Family Christian Stores history.

To gain a better understanding, if one really cares, about who larger Christian bookstores really serve one simply has to look at the history. Family Christian Stores have a very interesting history which is laid out here.

Sufficed to say, they actually are still exclusive and will only carry work provided by CBA affiliated publishers. However since this is their preference and not the rule, non-affiliated Christian publishers stand a chance of getting in should they want to.

I find Family Christian's history so intriguing because they were originally owned by CBA/ECPA affiliated Zondervan meaning of course at that time NO fiction got into Family Christian unless it was from a CBA/ECPA affiliated publisher. Everything was rosy of course until Zondervan hooked up with Harper/Collins which Zondervan has said in responses I've seen on the web that this takeover was beyond their control. They said this because store owners were angry at being owned by a company, Harper/Collins, who also printed and distributed the satanic bible.

Eventually Family Christian got their stores back breaking all ties with Zondervan and the demonic Harper/Collins (Sorry. Couldn't resist.) In the meantime Zondervan remains a CBA/ECPA exclusive and heavily targeted Christian imprint of the larger publisher which I've always found interesting. It's clearly their relationship with Harper/Collins that helped CBA/ECPA exclusive Zondervan along yet Zondervan states in several instances their disenchantment with being picked up by this company (google it. It's not hard to find.) This disenchantment is usually expressed when core market CBA/ECPA readers realize that some of the money they spend on Zondervan's books actually supports an industry who prints the satanic bible along with books on witchcraft, homosexuals etc . . . Other than that, Zondervan seems just fine with their owners. Sort of a love/hate relationship that runs hot/cold depending on who is asking.

But yes. Family Christian Stores can carry non-affiliated Christian fiction and without sending it through to be scrutinized again (I think.) The stores however still only serve a very exclusive and targeted market of Christians so frequenting larger general market stores is your best bet to find fiction that appeals to all.