to the religion section."
Freimuth, heading ABA sales for WaterBrook, says, "It really comes down to the books. Our role is to connect the books and the readers." Kenderski agrees. "The majority of the time it ends up in Christian fiction. I think we all know that's where a lot of customers look for it," he says.
Carol Johnson, v-p of editorial at Bethany House, is content to have books shelved in religion, but thinks there could be improvements. Johnson was on a task force several years ago (along with Brower and others) that developed a booklet for retailers encouraging them to divide the fiction section by subcategory. Readers would be able to quickly find books like those of their favorite authors.
Craig Stoll, merchandise manager for the 22-store Mardel Christian retail chain, said the chain started shelving by subcategory several years ago, and the results have been "very positive." Regarding the expansion of general market sales, he says, "While it has been a challenge, I think it has been a good thing overall. There is no question the general awareness of Christian fiction is much greater now than it was a few years ago. The challenge has been to learn the best ways to respond to increased competition through pricing and selection strategies that will differentiate us in the mind of the consumer. When these books are available everywhere, we have to give the consumer a compelling reason to buy them from us."