The Lost Genre Guild
As part of the CSFF Blog Tour, I’m featuring the Lost Genre Guild today. I’ve been a member of the organization for nearly two years now, though my level of participation has fallen off considerably of late. As I understand it, LGG has over 130 members, which means they are nearly as large an organization as CSFF. Of course, I’m not the only one who belongs to both groups. The point is, however, that between us, we have a growing number of people with interest in promoting the “lost genre”—Christian or Biblical speculative fiction.
What I discovered today in reading some of the other tour posts has given me pause. In one comment at least, the Lost Genre Guild is painted as an alternative to the “CBA monopoly.” Several tour participants observed that the Guild Review, set up at the LGG site as a review of books in the lost genre, contain only a handful of books that are available, none from the CBA.
My thinking has been that many writers have grown frustrated with waiting for changes in Christian publishing. I’m not sure why those writers haven’t pursued publication with general market presses. Maybe they have, with no success. The point is, for whatever reason, a considerable number of speculative writers have self-published or utilized the services of small houses or alternative publishing sources. And shouldn’t we all come together and support one another?
Quite honestly, the CBA did have a monopoly for some time, but what is breaking the hold of that organization over Christian fiction in general and speculative specifically, is Barnes & Noble, Borders, Walmart, and the like. Christian fiction is now welcome in general market stores. Publishers Weekly even had an article about general market publishers producing some Christian fiction through their non-religious imprint so that the books will find their way onto shelves next to other mysteries, suspenses, romances, and fantasies.
In other words, I think the biggest agent of change (humanly speaking) in Christian fiction is in the distribution and shelving. As the fiction from Christian authors becomes available to wide ranges of audiences, fewer restrictions will be in place. This is good … and bad in my view.
Good, because a wider range of stories will be accepted, including more fantasy and science fiction, as the market dictates. Good, because many writers want to write stories with non-Christians as their target audience, but since non-Christians don’t generally buy from CBA stores, those books have not been picked up by Christian publishers.
Bad, because anything can now be called “Christian,” if the author claims to be a Christian. Many Christian writers say that their “Christian worldview” will inevitably come out in their fiction. I dispute this, though there is an element of truth—when I write for the newspaper, my Christian worldview comes out by my choosing to write truthfully, for instance, though readers aren’t going to pick up on that.
But here’s the bottom line. Shouldn’t we who want to see more Christian speculative fiction support it no matter what form or from what venue it comes to the reader? I don’t see the value of segregating traditional from non-traditional. In other words, I’d like to see the Lost Genre Guild include on the Guild Review books by CBA authors. I personally think that can only help all concerned. If a link for a Donita Paul book review puts a reader on the Guild Review page where there are dozens of other lesser known books, how can this do anything but help the cause of speculative fiction?
Just my opinion.
Check out what others on the tour are buzzing about:
√ Brandon Barr Justin Boyer √√ Keanan Brand √√ Kathy Brasby √ Grace Bridges √ Valerie Comer Courtney √√ Frank Creed √ Amy Cruson CSFF Blog Tour √ Stacey Dale √ D. G. D. Davidson Janey DeMeo √ Jeff Draper √ April Erwin √√√ Karina Fabian √ Andrea Graham Todd Michael Greene Katie Hart √√√ Timothy Hicks Joleen Howell Jason Isbell Cris Jesse √ Jason Joyner Kait √ Carol Keen √√ Lost Genre Guild √ Mike Lynch Magma √√ Terri Main √ Margaret Rachel Marks √√√ Rebecca LuElla Miller √ Nissa John W. Otte √√√ Steve Rice √ Crista Richey Mirtika √√ Hanna Sandvig James Somers √ Robert Treskillard Jason Waguespac √√ Phyllis Wheeler Timothy Wise
√ indicates I know these bloggers have posted articles
COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cathi Hassan DATE: 1/1/2009 5:49:30 AM
It is true that the more successful titles aren’t in the Guild Review at this time. If you notice, there aren’t many titles at all in the reviews right now. Firstly, this is because the Guild Review is a fairly recent addition. Secondly, those who write the reviews have been swamped with real life to the point that they don’t have enough time to do the kind of review desired. Thirdly, the intention isn’t to segregate, but to promote books and authors that aren’t being highly touted in many other quarters. Please be patient with us. The Guild Review will include many more reviews in time. Some of those will definitely be from larger publishers.
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Andrea Graham DATE: 1/2/2009 4:40:47 AM
On the issue of a biblical worldview, a world view is the lens through which you view the world; the nature of a worldview is such that it is impossible to hide your worldview–from someone who is paying attention. Our worldview is in almost all cases betrayed by the words we use and the choices we make. Christ himself observed this when he said out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, and by their fruit, you shall know them.
Our worldview is influenced, osmosis-style, by the media we consume, so the worldview of the mediamakers influences their audience whether either party realizes it.
Thus, it is true, if you have a biblical worldview, you have to actively *work* to *not* write from that view. It’s actually the mark of a master if they can convincingly write a character with a worldview that sharply contrasts with their own without betraying the author’s view. Of course, that it’s a challenge to do that doesn’t necessarily make it desirable.
That said, statistically, very few actually have a biblical worldview. But whatever worldview a writer has will show up, unless they are consciously aware of their worldview and intentionally hide it. The only good reason I can think of one would do that, though, is to accurately portray the worldview of a villain while writing from his point of view.
Personally, I do share your concern about defining Christian/biblical fiction. It arises from the Church’s mistake of participating in the marketplace of ideas, where folks pick and choose whatever beliefs suit them.
The problem with allowing this consumerism into the Church is, in Christianity, you can’t pick and choose which of the bible’s teachings you want to believe and still be a Christian as the early Church understood the word.
Thus, in the Church, and in Christian Fiction, we can find ourselves hard pressed to define exactly what is Christian and what isn’t.
Cathi’s right about the Review; that’s a new feature, and the CBA publicists probably don’t even know they exist to send them a review copy. LGG generally follows the golden rule pretty well in my experience. The only folks I know that exclude anyone intentionally are those who refuse to touch small press and independently-published authors.
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cynthia DATE: 1/2/2009 2:38:53 PM
Thanks Cathi for explaining this. The GR has a policy of giving preference to small or independent or self-published works and these books have to be three star + quality before they are listed on the site — this concept is modeled after the Midwest Book Review. The preferential treatment is only an issue if we are so backed up with review requests that we’ve got to pick and choose. I don’t see that happening anytime soon!
A related comment: I have mentioned elsewhere that our LGG Bookshelves contain “CBA” published books if their authors are also members of the guild.
In the same vein, up until it became too onerous for me to keep up with, the LGG featured speculative fiction books toured by the CSFF and CFBA (which were all CBA-affliate published, with the exception of Never Ceese). Now, it would take some effort for people to look back in the archives to find these posts, but they are there!
Just wanted to clarify.
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Frank Creed DATE: 1/2/2009 5:29:45 PM
Rebecca–
Your accusation that I and the Guild are “segregating traditional from non-traditional” literature is simply untrue. I’ve prayed and slept on the charge before replying in a blog article that will soon post at http://blog.frankcreed.com/
Christian writing is a very small world, and feel the need to defend my reputation from such a charge. I do believe you’re an honorable person, and anticipate that you’ll drop by to comment.
Faith,
f
lostgenreguild.com
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebecca LuElla Miller DATE: 1/2/2009 8:48:44 PM
Frank, if I came across in my post as accusing you of something, I apologize. The comments I referred to weren’t yours.
That the Guild Review doesn’t have any reviews of CBA books is fact, not opinion. There is no indication (at least none that I saw) on the page that the reviews were for member-only books, so a number of those on the tour wondered about the obvious omissions.
I can certainly understand about a new enterprise not yet being at full strength. I also am very aware that life can make blog work take a back seat.
All that said, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to ask the questions I asked in the post. I guess I’m as concerned about an undercurrent of disdain (and in some cases, hostility) for ECPA and CBA that crops up from time to time online.
While some people say, I have nothing against … there is nevertheless the distinct impression of animosity or dismissal. Leaving the issue unaddressed may be a more “peaceful” route. I mean, who am I to suggest someone else shouldn’t sound resentful or angry in their emails or blog comments?
But it bothers me. Truly. I don’t think Christians should treat other Christians (well, really, anyone) with disdain.
And then there is that practical side I pointed out in the post—by drawing attention to the “big house” books, we can also drawing attention to the lesser known titles as well.
BTW, for those who may not know, the CSFF policy is to tour the books one of the administrative team recommends. We generally aim for some diversity, but we’re looking for quality. At the same time, we feature sites like Mindflights, Marcher Lord Press, and the Lost Genre Guild with the specific goal of giving attention to lesser known writers and genre promotional endeavors, since we aren’t equipped to highlight all the deserving works.
It’s about teamwork, as far as I’m concerned. If we want to see more speculative titles on bookshelves, the publishers need to make money. That’s the real bottom line. But how can they if no one knows the books are out there? The number of people I personally can tell is relatively small, but banding together? We have a much bigger voice.
Becky
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sue Dent DATE: 1/3/2009 3:23:47 AM
I’m confused. CSFF, according to you in a blog discussing CSFF, openly tours CBA and ECPA affiliated books, in other words books that serve that specific market of Christians that CBA and ECPA publishers write for, Christians that visit CBA and ECPA affiliated Christian bookstores.
You stated in that same blog and here, that any book not published by CBA or ECPA would be looked at for quality etc . . . Sorry but that screams exclusivity. And yes, you stated that niether CBA nor ECPA books would be sujected to this scrutiney. Another definite sign of exclusivity. I almost did a spit-take when I read that. All LGG does is stress their openess to tour books written by all Christians without bias and well, that’s all they do. We’re certainly nog going to give one fraction of Christian publishing the floor as you do here.
Why? Because niether CBA nor ECPA are the standard for Christian publishing,(thank goodness) nor are they Christian publishing. They serve a very specific branch of Christians who the LGG would gladly review at any moment, equally mixed with all the other reviews of books by Christian authors who don’t write for a specific market of Christians.
BTW, larger booksellers aren’t finally putting CBA and ECPA affiliated books into their bookstores. They’ve never had a problem doing this. Neither CBA nor ECPA wanted them there. They wanted them in their own affiliated bookstores. But since they weren’t getting the sales they thought they should be getting from their market, they decided to go ahead and put them into the bigger booksellers stores. Now we have books written by CBA afiliated authors, books for a specific market of Christians, not in the Christian section of the bigger booksellers where they belong, but rather on the shelf with other mainstream books. How bizarre is that!!
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebecca LuElla Miller DATE: 1/3/2009 10:03:19 PM
Sue, I’m not going to argue with your views about the CBA or the ECPA. I don’t agree with your opinions, as I’m sure you are aware, but the argument isn’t mine. I’m not contracted by an Evangelical Christian Publisher and I have nothing to sell in a Christian Booksellers bookstore or in any other bookstore.
I have formed my views, however, by listening to what editors within the organization say, and I guess I’m taking their word for how things are and how they got that way. Here’s an example from a discussion with Karen Ball on my blog over a year ago. Her response to various comments:
And about sales, Karen again:
As to CSFF, I’d be surprised if I actually said what you attributed to me because it isn’t true. After that blog exchange, the CSFF administrative team saw the need to make public our standards, so we have those posted now at our site in the FAQ section of the About page.
I’ll quote the relevant section in the next comment as it would exceed the characters limit in this one.
Becky
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebecca LuElla Miller DATE: 1/3/2009 10:25:15 PM Here’s the portion of the FAQs section I mentioned above:
Of course, since we do not publish a list of books we turn down for the tour, no one apart from the administrative team knows what books we considered and decided not to feature. I can assure you, however, that we have decided against featuring more than one book published by a member of the ECPA.
Becky
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cynthia MacKinnon DATE: 1/4/2009 6:33:13 PM
The CSFF has taken a big and very constructive step, in my opinion, by publishing the above. It will no doubt solidify your “mission” for the team and bloggers.
Making questisons 1 and 3 will also be very helpful to those folks who might suggest books to tour.
I am curious (though don’t require any response) as to why the CSFF would stop at YA novels. I mention this only because many at the Lost Genre Guild (including me) would like to see more adult spec-fic offered by publishers — and more adult fiction written.
cyn
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebecca LuElla Miller DATE: 1/5/2009 6:47:29 PM
Cyn,
I think we added “occasional middle grade novel” simply because there hasn’t been much middle grade Christian fiction of any genre available.
Becky
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebecca LuElla Miller DATE: 1/6/2009 1:24:32 AM
Cyn, I just re-read your comment and now I’m confused. When you said “stop at YA” I thought you were under the impression we didn’t tour middle grade books. But your next line makes me think you missed the fact that we do certainly tour adult books.
I’m also of the mindset that there needs to be more speculative fiction for adults.
I just read an article today about “crossover” books, referring to those written for a younger or older audience but read by both equally. Harry Potter was one example.
Certainly I’m comfortable reading YA fantasy, but I know others aren’t, so more books with adults as the target audience is something I’d like to see, certainly.
Becky
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Frank Creed DATE: 1/6/2009 7:14:20 PM
Becky–
I know you’ve toured adult books in the past, but the FAQ that posted only said YA and Mid-Grade. Genre fans will be glad to hear adult books will be toured as well.
Faith,
f
Frank Creed.com: the official site of Flashpoint: Book One of the UNDERGROUND
The Finishers.biz: Polishing Manuscripts until they Shine
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cynthia MacKinnon DATE: 1/6/2009 8:33:22 PM
But your next line makes me think you missed the fact that we do certainly tour adult books.
That’s what I thought; I remember reading at least one, what I’d call, adult book–but it might also have been for the CFBA.
I assumed YA because of the way I read the CSFF FAQs. (Just goes to show . . . never assume and do re-read!) And, that you’d perhaps fine-tuned the group’s focus.
Harry Potter is a good example of having a crossover audience. I enjoyed the Narnia series as an adult and still lap up the Anne of Green Gables books! The really cool thing with these two series is that one can read the books as a child and then again as an adult and take away a better or different understanding of the stories. It is also fun to find all the authors’ nuances that can be viewed only through the filter of adult wisdom and experience.
That been said, I still prefer and crave adult literature (though it has been pointed out to me that I need to be careful when using the “adult fiction” because in many minds this equals xxx material).
—– COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebecca LuElla Miller DATE: 1/7/2009 9:39:04 PM
Just to be clear, here’s the appropriate line from the FAQ section quoted above; We feature adult and YA (young adult) novels…
Of the books that CSFF has featured, I think there has been more adult science fiction and supernatural suspense. Fantasy for adults still seems to be lagging behind.
Cyn, I’m with you as far as books that can be enjoyed on different levels is concerned.
As to the term adult fiction, in the first online writers’ group I joined, I identified myself as an adult fantasy writer, or something like that. One woman really took me to task, thinking that I wrote erotica! LOL
I learned my lesson and took out the “adult” tag, but now I have people assume I write for kids. Of the two misunderstandings, I suppose that’s the more tolerable one. 😉
Becky