Catholic Novels in Catholic bookstores/gift shops

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bluerose

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This came up recently in a discussion among Catholic Writers Guild members. Four times a year, the Guild awards a Seal of Approval to Catholic books, both fiction and non-fiction, for adults, children, and young adults. The purpose of the Seal, according to the Guild:​

The purpose of the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval is to help Catholic bookstores and venues in their determination of the Catholicity of a work. This reassurance from a professional organization can assist authors in marketing and promoting their works. Books are also judged by their editorial integrity as well. Books that are not professionally edited or publication-ready are not eligible the Seal of Approval.

Authors looking to reach a Catholic audience, but whose books do not qualify for an imprimatur (like fiction), or authors who do not have access to the process to get an Imprimatur, can submit their book for the SoA. It provides a tangible reassurance to readers and bookstore owners that the book does support Catholic beliefs and values; and in the case that it does not, it gives the author some useful feedback.

Readers can be assured that SoA books will not offend their faith and have a certain level of editorial quality.

Store owners can be assured that they can stock the book on their shelves, host the author for a signing, etc. without compromizing their appearance or mission as a faithful Catholic apostolate.​

Some of you know that I write murder mysteries, with a Catholic “flavor”. That is, my characters are Catholic, they live the Faith as best they can (Mass attendance, divorced sheriff unable to date or remarry, etc.), but there is nothing in the books that explicitly promulgates, teaches about, or promotes the Faith, unlike in, say, Marcus Grodi’s novel, “How Firm a Foundation” (which is loosely based on his own conversion story.)

That being said, my question is this: When you visit a Catholic book/gift store, do you expect to find novels that don’t explicitly promote or teach the faith? Do you visit a Catholic bookstore to find novels or “fun reads”?

This question came about because several members of the CWG have published books that do not contradict Catholic teaching (but neither promote nor teach it) but that do not seem to “fit” in a Catholic bookstore, such as sci-fi, fantasy, romance, mystery, etc. My own mother-in-law used to own a Catholic bookstore/gift shop and while she did carry books such as Grodi’s novel and “A Philadelphia Catholic in King James’ Court” by Martin de Porras Kennedy, she admitted that she didn’t think that my mystery novels (two of which have been awarded the CWG Seal of Approval) would “fit” in her shop. Nor would several other novels awarded the Seal.

The reason, she said, is that people don’t go to a Catholic shop looking for “fun reads”–they go to find Bibles, prayer books, rosaries, medals, etc.–in other words, things that are an aid to learning and practicing the Faith. Only non-fiction and fiction with that aim would be expected to be found on the shelves in her store.

If you visit most Christian bookstores, you’ll find a section on Christian fiction which carries numerous works from the “Left Behind” series to romances by Dee Henderson and Janette Oke. Of course, you won’t find Catholic fiction there, and most of the books there are thinly-disguised “testimonies” or conversion stories.

So where do Catholics go to find Catholic fiction? Have you ever walked into a Catholic bookstore and asked for a novel that did not explicitly teach the Faith? Does Catholic fiction, defined by the CWG Seal of Approval, have a place in Catholic bookstores?

I apologize for the long post, but I am researching possible retailers for my mystery series and just wondering if approaching Catholic bookstores is worth the time and trouble.
 
I’ve been in a few Catholic bookstores, and I’ve never seen a section for fiction. I wish they had one. I would definitely browse the books there.

When I asked the manager of my local bookstore–at our retreat center–if I could at the very least set out on the counter some bookmarks adverstising my novels, I was told I could do that only if I gave them the profits for my books. (All the net profits do go to charity, but I had already selected a different charity.) I was also not allowed to put bookmarks out with the other ones already in the back of my church.

I understand their hesitation. So much on the market is full of heresy. My Spiritual Director banned me from getting published at all until I could find someone with enough authority to read my books and verify they had no heresy in them. (One Spiritual Director forbade me from even talking about my books.) It took me 15 years to get these bans lifted and to find someone who would agree to read them, and of course there was no heresy in any of them. But I would rather my novels never see the light of day than promote the tiniest thing that goes against Church teaching.

I understand your frustration. Here you are trying to do something for God by having clean novels that adhere to Church teaching, and you keep getting the door slammed in your face. However–and this is important–I discovered during those long 15 years I had to wait out of obedience that such obstacles are normal. Look at everything St. Faustina had to endure, and she didn’t even live to see the fulfillment of her mission. Padre Pio was once banned from so much as looking out the window of his room. So I figure that puts us in some good company, although of course not at the same level as those folk.

You can try to get Catholic bookstores to carry your novels, but I highly doubt they will. Shelf space is limited in any store, and they’re going to carry what they think will sell the best, which is non-fiction.
 
Kay_Cee said:
You can try to get Catholic bookstores to carry your novels, but I highly doubt they will. Shelf space is limited in any store, and they’re going to carry what they think will sell the best, which is non-fiction.
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This is what frustrates the Guild members. You can look at several threads here on the forums to see that there IS a market for Catholic fiction, but the retailers who are in the best position to promote it as such, for whatever reason, don’t support it.

Let me add that many of us who write Catholic-flavored fiction could easily see our books on the shelves of a secular bookstore, since the Catholic elements are not the main theme of the books. The problem is that the Guild was formed in order to let Catholic bookstores know that these books ARE suitable for sale in their stores, have nothing contrary to the Faith in them, and might even make great gifts. Lifeway and other Christian bookstores carry fiction (including sci-fi, romance, and mysteries) in far greater numbers than there are Catholic works of fiction (and of course, Catholic fiction would never be accepted on their bookshelves.)

Perhaps the internet and online stores have contributed to the dwindling number of real-world Catholic bookstores (except the ones attached to a parish) and so they have little choice but to only sell a limited kind of book (Bibles, prayer books, occasional lives of the saints) but having to hunt down books online that are simply novels for entertainment that are not offensive to Catholic sensibilities can frustrate book buyers. Personally, I’m a tactile book shopper and I like to be able to pick up a book and look at it before I buy it. That is hard to do when a particular genre or sub-genre (if Catholic fiction can be described as such) is only available or identifiable online and it makes selling and promoting such books even harder.
 
Yes, I like to pick up books and give them a look before buying. In times past, it was not difficult to find fiction that was solid and inoffensive, but as the decades passed, it’s harder for me to find anything that isn’t offensive. In fact, over the last 5 years or so, I’ve thrown out several print books because the authors decided to throw in profanity or unnecessary sex scenes. I never thought I’d do that.

If I owned a physical Catholic bookstore, my first concern with fiction would be “is this book suitable for my customers?” Perhaps the CWG could advocate for some label or writing/notice on the back cover that read: “family friendly,” or something. I mean, growing up, I could listen to just about any kind of music, but, as time passed, “Parental Advisory” began to appear.

Anyway, there is a trade group people could contact for advice:

catholicmarketing.com/home/market/

Hope this helps,
Ed
 
Thank you, edwest2, that is precisely what the Seal of Approval is meant to be. The problem is that our “target” retailers–Catholic book stores–rarely carry fiction.

The Guild offers SoA winners stickers that they can put on their books, denoting the book’s status as an award winner, but individual publishers won’t necessarily put that on the book’s cover art (mainly because secular publishers don’t want to take a chance of turning off potential buyers who might not buy the book simply because of the word “Catholic”.) Not every SoA winner was published by a Catholic publishing house (mine isn’t) and even Catholic publishing houses seem to be having a hard time getting their books into Catholic book and gift shops.

My book reviews on amazon routinely mention that my books are clean reads, and many even mention faithfulness to Catholic doctrine. I’ve gone into Barnes and Noble, hoping to pick up a book or two that features Catholic characters (one cozy series was highly recommended to me by a formerly Catholic friend–there’s a red flag for you–and it turned out that the characters were co-habitating Catholics who were trying to get an annulment for one party simply because the main character’s mother wanted her to have a Catholic wedding ceremony) and I’ve been disappointed to see that the characters are Catholic in name only.

This weekend, I am selling my books at our parish’s first apple festival. A portion of my proceeds will be donated to the Carmelite sisters of Santa Fe, NM and I have made up a flyer (well, at five pages long, maybe I should call it a catalog!) to hand out with listings of contemporary Catholic fiction novels and websites that list other Catholic books as well. It’s just a small thing, but it might help.

I will pass your information on marketing to the Guild and see what we can do with it. Thank you!
 
You’re very welcome. The gradual rise in wrong thinking among Catholics, and the population as a whole, really took off in the late 1970s and reached a “tipping point” around halfway through the '80s. By the '90s, I couldn’t listen to music on FM anymore, and it just kept getting worse - till today. But I continue to contribute fiction to my company’s solid fan base that knows we stay away from the offensive stuff (no, we’re not perfect). It’s starting to bother me that the term ‘kick *****’ is even appearing on stores.

But, let’s keep our priorities straight, persevere and even have some fun with real thrillers, mysteries, SF and so on, that everyone can read. My favorite SF was published in the 1950s, and, even though dated, it has heart. I’m still pulled into those stories. And as a seasoned editor, the quality of the writing is still there, and it’s not just nostalgia. I want characters I can relate to and I can’t relate to a lot of what’s out there.

Perhaps, there should be a Catholic Fiction Book Review site.

catholicreviewofbooks.com/

Ed
 
I would just love any Catholic fiction novels! There are, for children, at least, fictionalized novels on many of the Saints by Mary Fabyan Windeatt. I’ve always wondered why, in the Inspirational Fiction realm, none of the novels are ever Catholic. The characters and storylines revolve around Protestants. Which is fine, of course, but I just wonder why there are never any Catholic storylines. I also think it might be Anne Perry or Ellis Peters who writes Catholic cozy mysteries.
 
Hi Bluerose,
I like to support my Catholic store and try to call there first when I am looking for reading material that I think they might have.
If they don’t have it, they will see if they can order it for me.
My store sometimes stocks Michael D. O’Brien, or Flannery O’Conner but, as you noted, shelf space is limited.
Perhaps encouraging knowledge about websites devoted to Catholic literature might be helpful. Then we could read about books and consider asking our local stores to purchase them.
I agree with you and Ed that the ideal is to be able to thumb through a book before purchase; especially if it is being purchased as a gift.
May God bless you.
jt
 
Here are two sites to look for Catholic fiction:

catholicfiction.net/

catholicwritersguild.org/seal-approval

Catholic Writers Guild does send a newsletter to Catholic booksellers with the SoA winners listed. Unfortunately, I think very few Catholic bookstores order books from secular publishers. Pauline Books and Media and Liguori are probably the ones they turn to most. Even the Catholic publishing houses that have turned out Seal of Approval winners are small presses.
 
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