2014 cwc introduction to christian publishing final
DESCRIPTION
An Introduction to Christian Publishing (as presented at the Christian Writer's Conference, Melbourne, Australia, in October 2014).TRANSCRIPT
Iola Goulton
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Overheads available www.christianediting.co.nz
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Questions
o Keep for end
Introduction
What is Christian Fiction?
Types of Publishing
Christian Publishers
Australasian Publishers
Questions
Promotes a Christian world viewo Not a post-modern view
• God is not dead
• We are not a product of chance
• Reason alone will not build a better society
• There is the hope of eternal life
• All paths do not lead to God
o “Anything a Christian writes must reflect the truth of God’s account. If as a Christian we don’t write from a biblical worldview, we’re not portraying reality as it is.”
- Ann Tatlock
If you pull out the Christian thread from the plot, and the
plot unravels, it’s Christian fiction- Francine Rivers
Four categories of Christian fiction:
o Fiction written for believers
o Fiction written for unbelievers
o Fiction written for backsliders
o Fiction written for seekers
- Writing in Obedience by Terry Burns and Linda Yezak
Is aligned with Christian valueso Non-denominational
o With an evangelical bent, especially in US fiction
Does not glorify sinful behaviouro Sinful behaviour is clearly identified as wrong
• Swearing
• Drinking alcohol
• Smoking
• Use of illegal drugs
• Sex
Christian characters?
Traditional Publishing o Big Five
o Christian Market
o Small Press
o Academic Press
Vanity Publishingo Subsidy publisher
o Co-operative publisher
o Traditional royalty-paying publisher
o Self-publisher
True Self-Publishing
Christian Publishing
Hachette• Faithwords
Harper Collins• Thomas Nelson
• Zondervan
• Love Inspired/Heartsong Presents
• Avon Inspired
Macmillan
Penguin/Random House• WaterBrook Multnomah
Simon & Schuster• Howard Books
By Titles
Barbour Publishing
Zondervan/Zonderkids
Love Inspired
Adams Media*
Tyndale House
Harvest House
Monarch Books (UK)
Charisma
By Sales
Thomas Nelson
Bethany House
Zondervan
Tyndale House
Harvest House
Revell
Barbour
WaterBrook/Multnomah
See ACFW List of Recognized Publisherso Oak Tara Publishers
o Whitaker House
o WhiteFire Publishing
Other small Christian publisherso Anaiah Press
o New Hope Publishers
o Rhiza Press
Examine their books before submittingo Cover
o Editing
o Price
o Marketing
Vanity/Subsidy/Hybrid/Co-operative/Self-publishing
Abusive practiceso Fee charging
o Author-unfriendly contracts
o Misleading advertising
o Conflict of interest
• e.g. links between a literary agent and a publisher
o Lack of editorial gatekeeping
• No quality control on what gets published
o Poor or inadequate editing
o Repeated breach of contractual obligations
Openly advertises for writers
o In print or online publications or both
Claims it's seeking to publish first-time authors
Openly claims that it's not a vanity or subsidy publisher
Gives no or very low advances
Books are rarely in any bookstores
Publisher refuses to release sales figures
Postings in online forums never seem to include anyone
who was rejected
Vanity publishers targeting the Christian market
o America Star Books (previously PublishAmerica)
o Christian Writers Guild Publishing
o Deep River Books
o Lulu (managed by Author Solutions)
o Tate Publishing
o WestBow (managed by Author Solutions)
o Xlibris (An Author Solutions brand)
o Xulon Press
Author holds all rights
Author organises/undertakes all aspects of publishingo Back cover copy
o Cover design
o Ebook production
o Editing
o Printing
o Promotion
o Proofreading
o Social networking
o Website
Author arranges distribution and distributor takes a commission o Amazon, iBooks, Smashwords etc
Printing
POD
o CreateSpace
o Lightning Source
Offset
o Cheaper per copy
o Up-front investment
Ebook
Amazon
iBook store
Other stores either
individually or via
Smashwords
Distribution fee
o 30% for books $2.99-$9.99
Acorn Publishing
Breath of Fresh Air Press
Rhiza Publishing
Bookso How to Market A Book by Joanna Penn
o Let's Get Digital by David Gaughran
o Let’s Get Visible by David Gaughran
o The Fine Art of Self-Publishing by Mark Levine
o Discoverability by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
o Writing in Obedience by Terry Burns and Linda Yezak
Blogso The Passive Voice
o Newbie’s Guide to Self-Publishing
o Helping Writers Become Authors
o Christian Editing Services
Questions
I specialise in adult and young adult Christian fiction, and can be contacted at [email protected]. You can also find me at:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/ChristianReads and http://www.facebook.com/#!/christianediting
www.christianreads.blogspot.com and www.christianediting.co.nz
I offer the following services:
Manuscript Assessment:
A manuscript assessment is an appraisal and critique of your novel, providing feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of your plot, scenes, characters, dialogue, interior monologue, narrative, point of view, style, pace, language, Christian themes and overall consistency. This will highlight your strengths and provide you with specific areas on which to focus the revision of your manuscript. This is most appropriate when you have finished revising the first draft.
While a manuscript assessment does not include line-by-line copy editing or proofreading, I will provide general feedback to help you decide whether your revised novel will need further content editing or copy editing before you reach the proofreading stage.
Copy Editing:
Copy editing includes all aspects of proofreading, plus a line by line edit to look at sentence, paragraph and chapter length; identify repetition of words or ideas; ensure consistent plot, style, tense and point of view; ensure language and tone are consistent with the location and time period of the story; and undertake basic fact checking against reputable internet sites. While copy editing does not include rewriting, I do suggest alternatives for words used out of context, and revisions for sentences or paragraphs that are overly long. Please note that copy editing does not include formatting or coding manuscripts for traditional or electronic publication.
Proofreading:
Proofreading is the final step in preparing your novel before submission to a publisher or agent. This assumes the manuscript has already been extensively revised and edited, and involves checking spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalisation, missing or incorrect words and other typographical errors. If my initial read-through shows that the manuscript needs more assistance than basic proofreading, I will discuss this with you before I begin work.
Editing and proofreading are undertaken in Microsoft Word using the Track Changes and Comments features.