07-28-2011, 08:38 PM | #1 |
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Why so many Christian books?
Please do not get me wrong: I applaud the efforts of those to inform others about freebies and deals - Christian-themed books or not!
I am just curious as to why there is such a deluge of free Christian-themed content (generally for Kindle, but sometimes for other devices). Is this a bit of electronic evangelising? Or just a few very generous publishers wishing to hook in a few extra future customers? |
07-28-2011, 09:18 PM | #2 |
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I would suspect it's a little of both. There's always some hope that some (nonChristian) would pick one up by mistake and react to the message.
I also suspect that Christian fiction is a rather niche market - and if you think about many people's (print) book buying habits (standing it line at the grocery store scanning the bestsellers in the impulse aisle?), I suspect they're also trying to get the word out that the books exist. I know some non-religious types who like the books solely of the general lack of overt sexuality or violence (as well as limited "bad language"), as long as the books don't get "too preachy". |
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07-29-2011, 12:51 AM | #3 |
lost in my e-reader...
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I too have been amazed at the number of Christian-themed freebies/deals. I tend to skip right over them, and I'm sure there are folks who want the Christian-themed books that skip right over the others. I wonder if it would make sense to have two sub-forums? Or are there lots of folks who read both?
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07-29-2011, 01:03 AM | #4 |
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I'd guess part of it is the turn of the Millennium not so many yrs back and the greater availability of the market online. It is a niche market as mentioned earlier and they probably don't get as much advertizing offline as they do online. There are a lot of smaller publishers who can benefit from selling their books online and whom wouldn't be as likely to make a sale as some of the bigger ones are via conventional marketing.
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07-29-2011, 02:42 AM | #5 | |
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07-29-2011, 03:14 AM | #6 |
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07-29-2011, 07:09 AM | #7 |
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Bretheren, .........................
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07-29-2011, 07:32 AM | #8 |
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I personally thing it is something to try and use religion as a selling point and not so much content. I could be wrong but those are my 2 cents.
It is done with some small business also. There is a small electrical repair company near where I live whose logo conveniently make a cross |
07-29-2011, 08:34 AM | #9 |
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What Fizzywater said.
There is a market for books without overt sexuality, and "Christian" fiction serves it consistantly, even for nonreligious people. |
07-29-2011, 08:38 AM | #10 |
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Many Christian churches preach taking the message to the world, so distribution of free ebooks does exactly that. Since those same churches are also the publishers of the books, they can get the word out by giving the ebooks away for free and further the message without spending tons on printing costs.
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07-29-2011, 08:51 AM | #11 |
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07-29-2011, 09:44 AM | #12 |
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07-29-2011, 10:57 AM | #13 | |
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All of which has absolutely no bearing on the prodigious amount of free Christian Fiction out there. I happen to think it's fantastic for Christians and non-Christians alike. I've read several Christian works that could have just as easily been released by a traditional publisher and no one would have known the difference. |
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07-29-2011, 11:39 AM | #14 | |
Reading is sexy
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As for swearing... I recently watched Burlesque. (Yeah, I know. I had hoped, despite the negative reviews, that I would at least enjoy the costumes, make-up and choreography. Turns out all those things sort of sucked.) Anyway, the characters randomly drop a few f-bombs and it felt forced and didn't go with the story at all. Some of that was bad acting, but mostly I think it was bad writing. Maybe the writers don't know how to swear properly? |
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07-29-2011, 11:49 AM | #15 | |
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There's very little worse than an inexperienced curser when they're practicing. They need to be able to hold their own in a Glou'ster pub before they even think about including it in their writing. |
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