“The average reader” is a term I’ve used here recently. I have suggested that the publishers might have miscued on who this abstract “person” is at times.
The average reader of Christian non-fiction is significantly different from the average reader of fiction. I figure you can break down the non-fiction readers into two basic categories and of course within each category is the gender factor. I think the first non-fiction category includes the books within the biography/memoir niche, and the second category lumps together the self-help/ministering type books which divides again into the men’s section and the women’s section rarely intersecting except within the general sub-categories of ministry books (i.e. general Bible study lesson books, books on prayer, etc.), not the specifically-aimed-at-gender ministry books.
In non-fiction there are a lot of female readers of biographies/memoirs, but I would give the edge to male readers in quantity, also qualifying this estimate with the guess that the memoirs might favor the female readers. The ratio of men buying the self-help type books has to be considerably smaller than for the female reader. Men generally don’t want to have to address a problem in their lives by finding the answers in some book, often factoring in the “pride” issue. I do not say that lightly or with condemnation. Men are considered to be the “problem solvers”, and they don’t easily assume that fixing an issue requires some other guy’s method or solution to what’s going on in their lives. It’s usually only under duress or a pastor’s suggestion or if the “men’s ministry” group requires the purchase for study that a man will seek out and purchase one of the self-help books.
Of course the edge for reading Christian fiction goes to women. That is undisputed. However, a lot of Christian men do read fiction besides non-fiction, but since they generally don’t know how to look for it in a Christian bookstore, its appeal is overlooked and misjudged. Consequently, they find their choices at Borders or Barnes & Noble or online, establishing their preferences from reading secular novels which have a tendency to conflict with their values either in language, sexual graphics, culturally, or possibly even politically. But because they love a good story, they keep buying secular fiction unaware that in that little Christian bookstore are some exciting “manly” novels.
Again generally speaking, some women aren’t afraid to head over to the men’s non-fiction section, but I cannot think of a man I know who would willingly stand in front of the women’s non-fiction section in a Christian bookstore and peruse the titles. Likewise, a lot of men don’t want to linger in front of the fiction section where most of the novels appear to them to be geared toward women.
In a previous post I categorized the average reader as having little concern for superfluous adverbs, passive verbs, and the show-don’t-tell philosophy. I believe this to be fact and not based on their intelligence quotient or their education but rather upon their reasons for enjoying fiction. Writers take such a critical look at literature after they’ve embarked on their author-ship maiden voyages. The outcries by professionals for “fresh voices” and “great writing”, etc., twist the naïve wannabes’ reading experiences into an examination and critique fest of every method they’ve been encouraged to use to see who measures up in the published works. Often they are disillusioned to find that all the legalism is abandoned in a fair share of the novels they’ve been reading. So what the heck is wrong with these published authors?
When a story is reduced to methods and rules of writing, the beauty of the entire presentation shrinks to sentences and paragraphs. I’m sure because of the nature of an agent’s or editor’s job, they get caught in this conundrum when forced to evaluate impossible numbers of submissions. In reality they know the “rules” are flexible and are provided as guidelines for those who have yet to find their voices and perhaps haven’t even mastered the basics of writing or telling a story. The professionals also have to admit (when pinned to the mat in some form of wrestling hold) that all they really care about is the writing they like the most, regardless of how it fits into the grooves proclaimed unmercifully by the masses of the publishing kingdom.
Here’s another point about the average reader which is basically ignored and assumed to be in error. There are still a lot of readers out here, and my guess is these are target consumers, who would read the longer novels. Right now the “larger” novels are epic specfic/fantasy, of which there are not many, some thrillers, and some historicals. This is not to argue the point that there are a number of consumers who want and enjoy the 80,000 word (or less) novels. This is to say a section of the reading public is not being supplied with the type of book they prefer to read. The length of a novel doesn’t seem to pose a problem for the ABA. While I understand the need to reach the less-inclined-to-read-a-large-novel bunch, I would wager they are not the ones who are the major consumers.
While we hear about the rising costs of book production, it is all relative to retail pricing. None of the publishers have established retail prices which don’t cover the costs of making the book, provided it sells.
As a result of these current trends, the average reader is being force-fed these short novels with a lot of lean writing which, yes, feel the same. This is the bulk of the fare that’s being offered to everyone—kind of a one size fits all mentality in literature.
So, whether or not the average reader really does fit into the current market for CBA fiction, if they stick with Christian novels, what they’re reading now in size and maybe style is what they’ll be reading for the near future.
Father, you are the lover of our souls. Everything matters to you, nothing is too small or too big for you to handle and engage. Thank you for being such a personal Savior, Comforter, Friend, Counselor. We are desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
*Please remember to pray for Kristy Dykes.*