We have looked upon the enemy…

A lot of chatter about the Christian publishing industry’s resistance and/or prejudice against Spec Fiction genres (Sci Fi, Fantasy, Horror,) at places like deCompose and Just Another Pretty Farce have me wondering if I’m misunderstanding something vital.

I know there are entrenched Christian authors, big, gate-keeping publishing houses with marketing algorithms and audience demographics, a constant deluge of HistRoms sanitized for the pious, but where is the lair of the prim monster, this discriminating entity known as the “Industry”?

Isn’t the “Industry” composed of people and their work, including Christian Spec-Fiction readers/writers like me? Like Us?

Seems to me being part of the Industry means we can change the Industry. Our contributions (debates, discussions, manuscripts and purchases) are themselves evidence of a sea-change. As writers who may or may not be excluded from the mainstream due to dubious bias, we still have the liberty – the responsibility even – to produce, market, and support our type of work. No place for your novel in the current TradPub climate? Go Small Press or Self Pub. That the Mediocre and Deranged have taken advantage of the ePub revolution doesn’t make it any less of an incredible opportunity. Get your stories out there and keep writing. Keep supporting authors you enjoy. The ‘battle’ is lost because we retreat from the field and whinge.

Nay-Sayers and Critics we have with us always, but believe me, if Christian Spec Fiction authors start producing solid, superior material, the “Industry” will come a-knocking. They need to eat too.

Writers write. Christians are supposed to be infused with a sense of confidence and calling regardless of contradiction. Scratching at the door whining to be let in is definitely not the proper response.