Things that disturb me.

Since I'll be in the Dayton Ohio area for "Lockdown at Bellbrook" I decided to see what "Independent" bookstores I could find in the area since Barnes & Noble won't let any less-than-large publisher in to do an event anymore, not even on consignment.

I found the St. Mark Bookstore and decided to check it out since it sounded Catholic and not "Christian" or rather "evangelical" or rather what would have been a Baptist Bookstore back in the day.

It sounded like a really neat store but I had to flinch at the wording on their Mission Declaration page. It reads:

St. Mark Bookshop, Inc. is an ecumenical Christian bookshop dedicated to presenting the best of all publishers and manufacturers of Christian and Roman Catholic books, media and religious gift items. We serve all of our customers with courtesy, honesty, efficiency and expediency.

An ecumenical Christian bookshop with ecumenical meaning, the aim of unity among all Christian churches throughout the world. The part that disturbs me greatly is this. The store acknowledges a desire to be an ecumenical Christian bookshop. And their dedication is to present the best of all publishers and manufacturers of Christian and Roman Catholic Books?

Are Roman Catholics not Christian? And you can't use the label Christian anymore in publishing without it marking only "one" group of publishers who write targeted fiction for a very discriminating Christian audience.

Hard to be ecumenical if these are the only publishers a bookstore pulls stock from.

No publisher as ever labeled themselves a Christian publisher except those who provide "targeted" fiction to one denominational audience. The proof is in the pudding. Catholics do indeed fall under the broad label Christian yet those publishers don't call their work Christian fiction or Christian non-fiction. They mark it as Roman Catholic or Catholic.

So yes, I remain disturbed by this.

Is the average Joe disturbed by this? Probably not but if you're an author trying to compete in this market, you should be.

Mainstream Christian Fiction?

Why can't the "evangelical" publishing houses come up with a name? EGADS! They came out of the gate in 1950 abusing the label "Christian" fiction when the work they put out (according to their own words) was "targeted" fiction for their store visitors ONLY (the then Baptist Bookstores and now Lifeway, Mardel's etc . . .) and not fiction that would appeal to ALL readers who fit under the umbrella Christian. Even today they mark their demographic as evangelicals and SOME Catholics. Not sure what that is about. Weird huh?





The label seems to be mutating now into ALL kinds of different things to thoroughly confuse anyone who is interested. Here are some examples:



Edgy Christian Fiction

Mainstream Christian Fiction

Family Friendly Fiction



and the list goes on and on and on with new ones popping up every day.



What's wrong with just picking a name and sticking with it? Can you imagine if Harlequin had the same problem? LOL We might be seeing markets like:



Mainstream Romance Almost

Scripted Romance

The First Kiss Always Happens on Page 32 Romance

Romance You Don't Have to Predict So You Can Enjoy the Story



But Harlequin doesn't have this problem. Their branding says it all. They have a HUGE readership and will keep it because some folk LOVE that style of writing. Take note "evangelical" publishers. PLEASE! You're driving me crazy.



And for the record, if C. S. Lewis actually started his writing career today, no Christian publisher would take him but of course he would soar in the general market as that's the market he wrote for. I suspect he'd be as ardently against such publishers being wishy-washy about their branding as I am. I suspect he'd be more like William P. Young in telling them to buzz off once they actually came to him after turning him down BEFORE his "own" marketing efforts garnished him a significant number of sales.

I SAID Interview up!!!

LOL Aw, I know it's early but do go check out my answers to Lena Nelson Dooley's interview questions. This is a very popular blog among those who enjoy the fiction put out by publishers who serve that very targeted demographic of Christians that I don't write for but appeal to.



Here's the link: Lena Nelson Dooley's Blog



Lena is one of the few bloggers who humor authors who come through general market publishers so let her know y'all appreciate it. I do because it's one of the RARE opportunities I have to reach those readers as most of the venues won't even list work from authors who don't write targeted fiction much less talk about them AND let them speak their mind!



Lena rawks!



Now go let her know it. ;)



You're incentive . . . you could win a copy of Electric Angel from just posting.

Spring Arbor Bound.

Yes, my publisher confirmed that Never Ceese and Electric Angel have both been submitted to Ingram's Spring Arbor for approval (at my request.) Never Ceese was once approved by Spring Arbor already but I pulled it because I felt that my work showing up on sites selling books specifically for that "targeted" Christian market (that so many folks shun and for good reason) wasn't really all that good for me.



HOWEVER, I have many readers from that market that deserve to be exposed to something very different and so I've taken the plunge once more since they seem to like my work. Doesn't mean I won't still be bullied or rather not allowed on blogs where "targeted" Christian fiction is being pushed as general market fiction or treated like a dog in a cat show when it comes to awards I'd possibly stand a chance at winning if the rules were actually designed to consider all general market work as opposed to only work put out by publishers who provide fiction for that "targeted" Christian market but that's -- okay. ;)



Do keep in mind I consider Spring Arbor a very bad joke as they massage the theory proposed by CBA and ECPA that CBA and ECPA are "THE" Christian market when they can't possibly be since they only provide fiction for a very specific demographic of Christiandome (though they now include SOME Catholics or so it says on their site CBA.org Whatever that means.)



So when my books show up on these sites just know it's so those readers that like to support these sites (I don't but it's about making your work available, right) can order my books. Funny thing is that even though Spring Arbor approval is "supposed" to make your work available to "the" Christian market, unless you write "targeted" Christian fiction for that ONE demographic, you won't show up on sites that really get the sales ie . . .www.ChristianBook.com because they only pull from CBA and ECPA's database and not Spring Arbor. It's their way of discriminating and they just keep getting away with it. It's sad but that's life I suppose. All the large Christian Bookstores like Lifeway and Mardel's are the same way, not that many shop there for their fiction anyway because they've already learned, but no, they don't automatically carry books approved for their market by Spring Arbor. They still go to CBA and ECPA ONLY and occasionally non-affiliated publishers whose work is just as "targeted."



Please let anyone and everyone know that I only ever write general market (whatever genre I choose) and not for any "targeted" market at this time. If I do choose to write "targeted" fiction for any market, you'll know what market I'm targeting. Why wouldn't I tell you that? That's the entire purpose of writing "targeted" anything. Good Grief!

Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award

Below is a fine example of what everyone should know about anything labeled "Christian" when it comes to publishing.

Nothing can be grander for an author than to learn their work appeals to an audience they never knew existed. At the same time nothing could be more disconcerting than to be collectively ignored by each and every publisher and media outlet that serve that audience.

Even the awards for books written for this specific audience are geared to "weed out" undesirables or rather those authors who dare to write outside CBA's restrictive guidelines that target a denomination instead of embracing the fact that we all serve the same God.

Yes, like many awards labeled "Christian" I considered entering this one (why wouldn't I? I are one.) I went straight to eligibility and found this:

Books must be Christian in nature, promote the Christian faith, and intended for the Christian marketplace. The Christian marketplace is defined as the marketplace that is served by CBA member retail stores

Wow! They even went a step further to define "Christian market place." Even took it one more step further to say that CBA, an exclusive trade organization (because member publishers and bookstores have to pay fees to belong) actually serves a specific audience of Christians and not all Christian readers.

For those who are new to my blog, I'll briefly lay out my experiences with attempting to gain marketability in the "Christian Marketplace." I was told that all I needed to do was have my books approved by Ingram's Spring Arbor. I did that. Keep in mind, I don't write for CBA's audience. Didn't even know what a CBA was until their audience started raving about my books. The next thing I learned was that Spring Arbor approval isn't what it's cracked up to be. Large Christian Bookstores do not order books based on Spring Arbor approval. They only order books from publishers who serve their "target" audience.

In the past they only ordered books from CBA affiliated publishers but have moved a tiny minuscule nudge to allow books from non-affiliated "targeted" publishers. I've since had my books "unapproved" by Spring Arbor.

The conclusion is that based on the eligibility rules, the winner will be the same old same old. Tacking the label "Christian" on simply marks it as "targeted" work which is fine if that's what you enjoy reading. Just don't think it represents titles that appeal to general market readers, Christian or otherwise.

Aw, you probably didn't anyway. Most folks already know. ;D

On-line Christian Stores - Clueless!

It would seem to me that if you're in business then you should know a little bit about the business you're in. I realize that in a perfect world . . .

So I'll lay the scenario out. Initially I wrote a book. Based on grand reviews and a few higher-than-low placements on particular lists that tout the best in horror and fantasy fiction, it has done fairly well and is still doing well. As a surprise to me, I garnished readers from a very unique group of Christian readers. As a result I sought to market to these readers as well once I learned they had their own bookstores it seemed, on-line and otherwise. The best way to do this, according to things I READ, was to have your book approved by Ingram's Spring Arbor. I actually talked to my publisher, Ingram's Lightning Source, to verify that what I learned was correct, that my books, if approved, would be available to the Christian market. "Oh yes," was their reply, though I'm certain now their fingers were crossed when they said this. They may have even smirked but it's hard to tell when on the phone.

You see, Ingram has one definition for Christian market and the Christian Booksellers Association who sold Spring Arbor to Ingram (see other post concerning dates) has a completely "nuther" definition. CBA defines the Christian market as those books that target their core market readers. Ingram's Spring Arbor defines Christian market as, well, any book that is about, has to deal with or otherwise sort of points to a religious theme for ANY faith that operates under the broader label Christian. Ironically however, Spring Arbor is a CBA member, a privately owned company is a fee-paying member. Okay. Whatever.

In spite of this, Brick & Mortar Christian bookstores or rather once-upon-a-time Baptist bookstores, still only place books in their store that are either from CBA affiliated publishers or publishers who proclaim they write for the same very targeted audience CBA pegs.

On-line Christian Bookstores are a leeeetle more forgiving and a leeeeetle more concerned with doing things right only they seem not to know what that is. To that I say, get a clue or drown in your ignorance.

When I found that my Spring Arbor approved book was showing up in on-line bookstores that clearly only pulled from Spring Arbor and not Ingram themselves, I rushed like crazy to have it unapproved. I was losing general market readers who thought I wrote targeted Christian fiction!!! YIKES!

Just yesterday I saw the once Spring Arbor approved edition of Never Ceese on an on-line Christian website. I called them to ask them what was up. Mock conversation follows:

Sue: Can you tell me how my book is showing up on your site please? In other words, are you showing it as available through Spring Arbor.

Guy: Yes. It's available through Ingram.

Sue: Yes, I realize that. But do you show it showing up in Spring Arbor.

Guy: Spring Arbor is Ingram.

Sue: Yes, Spring Arbor is Ingram's Christian arm but do you show my book as available through Spring Arbor as I had it unapproved so this wouldn't happen.

Guy: Well we pull books from many distributors.

Sue: None of whom should distribute my book as my distributor is Ingram. But just to clarify could you share who some of those other distributors are?

Guy: (rattles off a wide variety of distributors who only distribute targeted Christian fiction for that CBA market all of whom I know because I know all these distributors.) . . . and Ingram.

Sue: You said Ingram. Did you mean Spring Arbor?

Guy: (that classy line again) Ingram is Spring Arbor.

Sue: What I wanted to say--ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! What I said instead - "You're telling me you list books that are in Ingram's system that haven't been approved by Spring Arbor.

Guy: Yes. We automatically pull from Ingram.

Sue: Ah, but if that were true then you'd be showing the newer edition of Never Ceese as it too is with Ingram. So basically you only "automatically" list books from Spring Arbor which is fine but you should at least have a working knowledge of who Spring Arbor is. And by the way, my book is no longer approved by Spring Arbor and if someone called to order this book through you, you won't be able to get it for them EVEN though it is still in Ingram's system.

Guy: Well we could ban your book if you don't want it showing up on our book site.

*I'm not lying. This is what this guy said. LOLROFL*

Sue: I just don't want my book showing up on sites where ONLY targeted fiction is listed if not primarily and I've gone through the process of fixing this. It's clear the process isn't complete yet so I'll now call Lighting Source.

Conclusion: LSI did unapprove my book as asked and verified that I was correct in my thinking about Spring Arbor and Ingram, that they were separate. So if you don't want your work associated with that targeted market of Christendom who uses the broader label of "Christian" to define everything they put out then you best stay away from Spring Arbor. Otherwise your general market readers will avoid you like the plague. Fortunately I had my general market following first. *Sue wipes forehead with hand.* Whew!

You'll just sound like you don't know what you're talking about.

To all my author friends out there who come to me for advice on occasion (don't understand it myself but okay) please keep this in mind. When you break the book market down into "Secular" and "Christian" you are showing your ignorance. That isn't meant to be mean even though I used the word ignorance. When you use these two labels to define the overall market you are telling any general market publisher you might be soliciting that you don't understand the industry at ALL!!!

Those general market publishers that are familiar with the two labels will write you off as someone who obviously writes for the targeted market that spawned the two labels and most general market publishers leave targeted markets alone.

The Christian Booksellers Association is most notable for using these to labels as they seem to believe that their targeted fiction is the only "Christian" fiction out there and any other fiction is "secular." If you're a Christian author seeking publication and your work has general market appeal it would be in your best interest when talking to publishers that you stay away from distinguishing the market as such.

There is general market fiction and non-fiction. Under this umbrella fall all the different genre's of the world. Just because some targeted market publishers say otherwise doesn't make it so. Good grief!

Sue answers a question.

Do you have any problems marketing your books because of the CBA?

This was asked of me on a fellow author's thread on FB. Since I'm not in the habit of hi-jacking threads I've opted to answer the question here on my blog so that perhaps it will help other aspiring authors.

The simple answer is yes.

The more complex answer is that of course there are going to be problems when an association is assigns a broad label such as Christian to a product or business which is so very targeted. By virtue of the name itself one would assume that before CBA there was no fiction out there for Christians as a whole to enjoy. Nothing could be further from the truth. C. S. Lewis was there, Tolkien, Stoker, you name them and they were there.

At the time CBA formed, Baptist Bookstores didn't even dabble in fiction. They were more or less gift shops and suppliers of Sunday School Material. When they decided to branch off into fiction they also decided that regular Christians just couldn't write fiction that wouldn't offend their very targeted market. The work they produce is tailored to that audience. It's watered down for their taste and in no way appeals to general market Christian readers and never has.

Because my work has appealed to that audience many of those fans have called my work "Christian" fiction. I've had to scream at the top of my ever loving voice to proclaim otherwise and that's sad because I am a Christian and should be able to use the label without having my work thrown into a category with books such as The Left Behind Series that, as one reader put it, "has readers praying for the return of Jesus so the series can hopefully end and put us all out of our misery!"

So yes, CBA makes marketing my book, which isn't written specifically for that market, very difficult. Define your market and be done with it. I want the label Christian to mean what it's supposed to mean; a broad label that defines many walks of faith.

As an author who writes general market horror, I should've never had to know who CBA was or is. But if I didn't know and if I hadn't learned, I'd be dead in the water right now due to lack of sales or interest because readers would think I write for that targeted audience.

Books Signings for Small Press Authors

Just in case it still isn't clear, Small Press Authors would love to come to your local chain bookstore to do signings but Chain Bookstores SUCH AS Barnes & Nobles and quite a few others won't purchase POD published books which is the publishing choice for most small presses due to the fact that it's the most economical choice. AND large chain bookstores won't allow ANY author to bring in books to sell on consignment which is the only way to get around the bookstore not ordering books ahead of time for a signing.

There's an even bigger trap waiting at Christian Bookstores. 99% of them are affiliated and will only bring your book in if it's published by an affiliated publisher who writes for a very restrictive denominational market. It's the first question I'm asked when I call these stores to see about a signing. And so much for explaining. As soon as they find out my publisher isn't a fee paying CBA member, they hang up.

So just know that for most small pubbed authors, book signings at chain bookstores aren't a thing of the past. They never were and never will be. *sigh*

Continually baffled.

(revamped, reworked and reposted!)

Things that I've found to be particularly interesting whilst becoming a published author. Ordinarily I wouldn't have given a second thought to this one particular item but since I ended up appealing to an audience I never expected to appeal to, well, I became interested. ;) Especially since being associated with this particular market has a tendency to drive interest in ones book way down!!!

I suppose the one thing that struck me as very interesting is that the Christian Booksellers Association isn't THE Christian publishing industry as they insist and that CBA was set up in 1950 to ONLY appeal to publishers who wanted to provide targeted denominational fiction to Baptist Bookstore visitors. Let me stop to clarify here that I didn't make that last comment up. I read that word for word at cbaonline.org. I posted a link at one time to show how I'd not taken this comment out of context but shortly after I posted said link the wording had been "updated" to read quite a bit differently.

Just a Coincidence?

Perhaps but now the wording doesn't emphatically state the audience at the onset. It just sort of eludes to it. For this reason I no longer provide links to cbaonline.org. They still only serve a very targeted denominational audience and have no plans of abandoning that audience or growing past them for fear of losing them. The information they removed from their "about me" page or rather "reworded" was important. I'm sorry they found it necessary to remove it.

Bottom line is the Christian Booksellers Association was created in 1950 when affiliated bookstores were called Baptist Bookstores. A group of these Baptist Bookstores created CBA to provide targeted fiction. They charged publishers who wanted to write for this audience a fee and in turn for the money, placed affiliated publishers fiction in ALL of those Baptist bookstores that were affiliated. The work had to meet CBA's approval as well. Meaning it had to stick to rigid denominational standards. If I had to give the fiction a name I would call it, "preach to the choir," fiction.

At some point the name Baptist Bookstore was dropped and affiliated stores simply called themselves. "Christian" bookstores. Shortly after that in the seventies, a group of affiliated publishers pulled away and created the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association or ECPA. I often wondered if these were affiliated publishers who thought, "hey, you know, this is targeted fiction. I don't think using the broader label "Christian" to define our work is really all that prudent." Either way, ECPA makes no secret about who their target audience is which is a nice plus for them.

Here's how some distributors handle the confusion in the markets. Hatchette Books has two imprints for Christian fiction. Faithwords is one. Faithwords is an imprint that only handles work put out by CBA affiliated publishers. Work designed to appeal to that exclusive and targeted market of "evangelicals" and some Catholics? That's how it reads at CBA.org. Apparently there are "evangelical" Catholics or "Christian" Catholics. Does this means all Catholics don't fall under the broader label Christian. Hmmmm . . .

Center Street is Hatchette's other imprint. Center Street doesn't care if the publisher is affiliated with CBA. And the work doesn't have to be targeted for that market. BUT it's very interesting to watch all the "big" affiliated publishers slide into this imprint instead of staying with Faithwords. It would seem that their fiction no longer tows the evangelical line. Interestingly enough CBA affiliated publishers such as Thomas Nelson and Zondervan don't seem bothered that some of their bigger authors such as James Scott Bell and Ted Dekker are distributing through non-affiliated Center Street while they're still under contract with them.

Here's how Hatchette Book Group explains the two imprints on their site:

Does Hachette Book Group use a separate imprint for its Christian books?

Books that are specifically and exclusively written for Christian audiences are identified with the FaithWords imprint. However, many Christian authors today are writing for a broader audience and those books are published under the Center Street or Hachette Book Group imprints. The determination is based on the content and intended audience of the manuscript. In addition, Hachette Book Group has the Walk Worthy Press imprint for the Christian African American market.

Now I've not been in the business long but I have to say that I'm very disillusioned by the fact that active CBA affiliated publishers who've been excluding non-affiliated Christian authors from their bookstores since 1950 are allowed to publish under a non-affiliated imprint while still being affiliated. But that's just a personal pet peeve I have. To me it's truly a sad commentary on the publishing industry as a whole.

Having these two markets separated is great but not when one of those markets doesn't do enough to state who their target audience is and in fact states emphatically and at every turn that they don't have one.

But back to Hatchette books and the confusion of the markets there. Why wasn't self-published Christian author William P. Young, who is now with Hatchette Books, placed into one of the two Christian categories instead of given his own imprint named after his own publishing company? That has to be the most bizzare case of confusion I've seen to date.

And where is William P. Young's next book?

Just keep in mind that CBA is a trade organization and before they came around there was no such thing as a Christian market, only general market. Actually that's still the way it is. CBA serves a niche market of the general market. There are now many publishers who serve that "target" audience as well but aren't affiliated. Most of them don't use the label "Christian" fiction to define their work because of the stigma the label "Christian" fiction draws due to CBA not being more specific. They're using labels such as Edgy Christian Fiction, Family Fiction etc . . . and as of yet not one label to truly define their audience. But then no publisher really has to define their market do they. So go have fun figuring out what you want to read and what you don't want to read. ;)

I suppose I should feel honored?

Well it seems that when you become a grand author such as myself, meaning that if your name shows up on the internet more than a few times, before long you MIGHT be asked to give a book endorsement. I must say that I've had a few ask already but so far only from authors who are writing for the targeted market of Christians that CBA (a trade association who charge publishers a fee to belong and writes exclusive "Christian" fiction) serves.

WHY?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do these authors NOT read my blogs? Do they NOT read anything about me. Why would I ever endorse a book written for a targeted market I've NO interest in reading?????? Do you think I'm going to suddenly LIKE the agenda based, restrictive and awkward writing styles?

No! I won't! EVER!!!!!! I don't write for that market and while I see nothing wrong with creating stories for targeted markets, I DO see very much wrong with NOT sharing who your target market is and claiming a broad label to identify your work with thus making things so very confusing.

EGADS!!!!!

Do your homework!!!! My stories often have the label Christian attached to them because my stories boast a theme that appeals to CBA readers. That certainly doesn't mean I write the kind of fiction those publishers put out.

Furthermore, if you knew anything about me you'd know not to ask for an endorsement if you're writing for that targeted market. So maybe you're new to all this and don't know this about me. Fair enough. But a little googling will set you straight right away.

Really! I promise you it will.

I am NOT the one to ask for endorsements if you write for an affiliated publisher or a publisher who targets that CBA or ECPA audience. I can assure you of this!

Author Sue Dent, HELP!

Well for some reason I can NOT figure out some do come to me to ask, "How do I get where you are in publishing?"

Why anyone would WANT to be where I am in publishing, flat broke with no hope of making any money at all off my writring (zero sells for the past hmmm, oh I stopped counting) except for the books I sell myself which are few and far between, is BEYOND ME! But hey, misery loves company and the more the merrier. If you choose my lifestyle I'd be more than happy to tell you how to get here. Oh, it will all come out good in the end. ;D

Okay so here's the premise for a series of blogs, (I know I just won't shut up) about the BEST way to proceed if what you want is to be like me. And who wouldn't want that!

Here's the skinny:

Sue,

Because I know this is a LOADED question, not to mention you dedicate so much of your blog to it . . . but any thoughts on how to go about actually choosing a "good" way to self publish, such as who to choose to print the work, etc.?

Since my work is definitely not "christian" fiction in any way, I won't need to worry about all of the CBA nonsense, thankfully. But I obviously still want to choose a venue that will allow me to have some (if any) say over where my books can be shelved, although I don't have a particular aversion to trying out the "traditional" publishing route, I want to have a solid self publishing path in mind since it's so damn hard to get published in the first place!

I'm trying to do all of my research now so that when the edit is finished, I have some direction as to where to head next. ;) So any thoughts are welcome.

So there you have it. There is a LOT on my blog already but sometimes it helps to follow an author along. And since this author has listened and followed the first step, seeking and finding an excellent PROFESSIONAL editor and understanding that this is the biggest investment an author should make and not PAYING for advertising, then I think it would only be nice of me to tell her where I went next etc . . .

So follow Rachel and I along on Rachel's publishing journey and you will see that I do indeed know what I'm talking about whether anybody wants to HEAR it or not. ;D

Blog Tour Reviews!

****Note***
There are quite a few of these reviews out there so it will take me a while to chase them all down. So keep checking back. Also, along with the CFBA, Never Ceese toured several other blogs tailored for fiction with a Christian slant. One is an off-shoot of CFBA called CFRB. They split from CFBA because they didn't agree with judging Christian fiction against a specific affiliations targeted guidelines. Yet with anything that splits, the one who keeps the most members wins. CFRB was a much smaller tour. Then there is the FIRST Blog Tour that also split from CFBA because they didn't believe in charging publishers to tour, stating that this sort of negated the whole ministry feel of the blog tour. FIRST managed to take a LOT of CFBA members is is a much larger blog tour. Much more open to non-affiliated Christian work as well. Both Never Ceese and Forever Richard toured CFRB and FIRST with wonderful responses. I'll be adding some of those links as well.

Ironically, neither Never Ceese or Forever Richard toured CSFF which is the Science Fiction/Fantasy side of CFBA. They don't charge the $500 dollars that CFBA now charges but they'll take the few CBA member books that come reeeeeal close to looking like they appeal to general market Christian Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Only sad thing is this tour is probably more bias than CFBA when it comes to the books it will take. Any book that doesn't come from a CBA member publisher gets the ax or undergoes such horrific scrutiny that an author will wonder why they even wrote the book. EGADS!!!

So anyway, YES! There will be more reviews added so keep checking back! ;D
**********


In December of 2006 Never Ceese toured the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Tour (CFBA) BEFORE it became exclusive to CBA member published books. Meaning if the publisher of the book submitted wasn't a fee-paying CBA (trade association) member they couldn't tour unless the book was held up and proven against CBA restrictive standards. At the time I toured it was also free for the publisher except for the books one had to give out. The fee is now $500 dollars the last time I checked and one still has to undergo scrutiny and meet CBA trade association standards if the publisher isn't affiliated. For the record I was told via email that because of the success of Never Ceese, a lot of request weren't sent by small non-affiliated Christian publishers to tour. I was also told that Forever Richard would not be allowed to tour when it came out. And it wasn't.

But I did get a grand reception from the wonderful bloggers and tons of reviews that many of you probably would never see if I didn't point you to them and so I will start linking now.

This is the standard review each blogger had to post if they didn't want to review it themselves but just wanted to read the book for free:
takes religious fantasy to a new level, bringing an entirely new Light to a very dark side of fiction, doing a very admirable job to prove that vampire/werewolf fantasy does not have to be evil to be enjoyed.

Never Ceese

The story starts with the classic tale of an English manor owned by Richard, the vampire who righteously is the bain of his neighbor's existence, what with the missing goats and all!

Then enters Cecelia, better known as Ceese, the young werewolf maiden who's arrived via invitation by Richard's aging companion, Penelope.

Ceese and Richard would prefer to tear each other apart, literally, but they are drawn together by their mutual love for Penelope. She is dying and has one request...that the two of them love one another.

This is the overall theme throughout Dent's interesting tale of two who were wronged but learn to work together. Meanwhile they are threatened by an evil stem cell researcher who wants the immortality and power that he thinks their blood will bring him!

Dent's characters do differ from the stock one's we're all accustomed to in a very important way. They are not mindless, brutal killers. Bloodthirsty, yes, but they are constantly resisting the urge to kill, and, thus, curse another human. Feeding on rodents, goats, virtually any warm-blooded animal helps to satiate the never ending thirst for blood, but how long will they be able to resist that most delicious morsel man?

There is a chance that their curses can actually be lifted if they can find the strength within to resist their selfish natures and act selflessly toward another. Will they succeed? That same basic choice lies before us all every day...

A vampire and a werewolf, one determined to, once again, be able to acknowledge what will get her to heaven, the other no so sure he can. A spiritual fantasy designed to spark the imagination, to speak to the heart as well as entertain.

And now for some links to some of those classic reviews:

David Meig's review was one of my favorite's and make sure you read the comments too. I met a LOT of wonderful readers through this tour. It's sad small pubbed authors can no longer tour without meeting strict CBA standards (you know, the ones that don't exist according to Eric Grimm. Sorry Eric but you need to do your homework.) Okay, here's David's wonderful review. By the way, love you David!!! Hope you're doing well.

http://dameigs.blogspot.com/2006/12/never-ceese-by-sue-dent.html

Absolutely loved this one by fellow writer Kris St. James:

http://thebookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/2006/12/never-ceese-by-sue-dent_7096.html

As well as this one by good friend Lauren Bombardier.

http://thebookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/2006/12/never-cees-by-sue-dent.html

Kevin Lucia did quite a few reviews and an interview or two:

http://thebookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/2006/12/never-ceese-by-sue-dent.html


Okay I'm going to cheat a little. This is from another Christian Blog Tour done Friday the 13th 2008 but I'm sliding it in here none the less because this blogger is also a blogger at CFBA:

http://deenasbooks.blogspot.com/2008/01/never-ceese-by-sue-dent.html

A review by Melissa Meeks:

http://bibliophilesretreat.com/2008/04/08/never-ceese-by-sue-dent-my-review/


Sean Slagle's review for CFBA:

Never Ceese by Sue Dent

Never Ceese is a wonderful story about a cursed vampire and werewolf. The werewolf is determined to once again acknowledge what will get her to heaven. The vampire is not so sure he can. The central characters of the story are intriguing and the story line pulled me in from the beginning. Even late at night, when I was ready for bed, I had a hard time putting in down. I love stories that pull me into their world and suspend time and reality while I walk with the characters. Sue Dent is an excellent writer that creates a world that is terrifying and believable at the same time.

The werewolf has always been symbolic. In this case, it’s the fallen state of humanity and how we are all born under a curse. We have to find our way out of the curse and into the loving arms of Christ. That’s why this story works so well on more than one level. I’m glad someone has come along to show that even a dark story with typically evil characters can be Christ centered.

The sequel to Never Ceese is called Forever Richard. It will be coming out soon and continues the story of the vampire as he seeks redemption. Can a person who has cursed so many others still make it to heaven? I know he can, but will Richard find his way?

Books ordered!

So I ordered a box of books of Never Ceese from Black Bed Sheet Books and am ready to sell! The books should be here in about a week or two so get your order in now. I would be more than happy to come to your area to sign books but can only do so if I don't lose money (because how fair is that?) That means you can have an Independent bookstore get in touch with me or give me information about an Independent bookstore in your area so I can see how they work with small pubbed authors. Libraries are nice too. Some of those allow signings and who doesn't like to support libraries.




Do keep in mind that all chain-bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders or whoever can order Never Ceese, the newest Black Bed Sheet Edition but they won't order POD published books or rather small press books unless someone is buying them. And as an added rub, they won't let small publishers sell on commission either. It's always lovely when a bookstore operates under the guise that they're out to support all publishers yet they keep over 75% of the publishers off their shelves because they were never set up to make money off of them. And chain bookstores wonder why they're all going under. Their wonderful distributors Ingam *cough, cough* and Baker & Taylor *cough, cough* aren't any more accommodating either asking small publishers to play the large publishers game as if they can. Ah, but that's okay they're just doing their job, right?

Sooooo, don't look for my books in chain bookstores and don't look for them on best-sellers list because as you should know all the official best-sellers list are determined by how many books chain bookstores (and actually Indy bookstores too) buy from the large publishers. It isn't based on how many sell to customers. That's why you rarely see small press authors on these lists. Chain bookstores don't order these books in mass. They ignore small pub authors.

But yes, let's get us a tour going, shall we. Let me know and we'll see what happens.

Love y'all!

Oops! Almost forget. "Christian" bookstores are out of the question too because though both of my books have been approved by Spring Arbor for distribution to the Christian market, 99.9% of all Christian bookstores are actually "Christian" or rather CBA member bookstores and they don't allow any book in unless it's published by a fee-paying member publisher. That's so they can be assured the content is censored so that it only appeals to their core market readers. There are few Christian bookstores that aren't member bookstores. But that's because all general market bookstores carry and have carried Christian books forever and there was no need. It's actually still that way. So no, I can't get into a Mardel's or a Lifeway or any other member bookstore despite many of my readers looking for my books there and in spite of going through the trouble of having them approved. Sorry. I tried. It ain't happening. Ironically, I had the edition of Never Ceese that I published through S D Enterprises "unapproved" after I learned it actually served no real purpose to be "approved" and it's still showing up for sell on some sites that can't sell books unless they are approved which basically means Ingram/Spring Arbor doesn't operate the way they state they do which is no real surprise. Never Ceese should not show up as available to any Christian bookstore. I had it pulled months ago.

Interesting article about CBA member bookstores!

This article I found is certainly interesting to me since so many who are members of the Christian Booksellers Association, a fee-based trade organization, like to claim at every turn that member stores do represent and carry fiction that all manner of Christian would find appealing. This is one of those rare moments when they confess that they aren't THE Christian market but a segment of a much broader market.

I can hear the Titanic creaking even as I read.

Interesting article here.

Is Spring Arbor CBA? Of course they are. A fee paying member!

**And by "of course they are," let me reiterate that this is MY opinion and based on what I consider being a part of something is. That's just in case someone wants to get technical. Ingram/Spring Arbor and CBA will most assuredly claim otherwise based on their own interpretation. Does it matter? Not really.**

The wonderful thing about having your own blog is that you can deal with things in your own yard. So here's a comment left on one of my post that I felt was important enough to address here section by section otherwise you get bogged down in the sort of double-speak. The italics is from the writer and my response follows. I found it to be a very intriguing response.

From Eric Grimm purportedly of CBA. At least that's the way he signed the blog entry.


Hi Sue, CBA is a trade association and has nothing to do with deciding which books a wholesaler or distributor, such as Ingram/Spring Arbor, carries or sells.

Ingram/Spring Arbor is Ingram's so-called Christian arm which is why many call it Ingram/Spring Arbor and not Baker & Taylor/Spring Arbor or name-your-distributor here/Spring Arbor. You see no other distributor/wholesaler has a specific "Christian" arm that I'm aware of.

And of course the Christian Booksellers Association, a trade association, has nothing to do with deciding which books Ingram/Spring Arbor approves for distribution to the "Christian" market now that Spring Arbor is owned by Ingram and not run and owned by CBA the trade association that spawned it and sold it to Ingram way back when. HOWEVER and this is a BIG however, books "approved" for distribution to the "Christian" market by Ingram/Spring Arbor have no more hope at seeing the inside of a "Christian" bookstore than any book not approved. The only books that automatically and without question see the inside of a "Christian" bookstore on-line or otherwise are those published by CBA affiliated publishers who write for a very targeted and denominationally restrictive audience. I still can't get into a Lifeway or a Mardel's or any other "Christian" bookstore and that's with both titles being approved by Spring Arbor. The only thing that can happen is those bookstores CAN order them if someone wants one. Of course no one promised otherwise so I guess that's okay.

CBA does not charge fees to stores to carry books.

Who said they did? CBA charges fees to publishers who want to have their books in denominationally exclusive "Christian" Bookstores. And of course they require them to write within denominationally discriminative guidelines. Interesting to note too that no publisher who is affiliated with CBA has to seek approval from Ingram/Spring Arbor. Well isn't that interesting.


Spring Arbor Distributors is a division of Ingram Book Group, a private company.

True dat! But then that's pretty obvious.

CBA has no ownership, investment, or other financial connection to the company.

Okay.

Spring Arbor is a CBA member.
Ooops, that's sort of a financial connection so forget the okay from a moment ago. This comment sort of negates that one.

CBA does not censor books

Ridiculous statement. They do censor books all day long. They sensor them to appeal to their core market audience and admittedly do so. Many member publishers even go as far as to list the very restrictive submission guidelines. Amazing that someone would make the statement that this doesn't happen. CBA was formed in 1950 by Baptist Bookstores of the day so that they could provide store visitors with targeted fiction that wouldn't offend them. They've not moved far enough away from that agenda to appeal to anyone other than that very "closed" market.

or otherwise prohibit trade association members from buying what they want to purchase or sell.

This part is true. But who cares. It doesn't mean anything.

Retailers sell books based on what their customers will purchase, not on a discriminatory selection process,

"Christian" retailers or rather CBA member stores sell books based on whether they are put out by member publishers. Sorry. Done that. Been there. Was hung up on by each and every member store I called even after I told them my book was approved for distribution to the "Christian" market by Ingram/Spring Arbor. They look at affiliation first, then they'll consider it second if it fits their core-market audience. But that's on a store by store basis.


other Christian stores sell products that reflect who their customers are, which mostly they are active Christians.

Other Christian stores? I assume you mean non-member Christian stores. Who knows.

Bottom line is it's a waste of time to seek approval from Ingram/Spring Arbor as the only benefit is that a non CBA title can be ordered through CBA member Christian bookstores. So authors save yourself the time and headache. It ain't worth it!!!!

STL Distributors?

I find it highly intriguing that I've had more than a few hits from Johnson City, Tennessee, home of one of CBA's bigger distributors STL, on my post concerning the rights to Never Ceese the hardback being returned to me. Interesting because STL was who Journey Stone went with initially for distribution, paying STL big bucks until STL couldn't place ANY of JSC's books in "Christian" bookstores because they failed to mention that "Christian" bookstores would only ever consider a book that was published by member publishers or publishers who paid a fee and belonged to the Christian Booksellers Association an exclusive group under which denominationally targeted publishers operate.

You best be looking if you are the distributor working with Journey Stone now as the books are now mine and JSC can no longer legally sell them. Hallelujah and praise God! I tried to call you guys to find out but I'm not one to sit on hold for over ten minutes!!!!!


In all fairness, I wanted to post a blog response to this post here for fear that the comment might go unseen as well as my response. This is the first of two comments sent to two separate blogs I posted from Eric who claims to be from Eric Grimm of CBA. Not real sure why he seems to be speaking for STL or Ingram/Spring Arbor but whatever:

Hi Sue, I appreciate your frustration, but for the record Christian bookstores are independently owned and operated

I'm going to assume Mr. Grimm means all CBA member Christian bookstores as he couldn't possibly know about OTHER bookstores who aren't CBA member but do provide fiction non-offensive fiction to a WIDE-VARIETY of Christian readers.

and often purchase books that appeal to their core customers that aren't necessarily published by CBA-member publishers.


And as I've said in the past, yes, CBA member bookstores will let an occasional non-member book in but only after it undergoes heavy scrutiny to make sure it meets their denominationally restrictive standards.

Fees paid to wholesalers and distributors are part of private agreements between authors, publishers, and the distributor, and they have nothing to do with membership in a trade association.


Publishers, authors whoever pay a fee for CBA affiliation. I'm not sure what this comment even means. They pay the fee to belong to CBA. For publishers this means, depending on the level of membership, that they can show up in member bookstores. And believe it or not, even that isn't a guarantee.

Our member publishers are diverse and are not part of a single denominational entity or belief other than that Jesus Christ is Lord.


Fee paying member publishers serve a very distinct, targeted and out-lined denominational audience. One only need to visit www.cbaonline.org to read all about it. Initially it was simply the Baptist. Last time I checked CBA's audience now includes some Catholics. I know,right? Bee-zare.

However, several denominations do have publishing houses as part of their individual ministry outreaches and are denominationally driven.


Yep and those other denominationally driven publishing houses state their audience and market as just that so the readers aren't confused and don't accidentally pick up targeted work they'd rather not read.


Gee, I'm sure glad CBA has no vested interest whatsoever in privately owned Ingram/Spring Arbor. Fact is, if you want to find fiction that doesn't offend you as a Christian you find it the old fashioned way. You learn about the author. You read reviews. If you want to read fiction targeted for evangelicals and some Cahtolics, you can go to a CBA member "Christian" bookstore. Not really rocket science.

Chain Bookstores going under?

One can only hope.

I made a comment recently along that line and of course many replied that I must be insane to wish that such a thing would happen. I did express concern about employees who would lose jobs but they should easily be able to find work at Independent bookstores that would flourish in the aftermath.

To understand my thinking one must understand the facts surrounding the publishing industry. Once upon a time all there was in the world were large publishing houses. Bookstores were a way for these houses to get their very large number of books to the public. Large publishers also used these chain bookstores to help warehouse all the books they had to print. You see, back in the day it was expensive to print books and publishers had to print A LOT of books at a time to justify the cost.

Come around to today and what we have are tons of Small QUALITY Publishing houses. There are Independent bookstores who showcase these talents but as you well know they are few and far between. Clearly, these small publishing houses would do much better IF they could get into these chain bookstores but that just isn't happening. Chain bookstores are more or less owned by large publishing houses and why would large publishing houses do anything to benefit their competition (or threat thereof.)

And that is why I could care less whether chain bookstores survive. They don't support small press authors and their attempts are feeble at best. Sort of like letting a cat participate in a dog show. They won't ever come around because they are pretty much in existence for the large publishing houses anyway (remember that used to be all there was.)

So let them go under. Independent bookstores are quite capable of filling the gaps left. You also have to keep in mind that a lot of best-selling authors have left the gravy train line (because the gravy was too thin) to self-publish. These authors can't even get into the chain stores so you readers are actually missing out on more quality fiction than you'd think you'd lose if chain bookstores fell under the weight of not supporting ALL quality fiction.

Of course you don't have to agree with me. I don't expect you to. Just like folks to understand why I don't care if chain bookstores meet their demise. It won't hurt my book sales at all or any other small press publisher.

Large publishers aren't the only ones in the game anymore. Not by a long shot.

Christian Chain Bookstores going under?

Well, since we're on a roll, the same logic applies here. Christian Chain Bookstores are even worse. Not only were they created to support ONLY publishers who pay a fee to belong to CBA or the Christian Booksellers Association, an Association formed to make sure all books put out by member publishers met strict and specific evangelical guidelines decided by them, they also say nay, nay to ANY other publisher large or small who isn't a paying member.

And yet their books find their way into chain bookstores due to the fact that larger publishers added CBA houses as imprints. So they get a double whammy from me. Can't wait to see these guys go because I've given up on them ever coming around. It would be an easy fix for them too. All chain Christian bookstores would have to do would be to state what kind of bookstore they are or allow all publishers who provide work that doesn't offend Christian readers of all faiths or at least most to come in. They've made no move to do either. So bye-bye to them. And yep, there are Independent Christian bookstores that treat all books by all publishers equally, affiliated or not. ;)

OMG! Amazon did something right--for now!!!

Yes, that's right and it's sooooo difficult for me to believe that after months of my attempting to tell Amazon that I DID NOT want to support authors who write for publishers who discriminate denominationally and outright claim their books are the only books that are "Christian" by having their books bundled with mine. . . Amazon finally fixed things. A Thomas Nelson book is no longer bundled with mine!!!! Hallalujah and thank you Jesus! Merry Christmas to me! One small step but a HUGE one for me. I don't write for the closed and IMO closed-minded CBA/ECPA market and I don't believe in claiming that one denomination is the "official" Christian market.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

Success for now!

You'll find my work in the general market with all the other true writers who are Christian of one variety or another. ;D

New entry on Publishing Industry page

I've made a new entry on my publishing industry page if you're interested in that sort of information. ;) Here's an easy way to see it. Here's the link!