Coming Home to Story by Ann H. Gabhart

These days we have a choice between writing for the Christian market and the general market. Some authors do both at the same time. Today, author Ann Gabhart shares her experience in "coming home" to Christian fiction. -- Sandy

Ann: If you write for a Christian inspirational publisher, sometimes you might wonder if you would be more successful, sell more books or get more reader attention in the general market. And all those things might be true for some writers. But not for me.

I’ve been there. My first historical romance novel, A Forbidden Yearning, was published by Warner Books almost forty years ago as a mass market paperback. The title was chosen by the editors and perhaps promised more forbidden yearning than it delivered which is why, after publishing one more novel with Warner Books, I seemed unable to keep up with market trends. My agent said my stories were “too clean.” After that I published eleven coming of age stories for young people with several general market companies.

While I was writing those books, I began to notice Christian fiction books on store shelves, but I hesitated to try writing for that market. I thought I’d have to preach and I didn’t feel qualified. I simply wanted to tell stories.

Then, after a few years of writing and getting nothing but rejections, I decided to forget about markets and write the book I wanted to write without worrying about whether an editor anywhere would like the story. I came up with a young girl whose father was a preacher and whose mother had deserted the family. I didn’t really have the inspirational market in mind while I was writing the story, but I did have that preacher as a viewpoint character along with his daughter. Then, I threw in odd old Aunt Love who did her best to keep the young heroine in line by quoting Bible verses at her. Plus, my young heroine had her “dog prayers” and “sister prayers” and “please, no more cabbage for supper prayers.” That led my agent to send Scent of Lilacs to Revell Books, an inspirational publisher. First time out, the story found an editor who not only liked lilacs but also liked my Hollyhill characters.

And I came home. Right where I needed to be. I love writing for the Christian market. I like being able to include my characters’ faith journeys in my stories. I like that my stories can be “too clean.”

Readers have so much choice in today’s market place with books to suit practically any interest. I’m glad I’ve found some readers who choose the kind of books I like to write. I sometimes wish I had decided to write that story about a preacher sooner, but then everything in its own time. Perhaps I had lessons to learn in those rejection years and that has helped me write better stories now.

On my website, my tag line is “Come home to story.” I feel as though that’s what I did when I began writing for the Christian market. I came home and found a welcome. 

Have you "come home" to a market or a genre that fits your writing?

 

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Ann H. Gabhart is the bestselling author of many novels, including Angel Sister, Small Town Girl, and Love Comes Home, the 2015 Selah Book of Year winner. She’s also known for her Shaker novels and Heart of Hollyhill books. Now, as A.H. Gabhart, she is writing the Hidden Springs Mysteries set in a small town much like the Kentucky town where she grew up. Ann and her husband have three children and nine grandchildren and still enjoy country life on a farm near that small town. To find out more about Ann’s books or to follow her blog, visit www.annhgabhart.com.

The Outsider’s Long Road to Publication by Ann H. Gabhart

Have you ever been told that the story you’ve written just isn’t marketable? It’s not what’s “hot” right now? Has that discouraged you? This Fortifying Friday, author Ann Gabhart is here to offer encouragement on just that subject. Don’t throw those manuscripts in the trash. Tuck them away. You never know what will happen down the road on your own journey, whether it be your first or tenth book published. God has his own timing. Ann’s story is a wonderful example of what happens when you don’t give up! Next Friday, Ann shares more about her ups and downs in publishing.  ~ Dawn

The Outsider’s Long Road to Publication

by Ann H. Gabhart

I wrote The Outsider in 1979. Received my first rejection for it in February 1980. A very discouraging reject. At the time, Warner Books was in the process of publishing my first two historical romances. The Gift of Love (my title for The Outsider) was their option book. That means Warner Books had first chance at the story, but they turned it down. Said the story was “too soft.” That the historical market was “tight.”

My agent didn’t give up. That’s a great thing about having an agent. They don’t break their pencils and quit when some editor writes a “so sorry” letter. She sent it back out. I got more rejection letters. The best one—if there is such a thing as a best rejection—came from Harlequins in November 1980. They said they’d “love to publish” my book. If it wasn’t so long. If it wasn’t a historical. If, if. Sigh.

I gave up on the story after that. My agent kept trying to sell the book for a while, but I lost hope. I had loved Gabrielle and Brice while writing their story. I mourned that no readers would get to know them, but by then I was deep in a new story that was giving me new hopes. Eventually my agent gave up too, and the manuscript found a spot on a closet shelf where all good books go when no editor loves them.

Fast forward to 2005. My first inspirational novel, The Scent of Lilacs, was published by Revell Books. I was ecstatic and felt privileged when my editor, Lonnie Hull Dupont, came to see me out here on the farm. After our visit as she was going out the door, she asked about the Shaker village not far from my home, then said, “I love the Shakers.”

In an offhand way, I mentioned I wrote a book about the Shakers once. In no way was I pitching the book, but she wanted to read it. So after she left, I dug it out of my closet. Writers are often told it’s good to set aside our work a few days in order to have fresh eyes when we begin rewriting. Let me tell you, set aside a book for twenty-five years and your eyes are really fresh. So I rewrote, polished, and eventually sent it off to Lonnie.

Fast forward most of another year. I’m talking to Lonnie about my second Hollyhill book, and I ask if any decision has been made about that Shaker book. She mentions concerns about my character’s visions in the book. I say I can’t edit out the visions. We compromise. Compromise works.

In 2008, The Gift of Love finally ends up in readers’ hands with a fantastic cover and a new title, The Outsider. In 2009, The Outsider was a finalist for the ECPA Gold Medallion Fiction Book of the Year. It’s time had come. Finally.

As a special treat, we’re sharing that The Outsider is being offered on Amazon as a free Kindle download.

Ann H. Gabhart has published over twenty novels for adults and children including her bestselling Shaker novels. Ann lives on a farm in Central Kentucky with her husband, Darrell who sings bass in a Southern Gospel quartet. They have three children and nine grandchildren. Ann’s latest releases are her fourth Shaker novel, The Blessed and Angel Sister, a novel inspired by the stories her mother told her about growing up during the 1930’s.

You can keep up with Ann on her website, www.annhgabhart.com; her blog, One Writer’s Journal, www.annhgabhart.blogspot.com; Facebook author page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ann-H-Gabhart/132862247566, or follow Ann on Twitter, user name annhgabhart.