months, I have gotten a ton of proposals of what I would consider the nostalgia category, mostly Greatest Generation storylines focusing on WWII and post-WWII... [But] we continue
to see our best sales in historical romance, typically in the 19th
century. Texas is a perennial setting that we find a lot of success
with. In fact, Texas is one of the top five words within our system
when you search for keywords by title.
Hutton, HCCP: We are very interested in stories about under-served time periods. We have a book on our fall list that’s set in
the fifth century C.E., the time of St. Augustine.
What category is not working in Christian
fiction?
Tipton, Barbour: There was a time that we were doing some
first-run contemporary fiction, and we aren’t doing that anymore unless it’s contemporary Amish fiction. Contemporary
sales were just not successful.
Hutton, HCCP: We haven’t seen any overall category fall off
the map, except fantasy. Fantasy has been a struggle for everyone, except in the YA space.
McConnell, Howard: We’re scaling back publication of debut
novels and putting more energy and capital behind brand-name
authors.
Watson, Tyndale: The purest form of sci-fi does not work for
us. Some futuristic does, but there has to be some connection to
a currently experienced reality. A lot of publishers have tried,
but for some reason they have not been able to identify or capture the audience.
The average reader of Christian fiction tends to
be a middle-aged woman, or even older. What
are you doing to court younger readers?
Marchese, WaterBrook: A huge percentage of our Christian
readership is in the library market. That patron may be older,
but we’ve also raised a new group of younger readers through
authors like Katie Ganshert. We published her fourth novel, The
Art of Losing Yourself, last month. I see Katie as the crux of the
change in the market. I don’t think she’s 30 yet. She’s a youth
group leader, and she watches Vampire Diaries. She’s that kind
of postmodern Christian.
Hutton, HCCP: We don’t do a lot of YA publishing, but we’re
very excited about Mary Weber, who has moved over to us. We
don’t publish YA that we can’t code with a general BISAC. Our
editorial and content filter hasn’t changed, but we believe that
in that category our books have to be on the shelf with the other
books that teens are reading.
Lewis, Baker: We saw from a Nielsen report that currently
27% of our sales in inspirational fiction are coming from people
over 65. That’s partially because they have more time to read
and more disposable income, and they love our books. But we
are also concerned that our books need to appeal to all ages. So
we are trying some dystopian fiction, the kind of thing that
adults can read or enjoy, but are geared for teens.
Feature | Religion Update
COMING SOON FROM
BESTSELLING AUTHOR
THE TOP NAME IN
AMISH FICTION
BEVERLY
LEWIS!
In the wake of a family loss, three Amish sisters
search for a way to define their own futures.
The Photograph by Beverly Lewis
Trade Paper; $15.99; 978-0-7642-1247-5
Hardcover; $19.99; 978-0-7642-1728-9
Large Print: $17.99; 978-0-7642-1729-6
On Sale: September 8, 2015
A Division of Baker Publishing Group • bethanyhouse.com
Available from your sales rep or call Bethany House at (800) 877-2665
In Canada, contact David C. Cook Distribution at (800) 263-2664
For available rights information, please contact Marilyn Gordon at
mgordon@bakerbooks.com.
