Author: Stan Shinn (Page 110 of 111)

To garner interest and anticipation for her latest novel, author Susan M. Brooks is revealing one page per day on her author blog.

Most authors or publishing houses wouldn’t dream of putting their works online for no charge, but Small Dogs Press and author Susan M. Brooks are trying a different approach to building interest and anticipation for Brooks’ second novel, “Collecting Candace.” Brooks is posting one page of the novel per day on her author blog, at http://www.susanmbrooks.blogspot.com.

Susan Sabo, publisher at Small Dogs Press, says:

“We don’t see this as a way of giving away the books. The book is 200 pages long, so this will go on till the end of the year. If someone is really bent on not paying for the book, I suppose they could visit the blog everyday and print it out, but I seriously doubt anyone would want to read a book that way.”

By visiting the blog, readers can read each entry (named by the page number) in sequence or out, depending on their need for continuity and linear action. But the main idea, says Brooks, is not to get people to visit everyday and read the entire book, but to be enticed by the few pages they might read into buying the book.

“Unknown authors have a really tough time of selling books,” says Brooks. “So free content, like teasers, are essential to building an audience.” Although there are dozens of ways an author can blog a novel, Brooks likes the idea of the slow tease of one page per day. “It can really build a lot of interest and anticipation,” she says, “when you’re in the middle of some really exciting scene, and you’re cut off by a hyphenated word!”

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Big sales have changed the way many big-name bookstores view the Christian market. Books-A-Million, a chain of 204 stores in the Southeast, dedicated more space to religious books.

Says Terry Finley, executive vice president at Books-A-Million:

One of the fastest-growing categories in our stores is Christian fiction. This is not a Southern phenomenon; it’s a cultural phenomenon.

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This article examines the way the the Left Behind books have revolutionized the market, much as did the Harry Potter books (reversing the previous assumption that kids don’t read long books).

When big-box chains like Costco and Wal-Mart began carrying the Left Behind books, sales ”exploded,” says Ron Beers, senior vice president at Tyndale, the publisher. ”The series’ mainstream success paved the way for the success of Christian books in the general market.”

According to this article, sixty percent of Christian books are now sold in mainstream stores.

Wow! What a tectonic shift!

Read more here: Left Behind’ series: Like manna from heaven

Although known as American Christian Romance Writers (ACRW) when featured in the New York Times in 2004, this 650-member group is now known as American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) in response to the diverse needs of its membership, who write across many genres.

“Romance is still very important to our organization,” says President Tracey Bateman, a romance writer herself. “The name change is good news for our male members. Trying to get your wife to let you attend a conference with four hundred romance writers is a little daunting, even for the most macho.”

Christy award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, who taught a standing-room-only workshop on writing from a man’s perspective, agrees.

“This is a great group and no matter what the name, it has a lot to offer. The name change helped make other types of writers feel included, but the focus of the group is the same—helping writers grow.”

And they are growing. Since their first national conference in 2002 with 100 attendees, ACFW expects over 400 conferees in Nashville this September. Recent speakers include Francine Rivers, Robin Lee Hatcher and Karen Kingsbury, all romance writers at one time.

“The lines between genres are definitely starting to blur,” says Kristin Billerbeck, who wrote romance for several years before bringing chick lit to the Christian market.

As Christian fiction continues to grow up and out, change is expected. Some things though, never change.

“We may have taken romance out of our name,” says group advisor and veteran romance writer Andrea Boeshaar, “but we always want to be known for our love—on and off the page.”