Writing & Publishing Best Places to Publish for Christian Authors?

Jessi Rita Hoffman

Jessi Rita Hoffman

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Hello, fellow Christian writers! I'm an optioned screenwriter with a movie in production (a children's story called "Under the Fence"). I edit people's scripts and adapt their novels into screenplays, but most of my work is coaching Christian authors on their writing and editing their novels and nonfiction books. I have an issue I'd like your help with: what are the best places you've found for Christian authors to publish? I know Regenery Publishing specializes in conservative and Christian books, but who else is out there that you would recommend? I don't mean vanity publishers, who charge unsuspecting authors to publish their work, but genuine publishers who pay royalties to the author. And are there any particular agents you would recommend, who appreciate Christian writing?
Jessi Rita Hoffman
www.JessiRitaHoffman.com
 
Jessi Rita Hoffman said:
Hello, fellow Christian writers! I'm an optioned screenwriter with a movie in production (a children's story called "Under the Fence"). I edit people's scripts and adapt their novels into screenplays, but most of my work is coaching Christian authors on their writing and editing their novels and nonfiction books. I have an issue I'd like your help with: what are the best places you've found for Christian authors to publish? I know Regenery Publishing specializes in conservative and Christian books, but who else is out there that you would recommend? I don't mean vanity publishers, who charge unsuspecting authors to publish their work, but genuine publishers who pay royalties to the author. And are there any particular agents you would recommend, who appreciate Christian writing?
Jessi Rita Hoffman
www.JessiRitaHoffman.com
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I don't know much about good traditional publishing companies, but I've heard that often it can end up being more rewarding to self-publish, and hire your own help such as freelance editors, cover artists, etc. because you have more artistic freedom, and you could get better pay since the money goes to you.

Taking Webtoon (a comic posting site) as a good example, you can either post your comic there on your own time at your own pace, or you can let Webtoon publish for you and you get some monetary reward, but it is often negligible for the work done. But if Webtoon publishes for you, they will change parts of the story, shoehorn you into writing/drawing what you may not desire to, and hold you to a weekly posting schedule (very hard to maintain for an artist hoping to draw anything of a decent quality).

That being said, you may have practically full control, but you also have full control. You're in charge of figuring out how you get paid, whether that be patreon (donation), classes, merchandise, etc. And regardless, you do have to learn how to use social media to advertise your work, and even then, it will take some time to get off the ground.

Bottom line, self publishing, from my research, is a rewarding option if you have the time/money to get started. Traditional publishing is good, too, but I don't know of any good Traditional publishing companies, as I early on decided to self-publish to retain as many rights as possible since traditional publishing seemed like such a gamble.

I know this doesn't really answer your question, but I hope it might help! I've heard enough horror stories about writers and artists being dragged down by big companies, that I tend to be a bit gun-shy about letting a large corporate business have control of my work because of what Disney has done to so many good franchises, and what I've heard of Webtoon's problems.
 
Scoutillus Finch said:
I don't know much about good traditional publishing companies, but I've heard that often it can end up being more rewarding to self-publish, and hire your own help such as freelance editors, cover artists, etc. because you have more artistic freedom, and you could get better pay since the money goes to you.

Taking Webtoon (a comic posting site) as a good example, you can either post your comic there on your own time at your own pace, or you can let Webtoon publish for you and you get some monetary reward, but it is often negligible for the work done. But if Webtoon publishes for you, they will change parts of the story, shoehorn you into writing/drawing what you may not desire to, and hold you to a weekly posting schedule (very hard to maintain for an artist hoping to draw anything of a decent quality).

That being said, you may have practically full control, but you also have full control. You're in charge of figuring out how you get paid, whether that be patreon (donation), classes, merchandise, etc. And regardless, you do have to learn how to use social media to advertise your work, and even then, it will take some time to get off the ground.

Bottom line, self publishing, from my research, is a rewarding option if you have the time/money to get started. Traditional publishing is good, too, but I don't know of any good Traditional publishing companies, as I early on decided to self-publish to retain as many rights as possible since traditional publishing seemed like such a gamble.

I know this doesn't really answer your question, but I hope it might help! I've heard enough horror stories about writers and artists being dragged down by big companies, that I tend to be a bit gun-shy about letting a large corporate business have control of my work because of what Disney has done to so many good franchises, and what I've heard of Webtoon's problems.
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Hi Scoutillus

Thanks for sharing your experience! About the only thing a traditional publisher can confer on a book is a pedigree. Authors still have to do their own marketing -- all the leg work, and you're right, they get a pittance in royalties, while if they self-publish they keep a much larger chunk of the pie. But a pedigree can be useful in persuading prospective buyers to buy. If they see a publisher they recognize has put their stamp on a book, that means someone they trust has vetted it, and they feel assured they won't be spending their money on junk. Since anyone can self-publish, a lot of junk is out there, and readers have been burned, so many tend to be nervous about spending money on self-published books. Things like lots of Amazon reviews will mitigate that concern, but a pedigree CAN make the difference between a sale and a non-sale, some of the time. That said, when writers seek traditional publishing, it's often because they assume it's just what authors do, rather than it being the truly best option.
 
I guess it would depend on what the genre is. I can't think of one off-hand at the moment. Will think on it. Oh, and welcome to the site! ::D
 
Oops! I forgot to say congratulations on your movie! Yay! 👍

You could look at Guideposts. Very well respected. I don't know if they do children's books though.

Oh, also, be sure you get an agent first. There are very few (small) publishers that will accept an MS from someone without an agent.
 
Thanks, Lynn, for the welcome! But to be clear, I am not looking for an agent. I edit books (as well as write them, and screenplays) and am seeking information about publishing that might be useful to my Christian author clients.
 
Ahhh! For your clients. I thought you meant for you. They will still need an agent if they're going traditional publishing.
 
If you like, you can post the services you offer in the Plugs & Promos section. :D
 
Jessi Rita Hoffman said:
Hi Scoutillus

Thanks for sharing your experience! About the only thing a traditional publisher can confer on a book is a pedigree. Authors still have to do their own marketing -- all the leg work, and you're right, they get a pittance in royalties, while if they self-publish they keep a much larger chunk of the pie. But a pedigree can be useful in persuading prospective buyers to buy. If they see a publisher they recognize has put their stamp on a book, that means someone they trust has vetted it, and they feel assured they won't be spending their money on junk. Since anyone can self-publish, a lot of junk is out there, and readers have been burned, so many tend to be nervous about spending money on self-published books. Things like lots of Amazon reviews will mitigate that concern, but a pedigree CAN make the difference between a sale and a non-sale, some of the time. That said, when writers seek traditional publishing, it's often because they assume it's just what authors do, rather than it being the truly best option.
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OK, I need to correct a few things here.

First, most readers don't care about publishing pedigree. What a traditional publisher provides is:
1) Access to (supposedly) seasoned editors.
2) Book development that is in line with current trends. This means cover art, formatting, format selection, audiobook production, etc.
3) Marketing (I'll go into details on this later).
4) Better distribution than self-publishing.

Yes, you'll need to do a lot of your own marketing, however - depending on the publisher -you'll get assistance from the marketing resources of the publisher (publicist, marketing coordinator, etc.) Brandon Sanderson talks about this periodically. What you WILL get, however, is access to sales channels that you normally wouldn't have access to as a self-pub author. Namely: shelf space in book stores and promotional materials. As it stands right now, I've sold more copies of my failed software book than I did all of my self-pub books in the same time period. And I had to do nothing in order to achieve that.

I cannot get shelf space at a Barnes & Noble - not that it would do me any good - as a self-pub author. I can as trad-pub. And shelf placement, nationally, means more sales than me dumping my book on Amazon and hoping for the best.

As far as pedigree and being "distinguished" as a trad-pub author - consider that, in some genres, you can't get published by traditional publishers. LirRPG, which is hot right now, is DOMINATED by self-pub authors. There's some speculation as to whether trad-pub has lost significant ground in Fantasy and Sci-Fi. Trad-publishing standards these days have fallen through the floor, and their business model is literally killing their business (focusing on things like Romantacy to the exclusion of other genres). It makes is much easier for guys like me to pick up disaffected readers.

And don't even get me started on thw the Wokeification of the publishing establishment. If you are a male author, you might as well just self-publish and avoid all of the heartache.
 
This is the kind of information the larger writing conferences specialize in keeping up to date about and sharing--that, and be a place to meet an agent or publisher directly to get the ball rolling. I know those events are pricey, but they stay in business because that ends up being one of the gatekeepers weeding out those who aren't willing to invest the time and money into their writing.
 
Celebrianne said:
This is the kind of information the larger writing conferences specialize in keeping up to date about and sharing--that, and be a place to meet an agent or publisher directly to get the ball rolling. I know those events are pricey, but they stay in business because that ends up being one of the gatekeepers weeding out those who aren't willing to invest the time and money into their writing.
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Can you name specific conferences or recommend one?
Scoutillus Finch said:
I don't know much about good traditional publishing companies, but I've heard that often it can end up being more rewarding to self-publish, and hire your own help such as freelance editors, cover artists, etc. because you have more artistic freedom, and you could get better pay since the money goes to you.
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I left traditional publishing and DO enjoy self-publishing more. However, I might look for an agent one of these days to promote my screenplay and previous books and open a couple more doors. (I gotta finish the two books I'm currently writing first. ;))
 
For anyone interested in sources for publishing, there are standard market guides out there. While Writer's Market hasn't been doing its yearly updates for some time, Christian Writer's Market Guide is still doing so, and seems a decently comprehensive source of contact info for publishers, agents, periodicals, and such. While I haven't seen the more recent editions of CWMG, those I've seen have been extensive enough to be worth checking out. WM, in its heyday, was phenomenal, though it changed enough from year to year that I'm not sure that their last-published version is still current enough to be worthwhile.
 
AHumbleWarrior said:
Can you name specific conferences or recommend one?
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Not really. I've been to a few that are local to me and know just enough from insiders to be aware that big publishers often prefer to find authors through such conferences. If I were determined to go the traditional route, besides making sure I built an audience (I've heard they require at least 20k people to know about a nonfiction author before thinking about giving them a deal), I would look into the publishers I would want to have my name connected with and see where they send their acquisitions editors. Then I'd do what it took to get to at least one of those conferences to meet them.
But I'd much rather just self-publish than do so much work and still have them expect me to do the hoof work for most of the marketing as well as taking a hefty share of my profits.
 
One of the biggest and best is ACFW, American Christian Fiction Writers. Unfortunately, it just started yesterday. It's in New Orleans this time but always in a different city each year. But you could put it on your list for next year. Once, years ago, many of our members went to the one held in Indianapolis. Hubs and I drove up to meet them because it was so close. We all got to have dinner together. It was great fun. Side bit fun: Since no one knew what I looked like, I took a paper plate and glued on a picture of Snoopy and a handle. I held it up over my face so they'd know who I was! LOL 😅
 
Jessi Rita Hoffman said:
Hello, fellow Christian writers! I'm an optioned screenwriter with a movie in production (a children's story called "Under the Fence"). I edit people's scripts and adapt their novels into screenplays, but most of my work is coaching Christian authors on their writing and editing their novels and nonfiction books. I have an issue I'd like your help with: what are the best places you've found for Christian authors to publish? I know Regenery Publishing specializes in conservative and Christian books, but who else is out there that you would recommend? I don't mean vanity publishers, who charge unsuspecting authors to publish their work, but genuine publishers who pay royalties to the author. And are there any particular agents you would recommend, who appreciate Christian writing?
Jessi Rita Hoffman
www.JessiRitaHoffman.com
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Jessi, you may wish to consult The Christian Writers' Market Guide published by Steve Laube. This guide lists Christian publishers for all types of writing. A new edition comes out every year, but here is the link to the 2024 edition:

The Christian Writers Market Guide 2024

I hope this helps a bit. :)

Blessings,

MaryAnn
 
MaryAnn, thanks so much! I did not know about the market guide! I will surely look into it.
Jessi Rita
 
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