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The literary world is a precarious place. No doubt, it has been since the printing press was born nearly 600 years ago. But it seems to have gotten more dangerous as the years have gone by and the small, closed-off realm of books and publishing has expanded from a few well-worn wooden desks and family-owned publishing houses to a multi-billion dollar business with over 900,000 employees and 49,000 authors. Literature has engulfed other medias—film, TV, music, art and design—and countless other aspects of our life, from social media to candles and tea. Whether you read or not, you cannot escape the presence of books.
As it has since the first language was written, books have altered our culture. Or perhaps our culture has altered our books.
But what does this expansion, this dramatic growth, mean for the literary world itself?
With between 1 and 4 million books being published each year, and the self-publishing industry making up more than half of that, this corner of the arts feels like an over-crowded subway that, once you get on, you’ve got to stay on and ride out until we reach our destination. Even if all the other passengers are rude, or a fight breaks out, or you’re stuck standing next to a creepy, stinky man.
Oftentimes, it feels like there isn’t a place for every story or every author or every idea. Even for all its growth, the industry still feels close-minded and tight. Rather than having 4 million different stories, we have 4 million retellings of the same five to appease a market that’s skewed toward sexuality and virality instead of high-quality, creative storytelling.
And the truth is, the Christian literary community—from readers to writers, indie to traditional—doesn’t seem all that different at times. With so many views on content and how much religion is too much (or too little) in Christian fiction, or if you should be writing Christian fiction, it can easily get crowded. And toxic. It isn’t about creativity anymore; now it’s about your personal beliefs, your relationship with God, how you’re presenting (or not presenting) to Gospel to readers, your Christian witness, the list goes on. Everyone has their idea of what’s right, and if you don’t hold to their same standard or belief, you can’t be part of the group. You get chucked out of the window—which doesn’t sound very pleasant on a moving subway.
Is this every person or every subgroup in the Christian writing community? Absolutely not. Is this the experience you’re guaranteed when you cross onto the Christian side of books? By no means.
But is this still a very real and present issue with a lot of folks?
Unfortunately, yes.
I’ve personally witnessed the toxicity of several members of the “Christian” literary community—from authors reacting poorly to constructive feedback, to readers pouncing on one another over a semi-negative review. Friends of mine have felt shunned, if not outright called-out and ostracized, based on their views and beliefs. And I’m not talking about serious issues like abortion or porn. I’m talking about silly things like tropes, or personal things like denominations.
Maybe you’ve experienced the same, on some level or another. Maybe you’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer size of the literary industry and the mountainous presence of books and authors on social media. Maybe you’ve felt uneasy about your story or style of writing because it doesn’t fit what sells or what goes viral.
And maybe you’ve been attacked for a book review, turned on by your friends, or simply felt excluded because you weren’t a certain denomination or writing in a certain genre.
In a world (the literary world, not the world at large) that’s become almost exclusively virtual, people can say or do whatever they want without taking into account that there’s another person—a real person—behind that screen. They can build cliques and keep others out without ever realizing there are other writers out there who need a place. There are other writers out there searching for their voice, but they can’t find it because everyone else’s is so loud.
That’s not the true Christian literary community. If what you’re seeing is full of division and controversy, arguments and shame, it’s not a community. It’s a cult.
The true Christian community should place an emphasis on unity. On love and peace and listening to one another and building each other up. Will there be differences? Undoubtedly. Will there need to be boundaries? 100%. But will the tenets of the group be keeping people out because they’re not a carbon-copy of you, or they gave your book three stars, or they go to a different church, or they don’t like your favorite trope?
No.
And will the activities of the group be causing controversy, debating tropes and genres, plumbing the depths of every doctrine imaginable, showing favoritism rather than being honest, or leaving hate comments?
No.
See, community is for building-up and benefiting. It’s for Kingdom work. It’s for glorifying God by serving others. It’s not a safe space to complain and let negativity fester. Instead, it’s a safe place to focus on the things that matter so negativity fades away and wounds heal and bitterness can’t take root.
That is what Sky’s the Limit Press is. What matters to us is living for God, glorifying Him with the work of our hands, creating something worthy of the Creator. And if that’s what matters to you too, there’s a place for you here.
If you’ve felt like your story didn’t fit, there’s a place for you here.
If you’ve felt left out of other groups, there’s a place for you here.
If you’d rather build the Kingdom than your social media platform, there’s a place for you here.
If you write for God instead of man, there’s a place for you here.
If you’ve been rejected by others, there’s a place for you here.
If you’ve seen the ill-effects of bitterness and division, there’s a place for you here.
If you can’t find your voice, there’s a place for you here.
Leave your hurt and heartache at the door. Step into a place that has glory and grace in mind.
We want to help you find your voice, not the voice of the masses. We want to help you create for greater kingdom than that of this world. We want to help you tell the story God has placed on your heart.
Our only guidebook is the Bible. Our only requirement is faith and a willingness to learn and grow. You don’t have to give my books five stars or agree with me on every point. You don’t have to be in the same denomination as our authors or write the same genre. You don’t have to tell the same story or the most marketable story.
You just have to love God and love people.
My prayer is that this press, whether you publish through us or just enjoy our resources and community, would be a home for you. That our authors and editors and coaches and I would be a family for you. Like a family, we may disagree, but we stick together and lift each other up. Like a home, there’s comfort and peace within its walls, no matter what you’re going through.
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