Boom in Christian fiction - self publishing

Black Issues Book Review, Nov-Dec, 2002 by Victoria Christopher Murray

Inspirational, Christian, Faith-based. Whatever you call it, there is increasing popularity of spiritually inspired fiction and nonfiction for the African-American reader. And more and more black men have taken a prominent place as authors in a market that has been dominated by women, with messages that are designed to appeal to men and women alike.

Men writing spiritual romance novels

One such writer is Maurice Gray, self-published author of To Whom Much Is Given. "I write in the Christian fiction genre" Gray boldly proclaims. "It's a broad term, but my objective is to deliver the gospel in an entertaining format." Although Gray has been writing for more than ten years, the idea to write a spiritually based book came much later. "I began writing this novel in 1990, but I didn't have a clue about how to write, nor did I have the discipline to write a book. So it took me several years?"

When Gray finished his novel in 1993, he sent it to several agents but only one responded. "He told me it was the worst manuscript that he had ever read," Gray laughs. "However" he says, turning serious, "what was good was that the agent broke it down for me, giving me direction on how to make the book better." Gray went back to work, adding conflict, characters and more dimension to his plot. As his writing became stronger, he says, his faith grew, as well.

"I'd been growing spiritually since 1990, and in 1998 when I read Frank Peretti novel (Piercing the Darkness, Prophet), I realized there was a market for Christian fiction" says Gray. "The thing was, no one was writing these types of books for the African-American market." Gray returned to his book and wrote it from a Christian perspective. "Still, there were many things in my way--like a job. I didn't have the time to really write, then publish and market a book. And no money" he adds. "How was I supposed to do this without a large chunk of change in the bank? But then God began breaking down my excuses. In 1999, I was laid off with a severance package. Now I had time and money."

Learning how to publish

While working on revisions to the novel, Gray met Patricia Haley, who had self-published Nobody's Perfect. "Patricia helped me through the self-publishing process and Write the Vision [his publishing company] was born. The name of my company comes from the scripture Habakkuk 2:2, where God says to write down the revelation and make it plain."

To date, Gray has more than 2,000 copies in print and has also coauthored a nonfiction book about living with AIDS called I Didn't Mean to Get HIV, which was released in January 2002. "Write the Vision was supposed to be just for my books, but there has been no escaping publishing others" Gray says. His long-term goal is to have a full-fledged publishing company that focuses on faith-based writings.

Inspirational books for many faiths

Terrence Dean's self-published work Be Empowered came from a much different place. "I consider myself an inspirational writer" Dean says, "because my writings reach much further than just the Christian market. Although I quote quite a bit from the Bible I am speaking to men from various denominations and beliefs."

Dean's writing came about quite by accident. "I never considered myself a writer" he explains. "In 1998, I started a Men's Empowerment group in New York City." The idea for this group came to Dean one day while he was walking to work at MTV.

"I noticed that everyone around me was in a hurry to get to nowhere. I could see the unhappiness in these strangers' faces. And I began to realize that while there were many nurturing entities and support groups for women, there wasn't one that I could think of for men" Thus Men's Empowerment began.

"It started with 20 men and we've grown to over 300." The monthly seminars are designed to inspire and introduce men to others who have succeeded in various fields, which was the impetus for Dean's writing. "That's where the idea came from for Be Empowered."

The nonfiction inspirational book is designed to inspire and provide men with a path for their spiritual journey. The book came out in September 2001, but by January 2002, Dean was in discussions with Random House and was offered a contract. "It's very exciting," Dean says of the book, which will be rereleased in April 2003. "I'll be able to reach men on a broader basis."

Religious writing on the real side

"I'm just trying to be real." Those are the words of Terrence Johnson, author of Shades of Black. "I call myself an inspirational writer, although all of my writings are Christian-based and outline God's plan for salvation," Johnson says. "The only reason I don't call myself a Christian writer is because according to the publishing industry, my writing disqualifies me. Some of my characters can get pretty racy with their language?"

Like the other writers, Johnson did not always have a plan to write faith-based fiction. "Even though I've been a Christian all my life, I didn't consider making this a spiritual novel when I first began Shades of Black, in 1994." But after finishing the first draft of the novel, Johnson put it aside for two years. "When I picked up the novel again, I decided that I was going to take the four ideas I had for Shades of Black and stretch it into four novels." It was at that point that Johnson decided to make his books spiritually based. "I was inspired, believe it or not, by Hollywood. Hollywood has a shallow view of Christians and Christianity. Christians are either self-righteous or hypocrites. I wanted to portray a realistic view, showing Christians as ordinary people who make serious errors but solve their challenges with Christ."