Been thinking about our fiction section at House of James. Like most Christian type stores we carry titles primarily from Nelson, Tyndale, Baker/Bethany, Zondervan and other “Christian” publishers and some from major general publishers. For years many of our books had some kind of redeeming element or some kind of Christian theme woven through out- yes sometimes it was forced and sometimes it seemed a bit cheesy I’ll admit. Now though, many of our books are better written but there seems to be virtually no redeeming value in them. For example, Liparulo’s Comes a Horseman, Ted Decker’s – Boneman’s Daughter and Steven James , Pawn. The thrill and chill factor is there. I love a fast paced novel. I learned a lot about a serial killer’s style and a murderer who broke all the bones of his victims. Some of these books are incredibly awful, gory and graphic. In my store I have rarely censored anything in this department ( although once I put up a sign warning folks about the graphic language in Miriam Toews’ novel because it was over the top as compared to anything else we had every carried- but a very good and important book).
However, lately I’ve been thinking we shouldn’t call it Christian fiction- just fiction, and forget entirely about who publishes it and its redeeming value – the only guiding principle is that it should be high quality writing and if there is profanity and graphic sex it should be somewhat reasonable. Speaking with one of my staff the other day , she said John Grisham’s latest The Associate- had one of the clearest presentations of the gospel she’d seen. Nothing like that this in any of the thrillers I’d read from our store in the last 2 years or so.
Booksellers? What do you think, what do you do? Does it really matter?
Shopppers? What do you expect and want to see at the House of James in this area? Any good suggestions of quality fiction we should carry that I might not have in now?
Good question(s) Lando. The customer relationship is not unlike a courtship. Each small step is measured for the result and built upon or set aside. Perhaps your first step would be to simply change the signage as you suggested to FICTION; making the subtle statement. Your shoppers most likely won’t notice or react to that.
You might then post some sort of definition of what you are looking to do with the section. Begin a dialog with your customers similar to your blog post. without changing your inventory, raise the flag of change and listen to the response. Each step leads to the next – bring in a handful of general market titles, feature them not as secular titles but merely as good reads. See how people respond. Blah blah blah
By: Jim Seybert on May 11, 2009
at 1:51 pm
Hi Lando…
Nice to see you here.
A subject near and dear to my heart.
As a Christian who’s read fiction all my life and been heavily influenced by fiction (primarily mainstream fiction since I found most Christian fiction had characters that were too cardboard or themes that were forced), I’ve recently tried reading a few of the new kind of edgy or whatever you call them novels and have found myself either tossing them after realizing I really could care less or else getting totally annoyed by their so-called limp message – some of which have seemed theologically out-to-lunch.
Of course, I also realize that what we’re getting is primarily American publishers’ ideas of what Christian fiction should look like (with a lot of input from the marketing departments). One of my goals is to see more fiction written by Canadians who are Christian. I have a strong feeling those books will have a different look and feel. I sure hope so.
By: njlindquist on May 11, 2009
at 5:08 pm
Just finished reading, with great pleasure, the latest from Alexander McCall Smith in the #1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. If you haven’t sipped bush tea with traditionally built Mma Ramotswe and her bespectacled colleague Mma Makutsi, you have missed out on a modern literary phenomenon. And I use the term literary advisedly! Written with warmth and compassion, McCall Smith’s wry commentary on the human condition fills me with hope and happiness. No violence, no s-e-x, not one swear; only a cracking good story. Albeit not one mention of God or the Bible. Compared to Ghost Writer by Travis Thrasher (“Christian fiction”) which I read at the same time, I will take Mma and Co. any day of the week.
By: Becky on June 16, 2009
at 2:51 am