Back on the purveyor of porn post, Becky made this comment:
I’m speechless.
But the saddest thing, in my opinion, is that so little is been done for teens by CBA publishers. One thing is apparent: people with an anti-God agenda understand that it is easier to sway children and youth.
Christians used to know this. (The beginning of Sunday school; organizations like Youth for Christ, Child Evangelism, Youth with a Mission) Now I can’t get started on what all I’m thinking.
What are we willing to sacrifice to minister to the children of the world? We see starving children on TV looking at us with big, brown eyes, and we sign up to send 17 dollars a month to feed them. We have so much, and these children have so little. They are starving.
So what about our spiritually starved kids? Shall we donate monthly for their well-being?
Publishing costs money. No one can simply publish good books for kids without having some plan. If the children’s books aren’t selling–aren’t supporting themselves–then the publisher that wants to publish them has to find another source of funding. It needs to look at children’s books as the pro-bono work of the company, perhaps. Maybe it can take some of what it makes off of romance, which is selling, and donate to the children’s books it wants to publish. Will Steeple Hill donate money to fund Christian children’s books? Or even clean, moral children’s books? They are owned by a company that sells hard-core porn. What do they care for clean children’s books?
And, that can be said from several Christian publishing companies now. They are, more and more, owned by large companies that care nothing about mission work. The Christian companies must make profit for their parent companies or they will be shut down, I suppose. I don’t see how these companies can take their profits from one genre and invest it in another genre as a ministry.
So, that leaves the smaller, independent companies. They are in a position to use their profits to take chances on children’s books. Some are doing that and meeting with success. Barbour, I think, made money from public domain books and romances and now they are dipping their toes into children’s publishing. They are moving slowly with quality stuff that is geared to sell. AMG took a chance with Bryan Davis’s successful Dragon in Our Midst books.
But what if they don’t meet with success? What if it takes a while for the books to sell? What if no one comes up with any blockbusters anytime soon? Should the publishers keep on printing books that lose money? Should they look at publishing children’s books as a ministry instead of a business?
The smaller companies that have the freedom to spend their profits by funding children’s books, can’t afford to do it for very long, probably. And the bigger companies have their bottom lines to make.
What if someone went on TV and showed the mangled bodies of kids killed in gang wars. Or the innocent victims of drive-by shootings? What if we showed skeletal young men dying of AIDS, and young, pregnant women addicted to drugs and looking into the camera with glassy eyes? Would people commit to donating 15 dollars a month toward publishing children’s books that carry the gospel message?
I’m not sure what the answer is. I do believe that if Christian children’s books won’t sell, we should print them up by the thousands and give them away. I believe that children need good books. Not just gospel books. But all manner of good fiction and nonfiction. Science books and history books. Stories of heroes and failures and friends and foes. Stories written from a Christian worldview. I think these stories can come out in all kinds of different ways. Movies and comics and traditional books.
And I believe that feeding the mind is as important as feeding the body. How to fund all this feeding is the problem. Maybe I should sell porn with one hand and use the proceeds to print Christian books. Would that be like the Israelites plundering Egypt? Of course we can’t sell porn. We can’t feed trash to our neighbors even if they beg for it and are willing to pay big bucks for it. What if we sell something like cookbooks and use the proceeds to publish children’s books?
There is another side to this ministry question, though. There is the possibility that if we look at publishing as a ministry instead of a business, we end up with low quality fiction works that are little more than sermons in disguise. Some would argue that this is the very reason Christian children’s books don’t sell. Some would say the publishers were doing a ministry and forgot about publishing interesting stories.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. How can we fund children’s books and encourage quality? I hope to help things along by offering honest reviews here. If you read about a book that tickles your fancy, buy the book. Buy the book to encourage quality and to fund a ministry. It’s a win/win situation.
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I don’t think well-written children’s books will need to be supplemented. I think authors and publishers need to work to get the word out that they have the books. Parents and teachers are dying for good books. I just got back from a speaking gig at a teachers’ convention and the need for more good books was one of the concerns I picked up on.
Parents want them but don’t turn to their Christian stores for them. Why? Because Christian stores have not made them available in the past? And Christian publishers don’t print them because the CBA audience doesn’t buy them. HUH???
Meanwhile, kids are reading all the Narnia and Little House books they can get their hands on. Then what? Harry Potter?
I think Bryan and AMG have shown that it can be done.
Becky
It can be done, and we are doing it with a small publisher that is, as its first priority, a missions organization. Makes sense, doesn’t it? They really believe in reaching starving souls, on the foreign fields as well as at home.
And when it comes to spiritual poverty, the American family is dressed in pauper’s rags. They have bloated bellies, and they don’t even know it. Mom and Dad stand in long lines for the latest X-Box, and they don’t even know that they are bringing home a bag full of Tootsie Rolls … or worse. Is this nourishment?
I got an e-mail yesterday from a mother who told how my series has ministered to her entire family. The father reads from one of them out loud nearly every evening, and during the emotional or victorious moments, he is moved to tears and has to let the mother continue. What a testimony that must be to the listening children! Dad, at the deepest level of his heart, has a passion for God! And Mom is his ever-present support!
God-honoring books can change young lives, but, as you mentioned, they can’t be thinly-veild sermons, or our society’s young readers will be turned off by them and not want to pick up another “Christian” book again. We would hurt the cause more than we would help it.
We need books that are exciting, imaginative, and brimming with spiritual energy that reaches into the heart instead of preaching from a pulpit. We need to shout about such books from the rooftops and tell libarians, teachers, and bookstore managers that the pages within can be tools to save souls, even though they have weird images on the covers.
With God’s help, we can do this. And God delights in soldiers who don’t give up when the going gets tough. He wants us to persevere. Sure, He opens doors that we can’t open ourselves, but if we aren’t willing to march into the valley of death to reclaim the captives of the devil, then we won’t be much good in the war for the souls of our children. If we don’t have the power within us to call upon the dry bones to rise up and come alive, then we might as well stay home and continue with shaking heads and our “tsk, tsk” laments.
Sally and Becky, I’m proud that you are marching on the front lines with me. I hope you soon have books of your own as new “weapons” in the battle, but, for now, you are already storming the gates of hell for the sake of the spiritually blind and naked youth who continue to chew on Tootsie Rolls and wonder why their swollen bellies always beg for something more.
God help us!
Becky, you are right on with your comments. I was just in a Christian bookstore and there was one six-foot section with middle grade and YA fiction on one side. It was in the back corner of the store on the backside of a preschool display. Half of that shelf space was taken up with Narnia books. On the other half, there were six copies of Landon Snow on the bottom shelf, three Dragons in our Midst books, and two Wilderking books. There were a few other books spread out on the mostly empty three-foot space.
I don’t think that people stopped looking for children’s books in Christian bookstores because the books weren’t available, though. I do think that the books have been available in the past. I suspect they didn’t sell and that is why they aren’t available anymore. The question is, “Why didn’t they sell?” I think the easy answer was, “Children aren’t reading anymore. They are playing video games and going to movies.” Now, post Potter, people have been scrambling for a new answer. I think the answer is, “The books didn’t sell because they weren’t well-crafted.” Good stories will sell no matter the media. Children love good stories. That’s my theory, anyway.
Bryan, what a moving appeal!
I must ‘fess up, here. We do have an x-box and we do read the Potter books. =0) I say that only because I don’t want to misrepresent myself. I think that Tootsie Rolls are OK once in a while. I also know that I tend to let the kids have more than is good for them. It’s easier to say “Yes,” than, “No.”
But I agree that our priorities are messed-up. And I agree with this:
I have a warm place in my heart for AMG because they took a chance on children’s fantasy when others weren’t willing. I’m so glad they haven’t had to eat the cost–so glad your books have been successful.
I’m also glad for the kids who are now getting a choice in Christian fiction.
At the same time, I’ve read some books that probably are not going to be successful. I hope the publishers don’t give up on the entire children’s genre and say the market is not strong enough, simply because some of the books aren’t going to sell well.
Some of the books are simply poor quality. We can’t blame bad sales on a weak market unless we offer quality to begin with. I know publishing isn’t an exact science. Some lousy books sell well and some good books die in obscurity. Still we need to keep offering good books, I think.
I really think part of the problem with the publishing world today is that it is market driven and the guys who buy the books are the marketing guys and not the editors. That’s what I hear, anyway. They don’t care so much about the content as they do about whether they will be able to package and spin a book to make it sell.
And packaging is really important. I’m always harping on that. It’s possible to generate great sales from package alone. Look at GP Taylor riding the hype that was built on what is arguably the worst book ever written. It is possible for lousy content to sell if it’s packaged and/or spun right. But if a book flops, lets not blame it on marketing, packaging, video games, or movies. The first place we should look is content. If we got that right, then we can examine other areas.
It just seems like publishers don’t care about quality content anymore. And until they start to care, kids will spend time on video games and movies.
So, while I agree that publishers can have their cake and eat it too–can serve the kids with quality and make money doing it–I also hope that if they have a few bombs along the way, they won’t give up. Some of the great books won’t sell well because no one knows they are out there. It takes time to spread the word. Some books won’t sell well because they are poorly crafted. Either way, the publishers need to evaluate the problems on a book-by-book basis and get in there and publish another one. It is not OK for us to leave an entire generation of readers with no choices simply because we aren’t making enough money off of them. We should be infusing salt and light into the children’s fiction market and not worrying about whether we make money or not. (in an ideal world where we were all independently wealthy, of course) If there are no quality Christian books for young people then we can’t get bent out of shape when the ALA pushes garbage.
There are a few quality Christian books for kids. I’m afraid that the market won’t really pick up, though, until there are many, many more. There simply isn’t enough, yet, for us to determine that “We’ve offered and no one’s buying.” We have to flood the market and let the bad ones die and the good ones rise to the top, I think. We have to offer variety–mystery, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, adventure, slice of life. Kids need to have a choice. What we have out there now is improving. But it has a long way to go.
So, while I know that publishers are business men and they have to make money to stay in business, I hope they will look at children’s fiction with a long-term eye. It may not make them bundles right now. But it is a worthy investment spiritually, and a wise financial investment over time, too, I believe. Not every book will make money. But if you have ten out there as opposed to one, you have a better chance of making money. The publishers are now looking for blockbusters. And if their blockbusters goes bust they lose big time. If they would instead publish ten great books and not worry about one phenomenal book, they would be better off, I think. But what do I know? I’m just guessing.
We have an X-box, too, and my older kids have read HP. That’s why I used the Tootsie Rool analogy, instead of saying these are poison. They are candy, not nutritious food that will satisfy our hunger. Although I wonder about calling HP candy. The further into the series I read, the nastier the taste I have in my mouth.
Speaking of AMG and successful, these Amazon number warmed my heart today:
Raising Dragons – 2717
The Candlestone – 5136
Circles of Seven – 6530
Tears of a Dragon – 3658
It’s nice that RD, even though it’s been out more than a year, is still selling well, and people who buy it are likely to get the others. I did a book signing yesterday at a local Borders and sold 75 books. Not bad for a Christian book in a mainstream store. The manager says my books have moved very well. He always tries to keep a dozen of each in stock, because they are in demand.
I write these things, not to toot any horns, but to bring hope. We can do this. But it takes a lot of work. One reason my books do so well here is that I speak at local schools, both public and private, sometimes all day long, and I do it for free. They also sell well in cities where I’ve visited schools and planted seeds, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Boston, Seattle, Kansas City, etc.
How many authors are willing to work their backsides off to make it happen? I trust that they’re out there. I looked at Randy Mortenson’s online schedule, and he seems to be working hard to get the word out about his fine Landon Snow book. Good for him!
But if an author has a different full time job, it seems impossible to make the kind of time commitment necessary to write an appealing book and get out on the road nationwide and sell it. I know I couldn’t keep my schedule if I were working a nine to five job somewhere else.
Can we call on YA authors to step out in faith, quit their jobs, run around the country at their own expense, speak until their throats ache, and trust God to pay the bills and put food on the table? It is such a huge step of faith and such an enormous task to break through with a successful YA Christian book, that I think very few will have enough passion to overcome the obstacles.
And it takes true, heart-burning passion. As I visit school after school, I take time to remember my priorities. I need to care for children as Christ does, desire their salvation with a godly zeal, and look into each set of eyes in every classroom and see a soul that Jesus loves. I ask some of them their names, and I try to remember them the rest of the day, so when I pass them in the hallway, I can call them by name. I encourage them to write to me, and I answer every letter and e-mail personally. I’m sure you can guess the kind of excitement kids get out of that. The responses are sometimes overwhelming.
The bottom line is that this is a labor of love, love for God and love for the souls of children. I know that other authors have the same kind of love, but they are not able to quit their jobs and do what I do. That’s okay. I hope that I will be able to swing the doors open wide for others. I hope that the success of my books will encourage publishers to keep trying to reach the YA market. If it takes burning myself out to make it happen, then may I burn brightly for God’s glory so that we may purge the darkness that is the current YA market, or at least light a candle that will draw children to the savior.
I am so thankful to those who have supported me in this mission–AMG (my publisher), Becky (who has commented on this thread and is helping me set up part of my book tour), and so many others who belive in what we’re trying to do. May God bless you all.
Okay, I’ve probably talked too much about myself. Thank you for putting up with the pouring out of my heart.
Bryan, those Amazon numbers are fantastic and so encouraging.
Just got your newsletter today and I’m thrilled that Tears is in its second printing already. This is great.
And please don’t be sorry for posting here. We love to hear about how you are marketing the books, how you want to serve Christ by serving children, and whatever else you want to tell us. =0)