DO CHRISTIAN PUBLISHERS TAKE CHANCES?

Q. What kind of chances are Christian publishers willing to take? Would they be willing to to look at a cross-over book—maybe not a typical Christian/evangelical book—but one with a mainstream flavor and plot line?

A. It is not at all a matter of the Christian publisher being willing to take a chance. Christian publishers generally have a mandate to publish Christian books—books that in some way reflect Christ and the Bible. It is also what the Christian bookstores and other outlets expect from them. Christian bookstores, especially, are not comfortable carrying books from a publisher they cannot trust to provide them with those books with a Christian emphasis. Since the bookstore owners can't read every book they sell, they have to depend on the publishers they deal with not to introduce books their customers would not appreciate. Once that happened, some bookstores would cease carrying any books from that publisher. If you have a book for the general market, then go to a general publisher.