Big Decisions-Secular or Christian Markets

When Writing a book, a big decision has to be made.  Who will my readers be?  There is a great divide.  The Secular Market and the Christian Market and the debate is going strong among Christian Writers about which market we as Christians should be targeting.  There are Christians writing in the secular market, Erika Clay, Mark Young, Dean Koontz, James Scott Bell, and John Lescroart and let's not forget old favorites like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.  One Writer/Author that left the Secular Market is Terri Blackstock.  They all have their reasons for their decisions to target one or the other.  Today, I would like to discuss some of those reasons.
Most Christian Authors feel called to one market or the other and some to both.  Why would a Christian Author write for the Secular Market?  One reason is because the market is bigger and there is more opportunity for success. The second reason is there are more readers who could be reached with an evangelistic message or a message of faith.  The ability to self-publish now allows for those types of books to be published in the secular world, whereas in the past those same books would not have made it past worldly publishers.  If an Author feels called to write for the Christian market, it may be that they feel called to minister through their writing to the church/believers for disciple making purposes or maybe they feel to write for the Secular Market would mean they would have to compromise their values to appeal to a more worldly audience.
Certainly, not everyone who reads in the Secular Market is an unbeliever and not everyone who reads in the Christian Market is a believer, but there is a larger number of believers or non-believers depending on the market you are in.
Do you have to compromise values to write for the Secular Market?  Author Mark Young doesn't think so, he said,

 "I think we do not have to walk down that path. That we can write in good taste and still meet the expectations of readers. Personally, I think it is more challenging—and more rewarding—for a writer to be able to present a realistic view of life without dragging the reader through the gutters to get there."

Another Author, Terri Blackstock left a successful writing career many years ago in the Secular Market, and switched to the Christian Market.  She is now a success in that Market also.  She says,

"One day I got down on my knees and repented, and told God I wouldn’t write anything else that didn’t glorify Him. I decided then that I wanted to make a clean break from writing romance, and write what I loved to read-suspense. But I feared that the Christian publishers would reject me because of my past. That wasn’t what happened. Instead, I quickly sold four books to Zondervan, and my Christian writing career was underway."  

It is probably easier to write in the secular world without compromising your values today, with the ability to self publish.  Terri Blackstock made the right decision for her at the time, though.  Where am I in this debate?  I am wherever the Lord calls me to be.  Right now, that is in the Christian Market, because the book I am writing belongs there.  Maybe one day, He will call me to write a more evangelistic book for the masses.  I will try my best to be true to my values and faith whichever Market He wants me to write for.  There are teachers and preachers in the church and they are needed and there are evangelists and missionaries in the world.  They are all needed to do the work of God.  We are all part of the body of Christ.  So, where He leads me to write, I will follow.

In Christ,

Sandy Kay Slawson