Where the Map Ends (day 2)
Filed under Blog Tours on February 20, 2007
Tagged: CBA, Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour, christianity, Jeff Gerke, wherethemapends.com
Mir mentioned on her blog that she was having difficulties posting comments. I don’t show her registered (you have to be registered and logged in to post), so I’m wondering if the error is happening in the registration process. If anyone else is having difficulties, please email me.
There were some great posts on Day 1 of the Wherethemapends.com blog tour. If you didn’t get a chance to visit everyone, here are some of the ones I found interesting:
- Gene Curtis discussed POD presses and offered some suggestions that might help Jeff Gerke get his Marcher Lord Press off the ground.
- Andrea Graham offered a nice critique of the website itself.
- Rachel Marks posted part one of an insightful interview with Jeff.
- Robin Parrish provided an in-depth tour of the site’s content.
A repeated mention of Jeff’s Tips of the Week, particularly #16-18, caught my eye. These three tips cover Jeff’s assessment (he is a veteran editor of the CBA, having working for at least three major publishing houses) of the CBA market and how a writer of speculative fiction might still find success. In a nutshell, Jeff characterizes the CBA market as “White, conservative, evangelical, American women of child-raising to empty nest years.” He futher states that, from his experience, the typical member of this demographic reads books from the following genres: romance, chick-lit, biblical/historical fiction, thrillers (with a female protagonist and feature romance, relationship issues, or family), and the ever ambigious “women’s” fiction.
Ever since I became involved with the CSFF blog tour, I wondered about the viability of the CBA as a market for my writing. While the cause championed by the CSFF is a valiant one, I think Jeff has confirmed my decision not to pursue the CBA.
My reasons lie not only in commercial success, however. If I wanted to use my writing as a platform for evangelism, whether overtly or through the subtle use of Christian themes, would it not make more sense to seek out an audience that doesn’t already profess to be believers?
Be sure to check out the rest of the tour:
- Nissa Annakindt
- Jim Black
- Grace Bridges
- Jackie Castle
- Valerie Comer
- Karri Compton
- CSFF Blog Tour
- Gene Curtis
- D. G. D. Davidson
- Chris Deanne
- Janey DeMeo
- Tessa Edwards
- April Erwin
- Linda Gilmore
- Beth Goddard
- Marcus Goodyear
- Andrea Graham
- Todd Michael Greene
- Leathel Grody
- Katie Hart
- Sherrie Hibbs
- Sharon Hinck
- Christopher Hopper
- Jason Joyner
- Kait
- Karen
- K. D. Kragen
- Tina Kulesa
- Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 – The Compendium
- Rachel Marks
- Shannon McNear
- Rebecca LuElla Miller
- Eve Nielsen
- John W. Otte
- John Ottinger
- Robin Parrish
- Rachelle
- Cheryl Russel
- Hanna Sandvig
- Mirtika Schultz
- James Somers
- Steve Trower
- Speculative Faith
- Daniel I. Weaver
- Timothy Wise
