The real reason that Christians don't read fantasy
They have the same content requirements that apply to children's books.
There's been an ongoing discussion in the Christian speculative-fiction community about why nobody can sell books. This discussion has gone on for years. "Look at our awesome fantasy!" authors cry. "Look at our amazing science fiction! Why doesn't anybody want to read it?"
The Christians don't want to read it, and the non-Christians don't want to read it. So a lot of head-scratching goes on in the community. "What are we doing wrong?"
Stephen Burnett over at SpeculativeFaith.com wrote an article about this. He postulated:
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Q. Why isn’t there more Christian fantasy?
Answer 1: There has been, but it failed.
I know many Christian editors and authors who did or do publish fantastical titles, e.g. supernatural/fantasy/sci-fi. And that effort went over like a dead drone. Not because the publishers were not willing. But because the readership did not respond.
Without exception, the Christian fantastical titles I enjoyed in the 90s and 2000s3 are now out of print at their original publishers. Some, such as Oxygen and the Firebird series, ended up being republished by Marcher Lord Press, now known as Enclave, which is now an imprint of Gilead Publishing.
Answer 2: There is, but you haven’t heard of it.
Some Christian authors who tried fantasy/sci-fi at larger publishers ended up jumping genres. Or they moved into indie or self-publishing. In some Christian circles, this means even less opportunity for the Ministry platforms a traditional publisher might afford.
Even apart from that, you likely haven’t heard of an author’s self- or indie-published works.
From here it appears that a new author must be able to be a full-time author/marketer to work at making a living from being a full-time author/marketer. Catch-22?
3. There is, but readers aren’t there.
This question is not about the writers/publishers not giving the supply.
It’s about readers and what they demand.
That’s why I overtly push against the “why don’t Christian publishers and writers do X” line. Fact is: Christian publishers and writers have done X, and readers did not respond.
I’ve begun to wonder, among some of the “Christian fantasy” circles I know, whether some writers simply do not know of the many, many writers and publishers who have tried this, and are therefore led to conclude “Well, someone should try it,” e.g. reinventing the wheel.
After I wrote this material, an editor with a Christian publishing house commented:
It’s not that publishers haven’t tried to publish speculative fiction before, but the Christian readers didn’t respond to it. I actually have on my desk a fantasy trilogy that [my publisher] did in 2007; no one bought it and it’s out of print now.
And while Christian publishers definitely should be more willing to take risks, Christian readers (and Christian stores, even in the age of Amazon it’s actually amazing how much they influence what gets published) have often punished those who took risks. That’s why we’re stuck in a never-ending vortex of Amish Romance (and now coloring books).
So, Christians don't want speculative fiction. I guess because speculation often looks a lot like heresy--and the church has dealt with that particular nastiness for centuries. But I noticed something different.
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Dusk by Sandara[/caption]
While reading a homeschooling blog, I came across a blog for Christian homeschoolers who write books. These kids and young adults are voracious readers and writers. They consume Redwall, Narnia, the Warriors series, historical fiction (anything Little House on the Prairie), and fairytales. Lots of fairytales.
All these books have something in common: they are safe. Juvenile fiction has no sex, no swearing, and lots of adventure. Sound familiar? Why, yes--it's all the same thing that adult Christian readers continue to read.
And thus it dawned on me: to successfully market to an audience, you have to know your audience. And the Christian readership wants children's fiction. It's why the church hasn't moved past Narnia or Middle Earth (both written in the early part of the last century). Occasionally someone mentions Frank Peretti or Chuck Black. Very occasionally someone might bring up Andrew Peterson. But mostly kids are allowed to read mystery, talking animal adventure, and historical fiction. These kids then grow into adults who prefer to read the same things. They're not interested in the darker, edgier fiction out there.
However, the Christian spec fic authors want to read and write adult books. They want sex, swearing and blood--all things that aren't appropriate for kids books. Yet they also try to drag in the heavy-handed moralizing that is native to a lot of kids fiction. The result is a mishmash that doesn't appeal to adult readers of speculative fiction (too heavy handed on the moralizing), and doesn't appeal to the Christian camp (too dirty!). And let's not even mention horror.
Mike Duran in this video blog suggests that we drop the Christian moniker and just write pure speculative fiction. That way we can hit the adult market that wants the adult content we so badly want to write. We do have to learn to convey complex ideas without moralizing, but isn't that part of growing as a writer?
—Originally written in 2016, sorry if some of the links don’t work anymore
Hm… I’m a practising Catholic and I write spec fiction (blood, non-graphic sex scenes, violence, horror), and I don’t do intentional moralising. How does that work with me being Christian? Well, first of all, I think my values show in my work inevitably - the good guys win, the evil get punished. All the best, timeless themes are also core Christian themes - pure love, self-sacrifice, friendship, brotherhood, courage, family, etc. Secondly - I am a professional visual artist. It means I had to draw nudes from nature. The whole history of Christian art is full of depiction of nudes, violence, blood etc. Take Adam and Eve. David chopping off Goliath’s head. Etc. Creativity is a gift from God, and if I listen to my conscience (which is deeply influenced by Christianity) I am free to create, as long as I don’t corrupt. Thirdly - the sex scenes. God has given us the beautiful ability of manifest our love through physical nearness. I want to make it beautiful again. Not diminish it to ugly physicality. In my stories, often the couples go through some kind of Marriage ritual. If not, often they face some unpleasant consequences. So, you can write fantasy. Even brutal, dark fantasy. Even as a Christian. Just make sure it has the moral grounding in Christian values. As for horror? I try to write poetic and symbolic horror which also raises questions about the motivations of characters. I do not show the villains in good light, but I do like to mess with the readers head.
My point is - Christians can and they do write readable spec fiction (at least judging by my work, and there are plenty other good Christian authors on Substack).
This.
I came to this realization 3 years ago. The Christian market doesn't want anything new or challenging. They want pap that's been mentally sanitized into worthlessness. Salt without savor.
There isn't enough serious Christian fantasy that isn't apologetically infantalized for my tastes. I don't want the Veggietales level of fantasy. That's good for children or newcomers to the faith learning the basics. It's milk when I need meat. I also don't want renamed allegories for Jesus and the parables or stories from the Bible. I'm sorry, I'd rather go to scripture. Reskinning the story of Moses is BORING! Even with a sci fi veneer. Especially when the author often does not have enough understanding or skill to create an engaging narrative that isn't transparent as glass.
Give me Piretti (despite him often doing what I'm about to say next). I want stuff that's going to convict my soul and not have a neatly trite resolution where a simple sinner's prayer or "Road to Damascus" moment saves the day. It's insulting. That's why I write my fantasy in a much darker vein that 90% of Christians will accept, because the same percentage have never stopped sucking on spiritual milk and refuse to try and chew the meat that would make them strong in their faith.
This is why Christian fiction is a sliver of a fraction of the market, and even that sliver of a fraction is turning up their nose at anything that isn't a 30 year old IP. I was at RiseUpCon this year with several other big names in Christian fiction. The public spurned us all. They only wanted celebrities from old IPs, or collectables of the same.
So now, I'm giving up marketing to Christians. Too many of them want sermons, not stories. That's not me. I'm marketing my books to the lost instead. The people who don't want to hear the name Jesus but need Him in a way they can understand. People who need characters that are broken and fallen just like them. The lady's church muffin societies who have no spiritual strength but a lot of feelgood rhetoric and moralistic theraputic deism to throw around like chicken soup at a cold don't want these sorts of questions put to them. The conviction of the spirit is too painful to confront. They're no longer my target audience and I'm fine with that, now. There's almost no money there to keep me writing anyway, and I'm not doing this as a charitable donation or hobby. Let someone else who can speak to their hearts and evangelize to them.
So to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, "I didn't leave the Christian Spec Fic community. They left me."
Again, Christians... your lack of content is the fault of your lack of engagement and I have no sympathy for self inflicted wounds. If you find my caustic view of this stings your spirit, then perhaps that is a prick of conviction to your spirit by the truth.