In the world of Christian books, fiction is a perennial favorite.
“Christian fiction is and has been the strongest category,” said Karen Ball, senior acquisitions editor for fiction at B&H Publishing Group. “It continues to grow.”
Christian fiction isn’t just stories with high moral standards, Ball explained. It conveys what matters most — the truth of Christ — in the context of a strong story.
A major trend throughout Christian fiction is the inclusion of more realistic situations and issues, according to Sue Brower, senior acquisitions editor at Zondervan.
“The characters are more likely to experience things like divorce and alcoholism and drug addiction,” she said. “They’re flawed Christians and they’re using their faith to grow and overcome obstacles.”
Though Christian fiction has long been popular, peoples’ preferences within fiction change.
Brower said contemporary and suspense top Zondervan’s current fiction sales, with romance and historical fiction following close behind.
Bethany House Publishers is seeing many releases in a variety of fiction genres but the most active new category is contemporary women’s fiction, said Fiction Acquisitions Editor Charlene Patterson. At the same time, Bethany House is releasing more “celebrity books,” those written by a celebrity or popular nonfiction author paired with a novelist.
Romance — a longtime favorite genre for Christian fiction readers — is also experiencing a new trend. Today many Christian romances are merged with another genre like comedy, history or a thriller novel.
Patterson recognizes these subgenres, too, and expects that they will continue to develop.
“From historical to romantic suspense to chick lit, there are several subgenres of romance,” she said. “I think we’ll see these subgenres continue to grow and change as readers choose their favorites.”
Brower believes romance has been and will continue to be popular, because it touches people’s hearts, much like Jesus’ stories did.
“When He wanted to reach your heart, He told a story; when He wanted to reach your mind, He preached,” she said. “Some people need to hear it in their hearts before their minds.”
In the last several years, interest in the supernatural has grown dramatically in American culture — an interest that’s evident in popular books and television shows.
“Some of them deal with the supernatural from a non-Christian perspective, but it shows there’s hunger there,” Ball said. “It shows that people want and long for that aspect in their lives.”
Though Christians traditionally haven’t created a strong market for fantasy — because some are uneasy with stories that include magic and tales from other worlds — that may be changing in today’s climate, she noted. “Harry Potter and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ movie have sparked interest in fantasy.”
As a result, Christian fiction editors are looking closely for strong fantasy writers, Ball said. In the past, editors immediately rejected most proposals for Christian fantasy books. Now they’re looking closely to find quality writers and story-line ideas.
Statistics show that today’s teens and younger readers — tomorrow’s book buyers — are the readers most interested in fantasy, Patterson said. “I would say Christian fiction is on the lookout for its own Harry Potter, a book that can transcend age, gender and genre and inspire that much devotion and discussion.”
Still one of the biggest news items in Christian book sales is that independent Christian bookstores have competition, Patterson said.
“People are buying their books at big-box stores and church bookstores and chain bookstores and even places like grocery stores and airports,” she said.
With this wider distribution, more authors than ever are releasing Christian books.
“The breadth and depth of Christian fiction has really increased; almost every genre you find in the general market has a Christian equivalent,” Patterson said. “If you like an uplifting, clean story, there is something available for you in Christian fiction.”
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