A pioneer of Christian fiction has encouraged Christian retailers to do more to make the most of the growing category in their stores.

"Many Christian bookstores that I go in to simply do not say to me, 'this is a place I am going to love to browse, like a Barnes & Noble,' " said longtime Bethany House Publishers executive Carol Johnson. "It's got frilly Bible covers and figurines and all kinds of gift stuff prominently displayed. You sometimes have to walk a ways to find books."

Speaking on fiction trends in a Christian Retailing "Talking Points" interview, Johnson said: "I think the store needs to shout, 'I am a bookstore' and then (have) the gift things on the edges. I also think that phenomenon keeps men out of the stores. It just doesn't look like a place that they would feel comfortable in."

Having effectively kick-started the modern Christian fiction category with her 1978 acquisition of Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly, Johnson was instrumental in the 2000 founding of the Christy Awards, to promote excellence in Christian fiction. She recently retired as vice president editorial-fiction at Bethany, though she continues to work part time on acquisitions and special projects.

Johnson told Christian Retailing that she welcomed the heightened quality and realism of Christian fiction, though publishers needed to be careful. "In today's world and on TV, Christians hear words and phrases that are very offensive, (but) it is a lot easier to ignore those than when you see them written on a page," she said. "They have more power to offend when they are written on a page, so we have to be careful."

Read the full interview in the May 19 issue of Christian Retailing.

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