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Hey, guys. I wondered if anyone here is familiar with Enclave Publishing and could answer a question of mine.
(here’s the guidelines link https://www.enclavepublishing.com/guidelines/)
I’m looking into querying there once I finish the fifth draft of my novel, but the on the query form they ask “Is your novel ‘Christian’ in any real sense?”
To be honest, not really. It has themes and stuff that could be Christian themes, and a couple side characters are Christians, but it isn’t the stereotypical “Main character has bad thing happen and is lead to Christ to comfort their suffering.”
Still, as Enclave publishes fantasy/scifi books, I wonder how they define “in any real sense.” Does anyone have any suggestions/info that they could pass along?
The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
ekseaver.wordpress.com@e-k-seaver If your story has strong Christian themes, I would consider it a “Christian book”. The typical salvation story, like you mentioned, covers just one Christian theme: salvation through Christ. But that’s not all that the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches you how to live and teaches beauty and truth. If your book also teaches truth and living in a Christ-like way (even if you don’t explicitly say it) it should be a Christian book. For example, Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia, don’t explicitly talk about Christ, and yet they are full of Christian themes.
I would say that a book that isn’t Christian, would be something that promotes beliefs that go against Christian beliefs and actively discourages a Christian worldview. This is why so many Christians are against The Harry Potter Series, as it promotes and glorifies witchcraft- something that is strictly regarded as evil in the Bible.
I hope this helps!
@kathleenramm, how can I be certain that my book fits into the category? I think it does, but I’m not 100% certain.
The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
ekseaver.wordpress.com- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@e-k-seaver I know you posed your question to Kathleen, but since I’ve gone through my share of book-examination (i.e., looking to see if my characters actually act like Christians or if my messed-up world of pirates isn’t too messed up and accepting of evil or if my strong female characters aren’t feminists), I think I can help. Take a look at some of your worse situations, like the death/murder of a character, when someone tells a lie, etc., and see how your main character reacts to them. If a bad character died/was killed, did your MC rejoice or mourn their death, since they never got a chance to right their wrongs? If it’s the latter, then you’ve represented the sanctity of life, that all humans/creatures, no matter how righteous or wicked, are created by God and don’t deserve that sort of cruelty as such.
If your MC has to tell a lie for “good reason,” do they still wince and think about the consequences of their actions? If so, then you’ve presented deception as evil. If instead they just brush it off and keep lying without ever rectifying the situation or repenting or facing consequences, then you’ve shown that deception doesn’t harm the deceiver or other people.
If you have more romantic themes in your novel, then this question will apply–does your heroine ever see their love interest (or future love interest) without a shirt on, or does your hero ever find his gaze wandering? Do they feed lustful thoughts and continue to stare or look away with flaming cheeks? If they refuse to succumb to fleshly desires, then you’ve presented sexual immorality as an abomination.
When you bring these sort of subjects up–or things like slavery/inequality, murder, thievery, magic/witchcraft, etc–do your characters (either main or secondary, just not the villains) applaud those who enact them or speak of them in disdain?
It’s all in the context. This even goes for taboo words like hell or bastard. If you’re using the h-word as a curse, then your context is, well, bad, and so you probably want to opt for a euphemism instead or keep your mom from reading over your shoulder. But if you’re using the phrase “hell and back again,” then your context is fine and the word is stripped of its negative connotations. Same goes for bastard. Don’t call someone that to their face (or behind their back, or at all, really), because that’s extremely rude, but if you’re referring to a bastard child or bastardy itself, then the context is different and it’s simply an archaic synonym for illegitimate.
Like Kathleen said, it’s all about the beliefs you promote. To find out which ones those are, look at your MC’s reaction to evil, their thoughts and whether they act upon them (or which ones they do act upon), and the way you’ve presented biblically wicked things. Even if your story is more grey than black and white, you can look at the over-arcing plot. Is this a war between the evil oppressor (or deceptive king or wicked witch or what have you) and the kindhearted oppressed? Does the good win out in the end? If you’re depicting the power of light as triumphing over the dark, then you’re promoting good, biblically sound beliefs. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it” (John 1:5). Think Star Wars for example. Sure, the Rebels/Jedi obviously have no qualms killing and some of them are more political than others, but they fight for truth and freedom. And in the end, light wins out. Good wins. Grace wins. Love wins. Peace wins. Prosperity wins. In real life and in our times, it won’t look that way, but in fiction, what we are really doing is showing that, through Christ, Satan is, has been, and will be defeated.
I hope I haven’t TMIed you, and I do hope this helps! 😄
@gracie-j, that’s actually super helpful, thank you.
The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
ekseaver.wordpress.com- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@e-k-seaver I’m glad! You’re so welcome!
Very well put @gracie-j ! I whole heartedly agree. It’s not necessarily the evil in the book that makes it “not Christian” but the light that the evil act is portrayed in. Making sure that the overall message in your story is good and Christ focused and that evil is shown as being indeed evil and has consequences.
@kathleenramm
@gracie-j
What if the story doesn’t have a super happy ending? Can I still make it a “Christian” story even if my MC ends up dying at the end of the series?The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
ekseaver.wordpress.com- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@kathleenramm Thanks! I know have I had a lot of trouble with the idea of good vs. evil, since most of the stories I write blur the lines considerably.
@e-k-seaver You killed off the MC? How? I could never imagine… *tears up at the thought of letting Rina actually die…die…die?* No! Ahem. Sorry. I’m sure you have a good reason, but I don’t dare to understand how that must feel. (I had such a hard time killing off a bad character once, that I wrote a specific scene where he got saved, simply so that I knew he had a happy eternity.)Let me think for a moment. There have been a great deal of stories with non-happy endings–some Christian and some not. Gone with the Wind ended abruptly with Rhett leaving, presumably never to return, and yet it is still one of the most popular books/movies/stories of all time. I can’t remember how most of the Chronicles of Narnia stories ended, but I know characters like Peter and Susan ended up fading away. In the Left Behind series, a lot of great characters (there was never a set main, at least in the kids’ series) died, but both series continued on and are still super popular. Stories like The Fault in Our Stars, Romeo and Juliet, several Harry Potter books, Me Before You, and many more have main/popular/POV characters die. (Here’s the list I looked up on Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/main-character-dies. I haven’t actually read any of those books, so I’m not an expert. 😉) Beloved characters die in these books, but they are still popular. And, if you don’t mind another Star Wars reference, if the death of the character is not in vain (i.e., die in battle, die for a cause, sacrifice themselves) like Jen Erso in Rogue One or even Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi, then you can still have a happy ending, because a people has been saved. Also, the death of your MC can (if you want) be a parallel of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice (whether they rise again like Aslan or not). I read a book/series once where a character (make that a very imperfect, at times almost villainous main character) sacrifice himself at the end, and I still walked away from that story with a smile, knowing that his display of love, albeit an imperfect love, mirrors Jesus’s and that the other characters lived happily/in peace.
To be honest, I think having the character die at the end makes it even more Christian, simply because sacrifice and death are some of the biggest (if not the main) point of the Bible and the Gospel. Whether your character imitates Christ (sometimes even if you don’t intend for them to, a reader will interpret it that way) or not, you can still use that to drive your inspirational point home. The more you tie in other characters’ lives and desires, the more you can use the MC’s death to your advantage. Having other characters your reader can feel for and care about makes the death easier to bear, especially if the MC died for them.
Again, sorry for TMI, but I certainly think that there are a lot of good reasons for and examples of MC death in books and movies that can help you. Besides, if your character was meant to die and YOU are okay with it, then there is no reason why readers/editors/publishers shouldn’t be. I do suggest having someone (as in a beta reader) read your book(s), in case you’re still not sure. Also, if you have (or are going to have) an editor, then they’ll usually help you in those areas. An un-happy ending is really nonexistent, because, like I said before, when light wins, that means victory. And victory means celebration. And celebration means cake and ice cream. And cake and ice cream makes me very happy. 🤣
Hope that helps!
🤣 Yes @gracie-j, I did kill off an MC in my final book.
You’re super helpful in explaining, thank you so much!
The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
ekseaver.wordpress.com- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
Yes, I *sniffles* I’m sure that y-you *rubs eyes* surely had a g-good *ducks head and then blows nose* reason to k-kill them. *wails loudly* 🤣
Oh, it is my pleasure. I’m so glad that I’m a help! I’d be happy to answer any other questions you have!
@e-k-seaver Just another little note. Just because a book has certain Christian themes, doesn’t make it technically a “Christian” book. That is, a book that promotes/glorifies Christ. Many unbelieving authors have written books that, although they portrayed Christian themes (even unconsciously), can not be called a Christian book. There is a definite line between these two types of books (Christian and non-Christian), it just needs to be found.
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