Lack of Christian Fiction for Men
Have you been to a book store lately? It doesn't matter if you go to a Christian bookstore, a local or even a big box store. If your stroll through the Christian fiction section, one thing will be come abuntly clear. It doesn't appear there are very many Christian men reading Christian fiction.
If you compare the fiction and non-fiction geared toward men you will notice there is no comparison. I've done an unscientific survey to observe the number of Christian books with a female interest and men, it is at least a 10 to 1 difference in favor of women. (ok, I didn't actually count, but it is obvious)
I recently read an article stating men don't read Christian fiction because the cover was designed to attract women. The piece went on to state part of the reason for lack of Christian men reading Christian books is because the protagonist are usually slanted toward the woman's point of view. A recent article in Publishers Weekly stated that one of the larger publishers of Christian fictions key demographics are women over 65. While I do beleive there is a huge market for the female reader of Christian fiction, I also believe that if we give the men the type of fiction they want without sacrificing our Christian principles the men will come.
I think for to long men have been slighted by the publishing houses and maybe even authors them selves, by not writing what men would read. Men prefer a strong lead male charachter and lots of action. I think we can do this without writing a violent scene just because the author thinks the reader needs some red meat or droping the f bomb every other word. I believe that those types of tactics only feed the sterotype that all men are knuckle draggers looking for the next fight or the next girl to hook up with.
I think that we need to break the sterotype, that to be a good Christian we need to read only non-fiction. I feel that a lot of Christians fear that if they read a good action book it would corrupt the soul. I do think we need to guard our heart and not allow our selves to become of this world, but instead be in the world.
If you compare the fiction and non-fiction geared toward men you will notice there is no comparison. I've done an unscientific survey to observe the number of Christian books with a female interest and men, it is at least a 10 to 1 difference in favor of women. (ok, I didn't actually count, but it is obvious)
I recently read an article stating men don't read Christian fiction because the cover was designed to attract women. The piece went on to state part of the reason for lack of Christian men reading Christian books is because the protagonist are usually slanted toward the woman's point of view. A recent article in Publishers Weekly stated that one of the larger publishers of Christian fictions key demographics are women over 65. While I do beleive there is a huge market for the female reader of Christian fiction, I also believe that if we give the men the type of fiction they want without sacrificing our Christian principles the men will come.
I think for to long men have been slighted by the publishing houses and maybe even authors them selves, by not writing what men would read. Men prefer a strong lead male charachter and lots of action. I think we can do this without writing a violent scene just because the author thinks the reader needs some red meat or droping the f bomb every other word. I believe that those types of tactics only feed the sterotype that all men are knuckle draggers looking for the next fight or the next girl to hook up with.
I think that we need to break the sterotype, that to be a good Christian we need to read only non-fiction. I feel that a lot of Christians fear that if they read a good action book it would corrupt the soul. I do think we need to guard our heart and not allow our selves to become of this world, but instead be in the world.
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Christians need to spend some of their money supporting works that build up the faith, not tear it down like Hollywood.