50 SHADES OF CHRISTIANS: A TALE FROM AN AGENT PITCH SESSION

If you've been following my blog, you have undoubtedly read about my frustration with the Christian market and what it is NOT selling. Multicultural, interracial, different shades... This fact was confirmed in a pitch session I had with an agent at the RWA conference this past Saturday. One agent graciously asked for a partial saying the market is wide open for clean/Christian interracial fiction (thank you for your optimism!), and the other... the other told me flat out: it won't sell.



The downer agent relayed a story about an author a few years ago, who produced interracial fiction (the agent praised this author's writing) and it BOMBED. I wish I wrote the author's name down, but hindsight... Anyway, I told the agent that I was indeed frustrated by the lack various shades in the Christian market and the agent asked quite bluntly, why was I then pitching this project to her. I responded with equal frankness, "I want to see my cover on the shelves in bookstores." I want to be able to walk into a Lifeway and see some variety...50 Shades (not of Gray). She said contact her when I've sold 6,000 copies of my ebooks. "That will prove to the CBA that there is a market for it because right now, they don't believe there is one."



There is a market for erotic/erotica and a market for sweet romance. There is a demand for secular/mainstream and a demand for Christian romance. There is a market for interracial erotica and there is...um...not a market for clean and/or Christian interracial romance???



This article, dated in 1997(15 years ago...15!!!), talks about how Christian romance is on the rise (the start of Love Inspired). One African American woman was quoted as saying, "I would like to see a black Christian romance novel based on the same Christian point of view. And also from a Hispanic (point-of-view) you know, different backgrounds, because we're all born in Christ." Her race was singled out compared to the other interviewees who--I think it's safe to say--weren't black. I've heard the CBA is years behind the mainstream in picking up trends so to you ma'am, what you want still isn't happening.



There may not even be 6,000 interracial Christian couples. Who knows. My stories (all but one) have nothing to do with race, they just feature A DIFFERENT SHADE of humans. There is not a market for that in Christian fiction. Oh, well. God's paintbrush just won't impact the Christian fiction shelves anytime soon. By the time clean interracial fiction makes a splash (it will! a tiny one if I'm the only one writing it), black people and any other shade will be out the CBA will have missed that boat, if it ever wanted to get on it in the first place. Guess that means that black Amish story I planned to write would be DOA... I'm still going to write it, haha.



All throughout my sessions at the RWA conference, I was told to write the book you want to read, regardless of what anyone else says. Haven't we all heard the stories of that person who sold a book or landed an agent when they were told their work wouldn't sell? Well, I'm in that predicament. Thank goodness for epublishers (and self-publishing)! They aren't restricted by industry standards and love different shades--and as I'm discovering, so do you readers!!!



So, if you liked my story, please tell a friend! I'd be forever grateful. Word of mouth is still the best marketing tool. There are other shades of Christians out there and we can ALL relate to a good story about the trials and tribulations we ALL face, regardless of our shade.