Name Your Market!!!

The song has been sung. The time is upon us. Now we must stand together as one to preserve the integrity of freedom of speech and freedom of religion on which this country was founded. For too long the "conservative evangelical Baptist" (sorry, but they started it) have been allowed to reign supreme in publishing, have stripped the broad meaning from the label "Christian" and have used and abused every author who dare call themselves that.

I dare say there's no greater grievance against an author than to take a broad label and apply it to a very targeted and discriminating lot. Aye they lassoed it, tied it up and held it hostage for far too long. But now it's time. Since their inception in 1950, they've relentlessly claimed to be the ONLY voice in Christian fiction but published nothing beyond restrictively written and "safe" fiction for "Christian" bookstores, formerly known as Baptist Bookstores. Any author who dare approach them with general market fiction is spit upon, beat up and cast out as heathen.

I say no more.

Change the name. Be proud of your market and call it what it is. Your intimidating ways do not scare us. They sadden us. It's deeply disturbing. Now all you scallywags who've read this, jump over to my interview at http://thechristianmanifesto.com/archives/3602#comments and speak your mind. This interview was done three years ago. As grand as it was then, it was moved shortly after going public without the pictures that went with it. It of course eventually went into archive and was moved a second time. Not intentionally I might add but just because that's the way most interviews are handled if your a "general market" small published author whose work happened to appeal to many of this markets readers.

Upon asking where the link went this second time, I was accused of throwing a temper-tantrum and called unprofessional because I dared to infer the site wasn't being run very professionally.

So be it.

The interview is up once again. Take it and run. I don't care what comments you make but for the love of God, if you're sick of the bully, intimidating ways of the "Christian" publishers, now including publishers who don't actually pay a fee to belong to the Christian Booksellers Association, then say so. I'm sure that like me, many of you have been kicked off many sites where these authors reign supreme, (if you were ever allowed in,) have been told you aren't a "Christian," which of course is true if you strip off the broader meaning of the label Christian, and have been drug across the coals and cast out as though you were yesterdays garbage. As I said in the beginning, the song as been sung. Now is your chance. In conclusion, all I'm asking for is a name change. Targeted markets are great but not when they strip the meaning from a broad label to abuse it accordingly.

Name your market!

If the story is to be believed, David carried five stones with him to defeat Goliath. It only took one.