Christian fiction's breadth of styles and depth of content continues to grow. ... What is your church store's attitude toward novels? How do you decide what to carry? What marketing and promotional ideas have worked well for you?

"Stories are an incredibly powerful way to transmit Truth, and I love that we were crafted with the ability to tell and understand stories from the Ultimate Story Maker, God. When novelists tell a story, they're actively behaving in the image with which they were created-they are creating. To see God at work through the hands of storytellers not only reminds me of His vast ability to share Himself in multiple ways, but also makes me delight in the imaginations He's placed on this earth.

As for deciding what to sell, pursuant to a request made by booksellers at the International Christian Retail Show, stores can now receive a list of fiction genres and suggested titles within those genres by e-mailing me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
As for marketing and promotional ideas that work well, anything that's done at a grass-roots level almost always works to promote fiction. The important thing to remember is that grass-roots can happen in person or online. From friends calling friends to bloggers chatting with users, word-of-mouth is word-of-mouth regardless of the medium. If your store doesn't have a presence on Facebook, you're losing out on garnering more customers.

For in-store promotional ideas, I'd say the most important thing you can do to promote fiction sales is to find the fiction lover on your staff or in your customer base and cultivate the relationship. Reach out to publicists and let them know of that fiction lover's existence-we then send advance copies of novels to that person so that they can read the book and be prepared to hand-sell it when it arrives in-store. Encourage your staff person who is a fiction lover to tell individual customers about the particular books they've enjoyed. Consider having a "Jill Recommends" section (named after your staff member, of course).

If your fiction lover is a customer rather than a staff member, ask if he/she would like to start a book club in your store. When the club meets, give them 10% off the club's title pick, or give them half off a fifth book or whatever works with your business model that also gives them incentive to make your store their fiction stop."

Rebeca Seitz
President
Glass Road Public Relations

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