(Originally posted on LiveJournal)
So, now that I’m out of Jeopardy! and am gearing up to work on lots of my own writing, it occured to me the other day that now would be the time to get a current copy of The Writer’s Market. So, I got the 2009 edition, and when I got home I thumbed through it.
In the course of my sorting through old boxes of papers, I had unearthed the manuscript of a short story I’d written several years ago. Another of those “I thought I’d totally lost this” pieces. It happens to be a Christmas story set in Biblical times. It needs some work and polishing, to be sure. But I was happy to find it, as I’d liked the story.
Like the “good” freelancer I’ve just become, it occured to me there might be some place to sell the story to. So I went thrumbing through the “religious magazines” section of The Writer’s Market. There are many pages of such publications, most of the Christian. But you want to know the one thing that startled me, as I read the entries for what they were looking for? Apparently, not one of them publishes fiction! Plenty of non-fiction and devotional meditations, and personal anecdotes. But fiction? Not one opening.
What’s going on here?
I participate in some fellowships here in Hollywood that are geared toward Christians who work in the entertainment business. And there is a lot of discussion about how the modern Church (regardless of denomination) has fallen down on its support of the arts and artistic expression. I’m used to it in the realm of film and television. But the idea that Christian publishers have totally abandoned the fiction front startled me. Is there some sort of thinking that fiction is somehow corrupt? How can that be? Jesus taught by telling stories!
Yes, I know there are certain Christian publishing houses that publish “Christian fiction” in books. But what about outlets for short fiction? For stories that do not call for a full volume of verbage?
It was disappointing to find I had a story for no official market. What shall I do? I’m considering going forward with polishing the piece to my satisfaction, and then posting it on my website for folks to read. I wonder if I could charge, like a dollar, for each access to the story? A complicated thing that, and I’m sure PayPal would be “happy” with a bunch of one dollar transfers. Seems like that wouldn’t be a useful solution. It may end up just being freely available.
But back to the more general question: what if I were to pursue a more general market? Has the world become so post-Christian, that a mainstream publication would turn away a story in which Jesus was a character? My vague feeling is that the story would likely be rejected, no matter how well written.
*sigh*
(It’s not that I’m planning on writing a lot of “Christian fiction”, but there is bound to be the occasional story like this one. They seem destined to be orphans of publication.
Comments
sartorias – Aug. 2nd, 2008
My sense is that there are deep demoninational splits–so that what is acceptable to one group is satan’s spawn to another.
You might do some trolling about on line, seeking Christian fiction markets through Google and subsequent links.
scribblerworks – Aug. 3rd, 2008
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll probably look into it all when I get back after MythCon.
It just struck me as weird that none of the magazines published fiction, even though they were up for the personal stories and meditations.
wild_patience – Aug. 3rd, 2008
That’s funny. When I subscribed to a Christian women’s magazine a few years ago, I thought it published fiction. But I’m not 100% sure and even if it did then, it may no longer do so.
What about the standard women’s magazines like Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and Ladies’ Home Journal. Do they publish fiction? Maybe they might be open to explicitly Christian fiction.
And the Paypal $1 donation thing is working for the Shadow Unit folks (Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, and Will Shetterly for the writers plus an artist whose name I can’t recall) if you want to go the online route. I don’t know how much money they’re getting off of it, but I always contribute (through the Amazon link — I don’t do Paypal, it confuses me) when they put up a new episode.
scribblerworks – Aug. 3rd, 2008
I’ll look into those further.
*sigh* The more I rifle around the Writer’s Market, the more evident it is that I shall have to get myself an agent. Well, I knew that was on the agenda eventually, but I can’t ignore it.
mattdocmartin – Aug. 3rd, 2008
What? A guy born of a virgin mother who was killed and brought back to life 3 days later not enough fiction for you?
😉
