I have never compromised my values in my books, and today I received conformation of my resolve.
I sat down today with two pastors at my church to discuss the possibility of our church bookstore carrying my upcoming book, "Overcoming Obstacles with SPUNK! The Keys to Leadership & Goal-Setting." While the book is not a "Christian" book per se, it contains many of the values. One of the pastors had already reviewed the book and they asked about my motives and the principles behind the novel. Knowing my own heart and the hearts of those who had contributed to the book, I answered every question truthfully and to the best of my ability.
My goal was simply to get the book into the bookstore. As a result of this meeting, not only is the store placing a large order, I have been asked to set up a table and sell books directly after church one Sunday - or two or three or more!
I have never made any apologies for my Christian values and I refuse to stray far from them in my novels. I have never stooped to salacious content or questionable morals in any of my YA books, either. Yes, I would achieve more success if my books contained content such as can be found in series like Gossip Girl. But that price is too high for me. It's not who I am and I refuse to compromise my beliefs.
I certainly could not have achieved the success I did today had I done so!
9 comments:
Good for you, Diane. Hope the store sells a bunch. My books would never make the cut at a religious publishing house, though I keep the profanity to a minimum.
But my McKenzie characters are good Methodists and their pastor appears in all the books. He says laughingly of Greg, “You make incorrigible seem like a nice word.”
Amen to that!!
Brooke
http://web.me.com/bluestocking_bb
Well, I guess you can say you have spunk!! Wait a minute, you already know that.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
http://www.morganmandel.com
Yeah, I am "Spunky" to all who know me.
And that is really funny to hear shouted from across the church sanctuary or from the far end of a bookstore...
And I messed up the above post on my own blog! Too funny...
Hope you're selling well. Theology informs my first novel -- the question of violence. All best,
Lucia
http://bluestemwriters.wordpress.com/
Good luck on your Sunday booksale, and I hope your fellow church goers support your resolve to never compromise your values by buying your books. I found that my church community were my biggest supporters when my first book came out!
"It's not who I am and I refuse to compromise my beliefs."
Good for you!
Thank you everyone! I am encouraged by all of the positive replies.
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