How to Solve the Problem of Not Enough Books for Christian Men in 3 Steps

There Are Three Solutions to the Book Deficit Facing Christian Men

A buddy from the Nashville area gave me two photographs of a brand new Christian bookshop.

In the first picture, you can see that the “Men” area is located between the “Young Adult” and the “Food & Diet” sections. One slim bookcase with four shelves and another with one empty shelf held around twenty male-oriented titles.

The second picture displayed the “Women” department. This aisle was roughly 10 times the size of the men’s aisle and was located in the store’s most prominent and well-lit location.

This bookstore is hardly alone in its sexism against women’s literature. You may find it on display at every store selling Christian publications, from the mom-and-pop shops to the mega-sites.

Whence comes this anomaly? What are your options in this situation?

Audience starvation

Men aren’t readers. That is an often used phrase among editors and publishers. To back up their thesis, they point to statistics showing that women read far more books—especially works of fiction—than males do.

Popular writer Jason Pinter retorts that males won’t read a book if it’s not readily accessible to them. He argues that the widespread belief that males don’t read has generated a feedback loop in which publishers cater to women by producing and advertising more books for them, and then further justify this trend by pointing to the increased sales of these books.

Incredibly, Dr. Paul Maxwell, a former acquisitions editor for a Christian publisher, is even more forthright. Among Christian publishers, he argues, “common knowledge” holds that “guys don’t purchase books; women buy books,” which informs much of the industry’s approach to book acquisition and marketing. “Even books we purchased for males were advertised to women, who were encouraged to purchase them for their husbands and sons,” He goes on to say that many in the Christian publishing industry see outreach to male readers as futile.

It’s possible that the lack of male presence in the publishing business is at least partially attributable to the preponderance of female workers in the sector. There are almost three times as many women as there are males, according to surveys conducted in 2015 and 2019. According to publisher Jason Low, it is only human for business professionals to “work with, create, and suggest books by and about people who are like them.” This includes editors, marketers, and executives.

Pinter recounts his time as an editor, when he proposed publishing a book written by a professional wrestler with a large fanbase consisting mostly of teenage males and young men. The editorial board was unfamiliar with the wrestler and couldn’t fathom why anybody would want to read his book. Just because the senior editor’s nephew, who was only 15, felt the book was a decent concept did the pitch succeed.

It’s Dangerous to Leave Men Alone with Books.

Large book publishers, in particular, are notoriously risk-averse. A typical publisher will be careful when selecting books to buy or secure the rights to print, favoring works by well-known writers that appeal to broad audiences and stick to tried-and-true themes and formats.

Dan Balow, a literary agent with the Steve Lauby Agency, says, “You can’t work in publishing for very long before you understand that there is risk, financial risk, endemic throughout the whole process.” He says that Christian book publishers are “investors” who must be careful with their money. The simple fact that women purchase more books than men is why publishers focus on them. Many businesses only target certain demographics, and Christian males are considered a subset of that.

According to Balow, there is declining demand for that specific service.

Publishers’ abandonment of novels for males is “alarming,” he argues. Most publishing houses now divide books for Christian adults into two categories: those aimed specifically at women and those aimed at everyone. Targeting “a very narrow group of individuals,” in this case guys, is considered too risky.

It’s Time to Take the Road Less Taken

But there are some brave publishers who are willing to take chances on males. , as well as gaining benefits.

Balow believes that “out there,” there is fantastic work being done for guys. More of it is needed, and it should cover a larger range of themes, offering Christian insight to men on a broader range of issues.

He claims that the world is sending men mixed signals about what it means to be a man of God. Most men don’t have many friends, which might leave them feeling isolated and alone. We need to combat it, Balow chimes in.

Christian-oriented books created with males in mind may be an effective tool. Please tell me how we can obtain more of them. The question is, “How can you assist?”

You can help meet the growing need for Christian men’s literature by doing one, two, or all three of the following.

1. Invest in Books… and Spread the Word About Your Favorites

There aren’t a lot of individuals who can support themselves only by creating novels. However, most writers do earn some money from their works, often in the form of royalties. When you buy a book, you are effectively tipping the author a little amount of money for his or her efforts.

You’re also making a statement to the publishing house that issued the book.

Publishing houses are run by entrepreneurs. Profits are the driving force behind a businessperson’s actions. If more copies of a book are sold, the publisher will earn more money. If the earnings are high enough, the publishing house may release further works in the same vein.

No, buying only one copy of a book won’t make much of a difference to the publisher. You may increase the effect of your purchase by telling others about the book and encouraging them to buy a copy for themselves.

Bringing up a book in casual conversation is a great way to promote it. You may suggest it to the males in your life in the office, at church, or anywhere else. It’s OK to bring up in online conversation. In addition, glowing evaluations of the book might be posted to the internet.

It’s also possible to keep up with your favorite authors online.

2. Keep up with writers

Successful book formulas are every publisher’s holy grail. Unfortunately, this kind of formula does not exist.

In Balow’s opinion, “it never works” when people try to find out the secret to publishing a successful book using scientific or corporate methods. He goes on to say that an author’s originality and creativity are the “secret sauce” of a successful book.

Balow argues that the publishing business will not invest the time or money necessary to develop more engaging novels for Christian males. There is a dearth of creative writers who can speak to men’s interests.

It’s a struggle to link up such writers with publishing houses. In most cases, writers cannot submit their work directly to publishing houses; only literary agents’ submissions are seen and considered. Thus, a writer requires an agent in order to have their work considered by one of these publishing houses.

The need for agents is great, as you would imagine. Most agents get a large number of submissions and inquiries from would-be writers. It’s difficult to gauge an author’s success from a sample of their work. As a result, agents and others in the publishing business now have another criteria to evaluate writers: the author’s fan base.

Those who may be traced as having some kind of relationship with a certain author are said to be “followers.” You can see how many subscribers or followers you have on most social networking sites. YouTube does as well, as do other blogging platforms like Substack and others.

Try to keep up with the author when you find their work to be inspiring. It is not necessary for the work to be a published book. Something written, such as an article, a blog post, or a remark on someone else’s social media post. Even if a writer has never had a book published before, the more support he gets from his audience, the greater his chances of seeing one of his works published.

3. Write

In contrast to the arduous process of trying to have a book published by a conventional publisher, self-publishing a book is a breeze. and inexpensive. In reality, it’s possible to get it for nothing. That’s why the self-publishing industry has been expanding at such a high rate.

Self-negative publishing’s is that it’s tough to sell copies of your book. In most cases, no more than 250 copies of a self-published book are sold.

Perhaps you have no interest in seeing your work in print anywhere. Maybe you don’t even consider yourself a good writer.

However, you need to convey your tale. This tale may be just what other Christian guys need to hear.

Get to work on it. As well as anything else you feel like saying.

You can share your opinions on Facebook. The sky is the limit when it comes to blog topics, so get started now.

Your writing voice will develop the more you write. …and the more interest you’ll arouse in others. Also, encourage them to put their thoughts on paper.

More novels written by Christian males will emerge out of this group of authors.