How do you plot your novel? Is the 3-Act story structure the way to go, or are there other options out there? How do you decide which type of narrative organization is best for your book?
When authors ask me these questions, or if I see that their manuscript could use better organization, pacing, or transitions, there are 4 resources that I recommend most often and which inform my editing decisions. I always make sure to explain the reasoning behind my suggestions, but sometimes authors benefit from additional exercises and readings before they take on re-writes.
If you’ve been struggling with outlining your novel, feel like the middle of your story is dragging, or don’t know how to bring your plot and character arcs together in your finale, then I highly recommend you check out the articles, websites, and books below.
This book is based off of Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder, a work famous in the film industry for breaking down the organizational commonalities between the most successful movies. I studied both film and creative writing in college, and this book was foundational to me.
Snyder and Brody utilize a three act structure, broken down into 15 specific beats. Some of them will look familiar – the Catalyst is your Inciting Incident, the Midpoint is your Climax. I’ve found their method useful for outlining full novels and to serve as a “gut check” to make sure I’m including the elements of conflict and resolution that make for a compelling story.
Here’s their method at a glance:
The percentages listed above aren’t meant as hard and fast rules, but suggestions to help guide the pacing of your novel. For instance, you definitely don’t want a first act that stretches into 40% of your novel – readers will be bored. Similarly, if you don’t have a clear midpoint, the middle portion of your story may feel lackluster or you may have trouble even writing (what are you building toward?).
Every writer has their strengths and struggles – some people hate openings, middles, or endings. No matter which is the case for you, I’ve found the 15 beats a helpful diagnostic tool for determining what’s missing in a section – usually that’s what causes writer’s block.
I remember becoming frustrated when the above method didn’t work for one of my fantasy novels. It made so much sense to me, so I thought there must be a problem with my story. It took me a while to realize that while the basic framework could still work, I needed beats that focused on internal character conflict, not external plot points.
Fortunately, I’m not the first person who had this problem. The Novel Factory wrote up an excellent version of the 15 beat, 3-Act structure, based around character development.
In my experience, this outline is most effective as a brainstorming tool. Every character journey is different, so trying to fit yours into a template just won’t work. But it can still help you identify your themes, major and minor conflicts, and realize if you have too many or too few side characters to act as foils.
3. Nonwestern Story Structure
The 3-Act, conflict-driven story is a Western convention, based largely off of Aristotle’s Poetics and Joseph Campbell’s model of heroic journeys (Hero With a Thousand Faces).
But it’s hardly the only approach. In fact, in other parts of the world, stories are arranged in completely different ways. So if this method just does not appeal to you, or you’re interested in experimenting with your style, then I recommend these 2 blog posts which analyze other forms of story structure:
Scandinavian – 5-Act, multi-character narrative with 3 ritual-based truth endings
Indian – non-linear dendritic form which encompasses many differing perspectives
Central African – thematic narratives with spiritual truth emphasized over the individual
Indigenous – narratives where the actual interpretation of the โstoryโ is left entirely up to the reader
The writers of each post describe each form in detail, with helpful visual models as well, so check them out!
Here’s another one not mentioned in either of those posts – a Hebrew chiastic structure which sandwiches a core idea between 2 sets of mirror image concepts. The idea is to draw attention to the middle by repeating the themes on both sides.
I appreciated how in his article “Chiasm, Oral Peoples, and the Grand Biblical Story,” Brad Vaughn even compares this structure to Freytag’s Pyramid (rising action, climax, falling action). Except a chiasm focuses more on concepts than events.
The point is that there are so many ways to tell a story, depending on what you most want to convey to readers!
4. Nonlinear Narrative Structure
Even if you stick with with familiar storytelling methods (hero wants something, problem occurs, they try and fail to achieve their goal, they change for the better, and succeed) you don’t have to narrate events linearly (A>B>C>D>E).
Harvard completed a fascinating visual study of nonlinear narratives in iconic films. As a visual person, I found the examples helped me quickly grasp how each filmmaker was moving around their story pieces.
Here are some common narrative frameworks used to tell a story in a more complex way than chronological order:
Dual or multiple timelines – The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin or Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Interspersed flashbacks (The Way of Kings) or flashforwards (the movie Arrival)
In media res – D>A>B>C>E – This is common in thrillers. The opening scene shows someone rushing through a queue of bad guys to save their tied up loved ones, then it cuts to “24 hours earlier” or “2 weeks earlier.”
Circular timelines that start and end at the same point – Pulp Fiction is a good example of this, especially since on a first watch-through, we don’t realize that events are out of order and that the ending of the film is in fact the lead-up to the incidents from the beginning. Not to be confused with a time loop. The story happens linearly, but our experience of it through narration happens circularly.
Overwhelmed by the number of options? Still feeling stuck with a particular section of your story? I invite you to schedule a free 20-min consultation call through my Calendly, or reach out over email. I offer coaching at a rate of $40/hour and have helped numerous authors stop paining over their plot and get down a solid draft they actually like!
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Ironbound is my favorite read so far this year! I devoured it and then immediately read the second one, Cold Wind. I canโt wait for the third, Bloody Sands, out winter 2026!
Ironbound is a military progression fantasy about a clever young man who’s betrayed by his leaders and sold into the bottom rung of the Iron Legions – a death sentence – when a magical ceremony goes terribly wrong. Castor makes an oath of revenge, but first he’ll have to earn his friends’ forgiveness, master his strange new power, and survive the corrupt rulers who want to see his Legion dead.
This article contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Characters: 4/5
I enjoyed that Castorโs, strengths lie in his leadership skills and practical cleverness. He gains rather astounding power too, but his foundation is still one of resourcefulness coupled with people skills. I love how much of the story focused on his relationship with his childhood friend, legionnaire companions, and his commander Gaius, who was one of my favorite characters.
In progression fantasy, I hate the mcโs that have a cool, distant bravado, like nothing shakes them, and they never make relational mistakes (*cough* Solo Leveling). In Ironbound, Castor wrestled with guilt, grief, the resentment of his friends, the weight of secrets and oaths, and more. He has arguments with his friends, makes mistakes, and has to find forgiveness and learn to trust his new commanders. This rich, character-driven focus is what made this story so compelling for me.
The characters themselves arenโt necessarily the most unique. They are a bunch of teenagers running around bashing things. But the dynamic between them all is what makes the heart (reference intended) of this story. I couldnโt get into The Will of the Many because it lacked this element for me, but Ironbound hit it out of the park!
Writing and plot: 4/5
The writing is deft, handling action, introspection, dialogue, and more well. I was most impressed by the excellence of the pacing. Givler balances internal and external conflict, and mystery and character development with wonderful instinct. We learn more about the world, magic, political corruption, and ancient magic mystery one piece at a time, just enough to keep us aching to learn more, and not too much that it ever felt like an info dump.
These characters suffer a lot, but the author balances it with mini victories (increases in power, unification of their unit) that make every part of the story satisfying. These characters have a meta enemy, but also smaller antagonists who are well developed and break up the overall story. Itโs rare for me to read a story where I felt like every chapter started and ended at just the right moment and every new problem and character came at the right time. Wonderful pacing! It made the experience of reading this book wonderful!
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Rome with name change, plus an elemental magical bonding system. Whatโs not to love? This was a well-developed system, with good limitations and clear ranks, but enough variation to leave surprises. For instance, most people the main character interacts with in this book are bound to elements that have martial potential. But people can bond to plants, abstract concepts, sound, and more, leaving a lot of potential for imagination. I was eager to discover more about the possibilities of this system and how the dead gods are involved. Thereโs definitely a lot to uncover!
Note: The main characters use some cultivation tactics, though mostly regular military training, to advance to higher stages of power (3 ranks total). But otherwise, this reads like normal military fantasy, so if you’re not into LitRPG, don’t worry, it’s a super fun read!
Emotional Impact: 5/5
I really cared for these characters. Man, the ending hit hard. I wonโt give spoilers, but boy was I mad/sad and instantly bought and started reading book 2 because I couldnโt take it!
Castor longs to bind a Cor Heart, an otherworldly metal, that grants the ability to bind and manipulate an element.
But on the day of his trials, a mysterious attack shatters the bonding ceremony, earning him the ire of his leaders and the destruction of his family.
Conscripted into the Legions and bound to a Symbol he never wanted, Castor must survive corrupt enemies from within the Empire and terrifying magic users from without, if he is to gain his revenge.
Itโs rare for a sequel to feel so different from the first book, and yet still work so well. I was worried at what felt like a total reset – new side characters, new places – and thought the dynamics I’d come to love so much had been “wiped clean.” I was wrong.
Yet again, I was drawn in by how Givler creates tension, intrigue, and loyalty between characters. Castorโs new masters and mentors are fascinating, and the palpable power coming off them drew me like a magnet. Iโve always loved when characters have secrets from each other, so rather than feeling like a repetition of book 1, it felt like challenge part two, but upped a level, since these new characters are even more powerful than his last mentors.
And his new situation is a perfect setup for his long-term plans of revenge, and his unwilling investigation into the secrets of the old, “dead” gods.
Read the full review, with vague spoilers, on Goodreads.
After escaping the north, an injured Castor, presumed a criminal, is sold as a gladiator to one of the Empire’s Great Houses.
With a chance to infiltrate the heart of the Empire and finally gain revenge against his enemies, Castor agrees to serve his new lord.
But if he slips and reveals the new secrets of his Cor Heart, execution awaits. As the dead gods stir and dangerous enemies stalk his new master, Castor must consider taking a larger role in shaping the fate of his nation.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
I’ve worked on the acquisitions team at Monster Ivy Publishing (middle grade and YA fantasy, horror, and thriller) and Havok Magazine (fantasy, mystery, sci-fi flash fiction). Monster Ivy opened for submissions once a year, and I helped read through the submissions, offered feedback, and voted on which stories to accept. At Havok, I worked for a year as an editor on their Mystery Monday team. We received flash fiction submissions each month, and I collaborated with the team to choose which stories we should accept.
While different companies look for different things, I’ve discovered some major commonalities, on a craft level, for why publishers choose to reject some stories. If you’d like to understand more of the behind-the-scenes, business reasons for rejection, check out my earlier article “How Do Publishers Decide to Accept or Reject a Manuscript?”
It’s true – the first thing someone notices about your book is the words. There have been times when I have picked up a book at the library, or opened the sample on Amazon, and didn’t read past the first couple of paragraphs. I could instantly tell that the writing was poor, or that I personally disliked the style.
But what does “poor writing” even mean? And if it’s really a barrier to publication, why do so many poorly written books sell out?
Here’s what I consider poor writing mechanics (not big picture stuff like characterization, plot, and endings), and the editors who trained me would concur:
Poor use of verbs – passive voice, overuse of “to be” verbs, repetitive and uncreative verb choices
Repetitive, boring, and unclear sentence structure
Unvaried or overly flowery word choices and descriptors
Unnatural dialogue that sounds the same no matter who is speaking
Stylistic inconsistencies like point of view and tense shifts
Grammar mistakes
There are more, of course, but these are the top ones I’ve seen. Notice that I listed grammar mistakes at the bottom. It’s not hard for a copyeditor to improve the grammar of a manuscript, but all the commas in the world won’t fix repetitive, juvenile-sounding language.
Verb usage is the biggest issue I saw in manuscripts while working at Havok Publishing and Monster Ivy Publishing, and it was the most common reason other editors gave for rejecting submissions.
You may have heard a million times, “Write actively!” Editors may have left you with cursory notes like, “Too much passive voice.” I’ve seen editors offer this line even if the sentences don’t actually use passive voice, but overuse “to be” verbs.
What’s the difference? In passive voice, the subject of the sentence is being acted upon, rather than doing the action.
e.x. 1: There was an air of unconventional attractiveness to him. e.x. 2: His body was being wracked by hunger pangs.
It’s possible to use forms of the verb “to be” (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been) actively. Here are alternate versions of the examples above:
e.x. 1b: He was unconventionally attractive. e.x. 2b: He was hungry.
However, it gets boring fast because it’s hard to keep such writing from sounding repetitive. Editors and readers prefer to see active AND varied verb usage:
e.x. 1c: Susy considered Andrew, with his bulging, brilliant blue eyes, unconventionally attractive. e.x. 2c: Andrew clutched his stomach as another pang of hunger wracked his body.
Why are verbs of such vital importance? Remember the second poor writing issue I listed: sentence structure. Sentence structure just means the order in which you arrange your nouns, verbs, objects, etc. Though all you really need is a subject and verb.
“She ran.” That’s a complete sentence. Who is doing what? At it’s heart, a sentence is only as interesting as its subject and verb, and even changing one word can add information and flair. Did she run, or did she jog, dash, flee, sprint, speed, or fly?
The order and tone of your sentence will change drastically based on what you pick. “She took off at a staggering run, her breath catching.” or “Copper dust leapt up in waves behind Iala as her feet flew across the dry earth.” I didn’t think of describing the dust or the road until I added that Iala’s feet flew across the earth. When she was struggling to run, I thought to add a description of her body’s state, but when she was speeding along, I thought to describe the atmosphere.
Good writing isn’t just about what you avoid, but what you add. If all your sentences read back-to-back like, “He was hungry. She ran. The earth was dry,” they won’t just sound the same, but will lack the energy and emotional connection that makes stories and characters come alive.
Choosing better verbs and improving sentence structure aren’t separate tasks, but actually one and the same. I’m incredibly grateful for my first writing instructor in high school who gave me such a simple yet effective exercise. She gave us a program which enabled us to highlight all the “be” verbs in our documents, and the first word of every sentence.
She forbade us from using a single “be” verb in any of our papers AND banned us from starting any sentence with the same word more than once within a single paragraph. So if you started a sentence with “The” or “She”, it was off limits until you started a new one.
TOGETHER, these exercises forced me to develop sentences with a huge level of variety in both word choice and construction, resulting in a much more interesting style!
Let’s look at an example from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.
“It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them. They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren’t talking, and they weren’t eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren’t gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention…. I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanely beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine.” Twilight (p. 15-16)
Every single sentence in this excerpt uses “be verbs.” Three sentences in a row start with “They.” Meyer repeats other simple verbs such as “sit” and “stare” in quick succession. It’s easy to understand, but reading a whole book like this usually turns into skimming, jumping over the same words and constructs and grasping for the characters’ emotions.
Here’s your first exercise. Rewrite the above segment following my teacher’s 2 rule: NO “be” verbs, and start every sentence with a different word. The key is to identify WHO is doing the action. If you’d like to share, add your version in the comments at the end of this post!
Then take a look at your writing. Do you tend to repeat the same verbs and sentence frameworks? If so, I suggest enforcing these 2 rules for a while. Once it becomes natural, you can ease off.
Character-driven stories absolutely dominate the market. Some people prefer plot or worldbuilding forward stories, but they are in the minority, at least at present. It feels impossibly unfair, but unless you can get readers to care about your main character within the first 5 pages-1st chapter, they’re not going to continue.
But how can you make someone care in such a short time?
Writing instructors will offer the same advice time and again. Your main character needs:
A strong goal or need
A problem that gets in the way of them achieving it (stakes)
Strengths that make readers interested in them and weaknesses that add tension to the story (“cool factor” and establishment of future character transformation)
You don’t need to indicate the “meta” plot in the very first chapter. In fact, it’s often best to establish the character’s status quo first. For instance, in the opening scene of Eragon, he’s just a kid hunting in the forest because he wants to have food to bring home to his family. Then his perfect shot gets ruined when some dumb rock mystically materializes in the middle of the deer herd. We immediately learn his status in life, that his family is important to him, that he’s a careful and diligent hunter, and that he, like anyone else, gets pissed off when a wrench is thrown into his dinner plans. Not to mention an introduction to magic and mystery. And that’s just in the first few pages. The next chapter introduces a secondary antagonist – the sneering butcher – who also gets in the way of Eragon’s attempts to feed his family. We get to see how he responds to interpersonal conflict, what makes him feel shame, and what he’s willing to give up in order to do his duty to his family.
On the one hand, he’s a perfectly ordinary teenage farm boy – nothing special about him. But through him, readers feel tension, shock and disappointment, curiosity, embarrassment and resentment, and the hope for something better, even magical. Eragon is hardly my go-to example for characterization – like Bella, he’s kind of a blank slate good boy. But Paolini’s book is a good example of how including these character elements in concert with the plot can make readers turn to the next page.
“But I’ve heard all that before,” you might protest. My character has all those things. Plus well developed family and friend dynamics, hobbies and quirks, and much more interesting things going for them than “fantasy ripoff Luke Skywalker.”
So let me pause to ask, have readers and editors only read your opener or has anyone read a more significant chunk of your story? If people have just read the first couple chapters and say that wasn’t enough to make them care about your mc, it may just be that you haven’t nailed your opening yet (a hard thing to do!). It’s worth begging your beta readers to read a few more chapters and ask if they gain interest in your character with a little more time. Then you’ll know whether you have to go back to the drawing board, or if you need to read up on how to write a smashing opening chapter.
But if a number of people read a good chunk of your book and say they lost interest because they didn’t care about the character, or read the whole thing and were dissatisfied for the same reason, then you should dig deep on characterization.
One question I’ve become convinced more authors need to ask is, “what does my main character believe?” I read so many characters these days who have passionate emotions and opinions, but they don’t feel much different from any other character who’s out for revenge, or has fallen in love, or who’s overcoming their traumatic past. Because none of these characters ponder “the big questions of life.”
They might be vaguely moral, with lines they aren’t willing to cross, but their inner world does not feel exceptionally deep or unique. Why should I keep reading about your brooding fantasy assassin vs. some other fantasy assassin? Because yours has dry, dark humor rather than cringey, “Marvel” one-liners? Because he’s hotter, or has a more unusual magic power?
Sure, I’ve finished books for that reason, then given them 3 stars for “averagely entertaining.” Like watching a B-movie on Netflix. But if you want your character to catch hearts, and be unforgettable to the acquisitions editor who’s making a decision about your future as an author, then I encourage you to dig deeper than “what’s my mc’s Myers Briggs?”
Why do books like Twilight get published and sell millions of copies? The writing is weak, the characters are deliberately flat reader-inserts.
I would argue, however, that the pacing is amazing. Meyers does an excellent job of mixing emotion, danger, and mystery to keep readers flipping to the next page. Just when you’d get bored of Bella’s fluttering heart, someone tries to kill her. Just when the danger seems to have passed, relational issues pop up at home and at school that have nothing to do with the supernatural.
Like a catchy pop song that seems to hit the right beat at every moment to keep you singing along, the chapters are punchy and always leave readers asking, what happens next?
It can be difficult to pin down what exactly makes for “good” pacing. One of the best places to start is with story structure like the 15 point “Save the Cat” model or 3 Act structure. I call that “macro” pacing, but pacing at the chapter level (“medium”), and even sentence level (“micro”), is just as important for an engaging reader experience.
Often, an acquisitions editor will just be left with the feeling that the story is missing a certain “spark.” The character and concept might have been interesting enough, but they just didn’t feel a great urge to keep reading. I think the biggest issue at play in these situations is pacing.
At its simplest, pacing is how you time the telling of your story. Like a joke that needs just enough, but not too much, setup for the punch line to land right, a book needs to be told in a way that connects with readers. Some authors have that flair for storytelling, instinctively starting and ending each scene at just the right time. Other writers have to work harder to develop a style that makes their world and characters pop.
Maybe you’ve received requests for your full manuscript, and the editors sounded excited, but then declined your manuscript with somewhat vague reasons like:
“It just didn’t land right.” “It didn’t keep me invested throughout.” “I lost interest part way through.” “The story didn’t really leave an impact on me.” “It didn’t excite me as a reader.” “X part of the novel was good, but the rest felt a little lost.”
Now, editors may say things like this as well if they don’t find your character arc compelling. But if the main issue is the characters, the editor will usually just come out and say it. But if they leave feedback like this and don’t specifically or extensively mention characterization, then I’m convinced the “missing spark” they’re getting at is pacing.
Check out my full article on how to master novel pacing for more insights and exercises. I suggest starting by giving a single chapter to a writer friend or beta reader and asking if they think you started and ended the scene in the right place, and whether all the content felt necessary. You might be surprised by how much feedback readers have on such specific questions.
Bonus Problem: No Author Following
You may have heard that publishers weigh how large of a following authors have when deciding whether to offer a book deal. This is true. When I worked on the acquisitions team at Monster Ivy Publishing, we narrowed down the submissions pile to our top 5 and deliberated from there. We wanted to accept all of them, but as a small press, had to pick only a few.
Two manuscripts were “tied” in terms of craft and story, so we looked at the authors. One of them had a much more established presence online and was clearly ready to jump in with marketing her books. That’s the author we ended up accepting.
Now, the author of our favorite manuscript among the batch had a very small online following. But her book resonated with us so much that we decided to accept her anyway. It was a mark against her though – it was only because of how much we loved her story that we were willing to take on the “extra work” of advising her on how to build up her online presence.
So I won’t say that a publisher will reject you if you haven’t already developed a following. But it’s true that building up your brand before submitting your manuscript for consideration will work highly in your favor, and may even be the tie breaker that gets you the book deal.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Paranoid Mage by Inadvisably Compelled (internet handle) is an addicting progression fantasy that focuses on intellect and strategy, with a unique main character and fun worldbuilding.
An architect from a small American town discovers that he has spatial magic… when inhuman creatures try to burn down his gym. When the magic government arrests him and informs him that all mages must serve them or die, he goes on the run. His application of mundane science results in shockingly unconventional power, and vigilantism that shakes the magic society to its core.
I assure you, the book is better than this weird cover.
Characters: 5/5
I love Callum, an architect from the Midwest with a unique combination of practicality, paranoia about the government, and curious intellectualism. I love how he embodies the best of what it means to be an American. It’s so fun seeing him throw himself into learning about the magical world, trying new things, and acting like a vigilante hero.
Plot: 5/5
Some readers might find the plot a little slow, since much of it orients around Callum’s discovery of his magic. I personally found this very satisfying, with intricate details about his experiments, based in his understanding of mathematics and physics. Otherwise, he’s on the run from the evil magic government, and tangles with various other members of the supernatural world.
Worldbuilding: 4/5
It feels like a mix between anime/Webtoon fantasy worlds and modern paranormal fiction. Shifters, fae, vampires, dragons, and mage Big Brother, plus noble houses and portal hopping. I’m interested in all the history of the world, their laws, and how their society became this way. His ability, and the way he uses it, offers a nice twist to how he interacts with the world.
Writing: 3/5
The writing could definitely use some editing. It feels clunky at times and some of the sentences run on and get rather technical about his abilities and techniques. It improves as he goes, though, and on the whole I didn’t think it detracted much from the story. However, I read it for free on Royal Road, so I’m not sure whether the author hired a copyeditor to clean it up before publishing it on Amazon.
Impact: 5 stars!
This was a really fun book to read. I tore through this one and the next couple in quick succession. Great pacing, cliffhangers, and characters.
This was my second exposure to progression fantasy in novel form. I’ve read cultivation stories on Webtoon and watched wuxia and xianxia TV shows. I think the genre translates well to novel form, and I continue to be impressed by the progression fantasy I encounter – they’re more than just brain candy.
Paranoid Mage has also been adapted into a comic on Webtoon, which is actually where I first discovered it. I think it’s a pretty good adaptation, though much less detailed than the novel, of course.
This article contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Inspired by America’s 250th anniversary as a nation, I rounded up some historical fiction about real women who shaped America’s history. As a girl, I loved series like American Girl Dolls, Dear America, and the Little House books and was curious what I could find in adult fiction.
I found some great novels featuring the true stories of America’s diverse Founding Mothers, pioneers, homemakers, soldiers, businesswomen, activists, socialites, actresses, artists, scientists, politicians, spies, athletes, and everyday women who made history for doing what was right.
There are some great lists already out there for historical fiction about women, but I didn’t find any that offered a book (about a real woman) for each period of American history. I thought this would be a great way to march through our timeline, through perspectives we may not have seen before.
As the ship Charity sails from England across the Atlantic, two vastly different yet equally courageous women make the perilous journey.
Strong-willed, upper class Margaret Brent has invested in Lord Baltimore’s Maryland plantation because the new colony is her single chance for a home of her own. Anicah is a teenage guttersnipe who lives by her wits and quick tongue. Kidnapped off the streets of Bristol, she is transported to the New World as an indentured servant. But for both women, the future will bring love and rewards they never imagined. . . .
An independent landowner, Margaret was the first woman in the English colonies to formally request the right to vote.
The year is 1739. Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their familyโs three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry.
Upon hearing how much the French pay for indigo dye, Eliza believes itโs the key to their salvation. Eliza finds that her only allies are an aging horticulturalist, an older and married gentleman lawyer, and a slave with whom she strikes a dangerous deal: teach her the intricate thousand-year-old secret process of making indigo dye and in returnโagainst the laws of the dayโshe will teach the slaves to read.
Based on historical documents, including Elizaโs letters, this is the account of how a teenage girl laid the foundation for the incredible wealth of several Southern families. When she passed away in 1793, President George Washington served as a pallbearer at her funeral.
Kidnapped from her home in Senegal and sold as a slave in 1761, a young girl is purchased by the wealthy Wheatley family in Boston. Phillis Wheatleyโas she comes to be knownโhas an eager mind and it leads her on an unusual path for a slaveโshe becomes Americaโs first published black poet.
She was greatly influenced by the words of George Whitefield and used his arguments about the fairness of God to argue against slavery.
In the heart of revolutionary Boston, Abigail Adams raises her children amid riots, blockades, and the outbreak of war. While her husband, John Adams, rises from country lawyer to nation-builder, often away for years at a time, Abigail builds her own independenceโmanaging their farm, making lucrative investments, amassing savings, battling plague and loss, and defending their home.
She famously offers fearless political counsel, urging John to โremember the ladiesโ in the new government. When peace is secured, Abigail steps onto the world stage, presiding over the parlor politics of the early American republic.
Even after her husbandโs presidential administration, she continues battling political foes and working behind the scenes to ensure a better life for the next generation of Americans.
In 1760, Deborah Samson is born to Puritan parents in Plympton, Massachusetts. When her father abandons the family, Deborah is bound out as an indentured servant.
Twenty years later, as the American colonies begin to buckle in their battle for independence, Deborah, disguises herself as a soldier and enlists in the Continental army. Her impressive height and lanky build make her transformation a convincing one, and it isnโt long before she finds herself confronting the horrors of war.
But as Deborah fights for her countryโs freedom, she must contend with the secret of who she isโand, ultimately, a surprising love she canโt deny.
1885 – 1914. Mary Fields, a fifty-three-year-old emancipated second-generation slave receives news of her friendโs impending death. She rushes to the Montana wilderness to find Mother Mary Amadeus lying in a frozen, broken-down cabin. Certain that the cloister of frostbit nuns and their students, Indian girls rescued from nearby reservations, will not survive without assistance, Mary decides to stay.
Mary drives a horse and wagon through perilous terrain and sub-zero blizzards to improve the lives of missionaries, homesteaders and Indians. But she doesn’t stop there. An avid patriot, she is determined to register for the vote, despite the high price.
She rode with the most famous outlaws of her time. Then she vanished.
In the fall of 1895, Etta Place falls in love with Harry Longabaugh, alias the Sundance Kid. She gives up everything to follow him and his partner-in-crime, Butch Cassidy, in their outlaw life across the continent and beyond. Every inch a lady, Etta can also ride and shoot as well as any man.
But soon, she finds herself alone and living in a convent with her newborn son. Etta moves halfway across the country to begin anew, praying her past wonโt catch up with her.
In 1872, sixteen-year-old Goes First, a Crow Native woman, marries Abe Farwell, a white fur trader.
When a group of drunken whiskey traders slaughters forty Nakota and takes five Nakota women back to their fort, she begs Farwell to save them. When he refuses, Mary takes two guns, creeps into the fort, and saves the women from certain death.
Thus, she sets off a whirlwind of colliding cultures that pushes the love between Farwell and Crow Mary to the breaking point.
Though born into bondage on a “miserable tobacco farm” in Little Dixie, Missouri, Cathy Williams never forgot her noble warrior blood. Her chance at freedom arrives with Union general Sheridan, who takes the rawboned, prideful young woman into service.
At war’s end, Cathy refuses to return to servitude and disguises herself as a man and join the Army’s legendary Buffalo Soldiers.
Alone now in the ultimate man’s world, Cathy vows to never give up on finding her mother, her little sister, and the love of the only man strong enough to win her heart.
In South Carolina, Harriet Tubman plots an expedition behind enemy lines to liberate hundreds of bondsmen and recruit them as soldiers for the struggling Union army. A bounty on her head, she has given up husband and home for the noblest cause.
General David Hunter places her in charge of a team of black scouts even though skeptical of what one woman can accomplish. For her gamble to succeed, โMosesโ must outwit alligators, overseers, slave catchers, sharpshooters, and even hostile Union soldiers to lead gunships up the Combahee River.
1876. In the glittering world of Manhattan’s upper crust, women are valued by their pedigree, dowry, and, most importantly, connections. And none is more powerful than Caroline Astorโthe Mrs. Astor.
Alva Vanderbilt has recently married into one of America’s richest families. But what good is dizzying wealth when society refuses to acknowledge you? Alva, who knows what it is to have nothing, will do whatever it takes to have everything.
Sweeping three decades and based on true events, this is the mesmerizing story of one of the most remarkable feuds in history.
Born to former slaves on a Louisiana plantation, Madam C.J. Walker rose from poverty and indignity to become Americaโs first black female millionaire, the head of a hugely successful beauty company, and a leading philanthropist in African American causes.
Renowned author Alex Haley became fascinated by the story of this extraordinary heroine, and before his death in 1992, researched and outlined a major novel based on her life. Now, critically acclaimed writer Tananarive Due brings Haleyโs work to an inspiring completion.
Based on the inspiring true story of Virginiaโs Black Wall Street and the indomitable Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a formerly enslaved woman who became the first Black woman to establish and preside over a bank in the United States.
Maggie’s childhood in 19th-century Virginia, helping her mother with her laundry service, opened her eyes to the overwhelming discrepancy between the Black residents and her motherโs affluent white clients.
Maggie buckled down and went from schoolteacher to secretary-treasurer of the Independent Order of St. Luke, founder of a newspaper, a bank, and a department store where Black customers were treated with respect. She revolutionized Richmond in ways that are still felt today.
To inspire support for a constitutional amendment, 25-year-old Alice Paul organizes a magnificent procession down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Joining the march is thirty-nine-year-old Maud Malone, who has acquired a criminal record for interrupting politiciansโ speeches with pointed questions theyโd rather ignore.
Civil rights activist and journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett resolves that women of color must also be included in the marchโand the proposed amendment.
But negligent police allow vast crowds of belligerent men to harass the parade, endangering not only the success of the demonstration but the womenโs very lives.
Based upon events in the life of the author’s wife’s grandmother, Gum Moon (Cantonese for “Golden Gate”) is the story of a Chinese-American girl, Mei Chun Lai, who is sold in 1898 at the age of three to a cruel brothel keeper. She is rescued and placed in a Home for abused and trafficked girls, only for it to be destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.
Chun survives, and in an attempt to raise funds to rebuild the Home, she and a group of seven other Chinese children embark on a cross-country singing tour. Performing for President Theodore Roosevelt is the highlight of the journey, but when the matron of the Home suffers a breakdown, thirteen year-old Chun must find the strength and resolve to lead the children home.
In WWI, more than 7,600 women responded to the call for telephone operators, including Grace Banker of New Jersey, Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman and aspiring opera singer, and Valerie DeSmedt, a twenty-year-old Pacific Telephone operator from Los Angeles.
They were among the first women sworn into the U.S. Army under the Articles of War. The male soldiers they replaced had needed one minute to connect each call. The switchboard soldiers could do it in ten seconds.
Deployed throughout France, including near the front lines, the operators endured hardships and risked death or injury from gunfire, bombardments, and the Spanish Flu. Not all of them would survive.
Independent socialite Edith Bolling has been in no hurry to find a new husband since she was widowed. But Woodrow Wilson wins Edith over and she becomes the First Lady of the United States.
Edith is soon indispensable to her husband’s presidency. When WWI hits, she encrypts top- secret messages and becomes an important policy adviser. But during critical peace talks, Woodrow’s delicate health takes a dramatic turn for the worse. In her determination to preserve both his progress and his reputation, Edith all but assumes the presidency herself.
Now, Edith must contend with the weight of a nation, her secrets, and the potentially devastating consequences of her failure.
America is falling in love with silent movies, including young Wong Liu Tsong. Choosing the stage name Anna May Wong, she leaves high school at sixteen, defying her traditional father’s wishes.
After a series of nothing parts, nineteen-year-old Anna May gets her big break starring opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad. Yet she is still relegated to supporting roles as a helpless, exotic butterfly or a vicious, murderous dragon lady, while Caucasian actresses in “yellowfaceโ are given starring roles portraying Asian women.
Though she suffers professionally and personally, Anna May fights to win lead roles, financially support her family, and keep her illicit love affairs hiddenโeven as she finds freedom and glittering stardom across the globe.
In 1916, Georgia OโKeeffe is a young, unknown art teacher when she travels to New York to meet Stieglitz, the famed photographer and art dealer, who has discovered OโKeeffeโs work and exhibits it in his gallery.
OโKeeffe is quickly drawn into Stieglitzโs sophisticated world, becoming his mistress, protรฉgรฉ, and muse. Their attraction deepens and his photographs of her, both clothed and nude, create a sensation.
Yet as her own creative force develops, Georgia begins to push back against what critics and others are saying about her and her art and choose a life she believes in.
Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century, armed with an unyielding determination to make a difference.
But when she meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a tea dance, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. Frances thinks heโs a rich, arrogant dilettante. He thinks sheโs a priggish, insufferable do-gooder. Neither knows it yet, but they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House.
Frances is destined to face down the Great Depression as FDRโs most trusted lieutenantโeven as she struggles to balance the demands of a public career with marriage and motherhood. Can she overcome vicious political attacks and personal tragedies to save a nation?
In 1918, a fearless twenty-two-year old arrives in bohemian San Francisco, renaming herself Dorothea Lange. She soon becomes the owner of the city’s most prestigious portrait studio and wife of the talented but volatile painter, Maynard Dixon.
By the early 1930s, as the America’s economy collapses, her marriage founders and Dorothea must find ways to support her two young sons single-handedly. Determined to expose the horrific conditions of the nation’s poor, she takes to the road with her camera, creating images that inspire, reform, and define the era.
And when the United States enters World War II, Dorothea chooses to confront another injusticeโthe incarceration of thousands of innocent Japanese Americans.
Her beauty saved her from the rising Nazi party and led to marriage with an Austrian arms dealer. Underestimated, she overheard the Third Reich’s plans while at her husband’s side and understood more than anyone would guess. She devised a plan to flee in disguise from their castle, landing her in Hollywood. She became Hedy Lamarr, screen star.
But she kept a secret more shocking than her heritage or her marriage: she was a scientist. And she had an idea that might help the country fight the Nazis and revolutionize modern communication… if anyone would listen to her.
At seventeen, Alice Marble has no formal tennis skills and no coach, but rises to be one of the top-ranked players in the world. But with the outbreak of war with Germany, Alice loses everything, including her career.
Then, the US Army sends her a request: Under the guise of playing tennis in Switzerland, she would be a spy for them. Alice aches for nothing more than to avenge what the war has taken from her. But what awaits her might be her greatest challenge yet.
When Jackie meets the charismatic congressman Jack Kennedy in Georgetown, she is twenty-one and dreaming of France. She has won an internship at Vogue. Kennedy, she thinks, is not her kind of adventure: โToo American. Too good-looking. Too boy.โ
Yet she is drawn to his mind, his humor, his drive. The chemistry between them ignites. During the White House years, the love between two independent people deepens. Then a love affair, a complicated marriage, and the fracturing of identity that comes in the wake of unthinkable violence.
In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C arrives in Harlem to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the first black woman literary editor of The Crisis magazine.
But she has a secret – W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessieโs boss, but her lover. Despite the rumors, Jessie is determined to prove herself. Under Jessieโs leadership, The Crisis thrivesโฆ every African American writer in the country wants their work published there.
When her first novel is released to great acclaim, itโs clear that Jessie is at the heart of a renaissance. She has shaped a generation of literary legends, but will discover a high cost of her unparalleled success.
In 1940s and โ50s America, polio is as dreaded as the atomic bomb. No oneโs life is untouched by this disease that kills or paralyzes its victims, particularly children. The man who finds the cure will be a god.
But Dorothy Horstmann is not focused on beating her colleagues to the vaccine. She just wants the world to have a cure. She hunts down the monster where it lurks: in the blood.
This discovery of hers, and an error by a competitor, catapults her closest colleague to a lead in the race. When his chance to win comes on a worldwide scale, she is asked to sink or validate his vaccineโand to decide what is forgivable in pursuit of the cure.
I tried really hard to find more novels from the late 20th century about real American women. But the closer we get to present day, the rarer novelizations of real figures are, since many of these figures have recently told their stories in their own words.
That’s actually one of the coolest things I learned from researching and compiling this list – many of the most famous women in American history (and plenty of lesser known ones) have written their own books: biographies, journals, letters, poetry, and more! I much prefer fiction, but I might have to go check out the original words of America’s founding women. Schools really have no excuse for not teaching more about how women shaped America’s history – there is SO much source material.
Back to late 20th c. historical fiction – books like The Women of Arlington Hall, American Spy, and The Women are popular books set in the Cold War and Vietnam War eras, but all the main characters are fictional amalgamations of real people, so I did not include them. Similarly, books like Hidden Figures and The Rise of the Rocket Girls tell the story of women in the Space Program, but they are nonfiction, and I’m not sure how much of a narrative they carry.
So personally, I’d rather try to find memoirs from the women who actually lived through these events rather than read nonfiction overviews or purely fictionalized accounts – but that would make for an entirely different list. Again, to my irritation, most lists are extremely unspecific. There are tons of blog posts about “influential women of history,” but they are a random compilation of women from all over the world, at any time period. As if there aren’t enough great women to make a list like “Memoirs by the Most Influential American Women of the 20th Century.”
It was frustrating to me to discover that despite the great leaps in recognition for women, this list was still way too hard to compile. It seems like there is very little middle ground between “romance chick-lit inspired by history” and “intricately researched, dry biography.” I delved deeply into the reviews for the above books trying to find that sweet spot, deliberately leaving out some of the “better known” book-club picks if they fell too far to one side of the spectrum.
I hope this list helps you find some great reads that let you “walk through America’s history” through the eyes of inspirational women, and if you know of more, please share them in the comments below!
Everyone was getting into the “reading bingo card” fad, so I thought I’d make one up for my top picks from this list.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for books that feature complex platonic relationships between men – brotherhood, bromances, rivals, frenemies, and a mix of everything in between!
Since I love this trope so much, I feel like I’ve read all the ones mentioned on lists, forums, and blogs online. So I’m always delighted to discover hidden gems, like at indie book events! I recently returned from the Realm Makers expo, and rounded up 7 that I’m excited to read!
This article contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Fates Defiant by Brigitte Cromey and C.M. Banschbach
Fates Defiant was one of my favorite reads last year, so I was so excited when it won the Realm Makers award for the fantasy category! I got to meet the co-authors C.M. Banschbach (pictured top) and Brigitte Cromey (pictured bottom).
“The story follows Bastian, a disgraced soldier, and Cyrus, the reigning arena champion. Gladiator opponents – turned allies, turned brothers.” – C.M. Banschbach
An unexpected alliance forms when two gladiators come face to face, but in order to survive long enough to see freedom, theyโll have to fight… to the death.
“This is Magician’s Apprentice. It stars Jericho Carver and Aurik Spellsmith. Jericho is the common sense son of a carpenter and is also a magician’s apprentice. Aurik is the son of the magician who was away studying in the city. They are competing to see who gets the shop when the magician retires… and havoc ensues!” – H.L. Burke
An estranged son. An adopted heir. A magical attack that forces them to work together.
“There is a fierce rivalry between two brothers who are born just seconds apart from each other. One of them is rather evil-hearted and his name is Morlan Stormgarden. He and his brother Aravel have never gotten along. Morlan always insists there’s a better way to rule the entire kingdom. Well, Aravel ends up being king. That doesn’t sit well with his younger brother…” – Wayne Thomas Batson
From the bestselling author of The Door Within Trilogy comes an epic tale of two powerful kings whose rivalry threatens to tear the world of Myriad apart.
“This one is about an outcast soldier who finds an unlikely friendship in a slave he kind of accidentally acquires and the two of them have a lot of unresolved issues they get to work out together. They turn out to be the best of friends. Bromance for the win!” – Laura VanArendonk Baugh
A bastard, mage, and monster must set aside prejudices and rivalries to find an end to centuries of conflict, before they die as traitors.
“Two of the protagonists are Voldigar, a famous chanter of the Order, and Lanathor, a famous teller of the Order. Lanathor is steeped in tradition, following the code. Whereas Voldigar, old as he is, has seen many things – he loves the code as well, but he’s willing to break it to do what he thinks is right. Which brings them to loggerheads at times, but they are fast friends and learn to forgive one another throughout.” – Ezra Ferguson
A devout order of warrior monks had rid the world of demonic power. But when their oath-sworn prince rises to the throne, his folly threatens to undo everything.
“We have Captain Marik who is a pirate and Grayden who is a young man trying to get to the air military academy. Marik hijacks the airship he’s on, so obviously they don’t like each other at first, but eventually they do have to work together.” – Jenelle Leanne Schmidt
A rogue airship captain. An ambitious youth. A clash of powers beyond their imagination.
“Kaid (an impulsive adventure seeker) and Brazen (the reluctant, overthinking tagalong), share a bond only twins can understand. When they learn the truth about their father’s death, however, their responses are so wildly opposite, they wonder if they’ll ever share that bond again.” – Brett Hibbler
Monstrous beasts lay waste to the world of Voiyanna, and their only hope lies in a group of divided ambassadors sent to petition an ancientโand supposedly long-deadโhero.
“We have Comran and Etran who are half brothers, very embittered, who gradually become allies, who gradually become the brothers they’ve wanted their entire life.” – C.M. Banschbach
A man born for war. A bastard raised in contempt. Only together can they defend their tribe from slaughter.
If you know of more fantasy books with complex brotherhood dynamics, please share below!
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Through Lorehaven, I published 2 articles listing Christian fantasy books that are perfect for teenage boys (though of course girls can enjoy them as well!).
Lorehaven is an online database and magazine of Christian fantasy and science fiction. I’ve followed them for years – they were the first group that made me realize how much Christian speculative fiction has grown as a genre. So I was excited to collaborate with them by sharing 27 coming of age fantasy novels with a male protagonist.
You can check out each reading list by following these links to Lorehaven’s website!
You can follow the article links to see each full reading list, including summaries and purchase links. I hope you find some great reads for yourself or your teenage son!
I highly recommend you check out the rest of Lorehaven to find more Christian-made speculative fiction, book reviews, insightful articles, and podcast episodes. As they state on their website:
Lorehaven lists over 1,600 titles in our library. All books are written by professing Christian authors in the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and supernatural. You can sort these titles by genre, age, male/female, and even keyword.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Hollywood creators depict “strong female leads” in such 2-dimensional, cringe ways that I’ve started to wonder if it’s actually a deliberate, long-term strategy to make audiences reject women as central characters.
Many theories have been floated in recent years about why modern, female-led films flop so abysmally, so before I get into my theory, I’ll review them.
“Men write women badly” isn’t an axiom we should accept
One of the leading arguments is that Hollywood producers, directors, and writers are still overwhelmingly male, and men don’t write women well. This argument can actually be separated into 3 claims:
Men are incapable of writing women well – “It’s just too hard! Women are too complex!”
Men don’t bother learning enough about women to write them well
Men refuse to write women in ways that don’t suit them
I reject the first claim as it’s a stereotype that enables laziness, giving permission for men to not even try. Men are perfectly capable of understanding women well enough to write them as fascinating, flawed, memorable characters. Film and literature are filled with such examples, so there is no excuse for the embarrassing alpha women inflatables we’re plagued with today.
So we get to the second claim – men just don’t bother to put themselves in women’s shoes and imagine what it’s like to be treated like a woman, and so their female characters don’t feel like real people. I’m sure there’s some truth to this, but it’s not like these writers have never met women. It’s impossible not to gain an understanding of the opposite sex through interacting with relatives, teachers, neighbors, coworkers, etc. What it comes down to is whether a person keeps their eyes and ears open, or rejects anything that contradicts their preexisting opinions.
Men are capable of understanding women. Men will learn about women whether they try or not. So we get to the third reason. Men refuse to act on what they’ve learned, depicting women only in the ways they prefer.
Before you get your hackles up, this is an observation true to all humankind. Harmful depictions of certain races, classes, religions, and genders aren’t due to an incapacity to understand, or just a refusal to learn, but because of willful cruelty paired with premeditated plans to control certain populations.
Old authors who used women like paper cutouts – the virtuous damsel in distress, the buxom wench, the creepy witch in the woods, the wicked seductress, and so on, made a deliberate choice to use women not as real people, but as objects to move a male-centered plot forward. Classic authors with memorable female characters weren’t geniuses blessed with an unusual understanding of women. They simply made the choice to put the same amount of effort into writing their female characters as they did when writing their male characters.
As far as I’m concerned, modern filmmakers who write unlikable female heroines don’t just misunderstand “strong women” despite trying their best, and haven’t just neglected to get to know “strong women,” but are willfully choosing to portray them in a way that will make audiences groan every time they hear a new release features a female hero.
Hollywood claims “You asked for this!”
Once we agree that Hollywood is entirely responsible for and in complete control of their depiction of women, we get to the second common argument – Hollywood’s response – which is that they’re only giving women what we wanted, what we asked for! “Women demanded the femme fatale, so don’t blame us if you think it’s bad – blame your fellow women for having bad taste.”
Here’s the first problem with this argument: Does Hollywood really think Rey running around snapping, “don’t hold my hand,” is what girls actually wanted to see? If so, they’re morons. Or they want to pretend they are, in order to shrug off responsibility for their insulting depictions of women.
They’re essentially re-using the first argument about women being “too much,” turning themselves into dewy-eyed schoolboys who can’t understand what women want even when they try really, really hard to listen. But that also implies they asked.
Did any producers talk to female Star Wars fans and ask them if Rey was their billion dollar heart’s desire? Or cold-faced women in catsuits breezing their way through problems as they push men around? Hollywood didn’t give us what we asked for, they gave us what they imagined we wanted.
Which is insulting in and of itself.
We say, “I want women who talk to women on screen about something other than men,” and they say, “Ok, you want arrogant bitches who sneer at men.” We say, “I want intelligent women who solve their own problems rather than waiting around to be saved,” and they say, “Ok you want cold, distant, dismissive women who don’t listen to anyone.” We say, “We want multi-faceted women with varied strengths and weaknesses,” and they hear, “ok, women are perfect? We’ll show them strutting around shoving in peoples’ faces how good they are at everything.”
These depictions do more to show us what Hollywood leaders think of women in “leading roles.” Through every box office flop, they are telling us that they think an active female character who saves the day is inseparable from an entitled, aggressive, emotionally distant narcissist.
But women are producing these “alpha women” too
Now, to be fair, many feminists do act like this, and many women writers have written female characters who act like bratty alpha males (Sarah J. Mass). So there’s a real basis for this image. A fact which grieves me greatly.
I think female writers and creatives have an even greater responsibility to depict women of good character! It’s not like we even have the excuse, “It’s so difficult for us to understand women!” So it’s maddening to encounter female characters that read like the author’s teenage fantasy (“Wouldn’t it be great if I could say and do whatever I want and have everyone around me, especially the men, respect and affirm me for it?”).
Male writers get to point at the examples and say, “Look, they’re doing it – I’m just following their lead and giving them more of what they themselves make!” But would female writers get away with that excuse? With meeting such low standards?
Let’s say I wrote a male hero based on the nastiest Homecoming King I’ve known in my life and the rapiest male protagonist I’ve encountered in male-written fiction. Then, in the reviews, readers call me out on it and say my male characters are 2-dimensional caricatures that don’t deserve to be called heroes. If I replied by pointing at my real-life and fictional examples and crying, “But they did it too!” would that fly?
Some men would probably have no problem with how I wrote my hero because they would see themselves in it. Nasty jocks like to see nasty jocks depicted as heroes. Would that excuse me writing all male heroes as nasty jocks? But that’s what Hollywood is doing – they’re writing female heroines with the dialogue of the angriest feminists they’ve met and the behavior of the most entitled YA heroines they’ve read. And then they say, “Well, those feminists and those readers asked for this, so clearly that’s what all female audiences want!”
The cringe ladybosses are deliberate
There are plenty of examples of well-written female characters, but men in Hollywood are choosing to follow the bad examples because that’s how they see women. Just like some female writers choose to write strong men as assholes, because that’s what they think of men.
It’s not that Hollywood’s overlords don’t know what a good example of a strong female character looks like (Princess Leia, Sarah Conner, Ellen Ripley, the original Mulan, Eowyn, Hermione Granger). It’s not that they think the majority of women want the copy pasted “badasses” they’re giving us.
Hollywood isn’t dumb. Between focus groups, polling, early release feedback, etc. there is no way that these massive corporations couldn’t tell that Captain Marvel was going to flop compared to Captain America.
So we get to my new theory – did they actually want it to flop?
Do producers and directors want to go back to the good ‘ol days when it was socially acceptable for women to be nothing more than the booby side-piece? Are they sitting in a room together asking, “How do we get audiences to accept the Bond girl as the norm again? Even better, how do we get them to actually demand it from us?” I think they’re dreaming of the day we say, “Oh Hollywood masters, you knew best all along. How wrong we were. Please forgive us. We beg of you, show us what we really want and need to see!”
Hollywood is doing this on purpose to try to get men and women alike to reject “strong female leads,” when what we’re actually rejecting is “deliberately poorly written, nasty female leads.”
This is a vital distinction. Plenty of people call out Hollywood for writing women badly. More still call them out for being insensitive, incompetent, and dismissive of issues surrounding representation of gender, race, religion, and more. Some call them out for choosing terrible female writers and directors to lead the way.
Plenty of people know what a good story looks like, and they know that modern Hollywood films suck all around, not that heroines are objectively bad. But in some ways, Hollywood’s scheme is working. They’ve primed audiences to think that a female-led film will be awful. So even if we can consciously list all of the ways they set Captain America up for success and Captain Marvel up for failure, the end result is the same: men and women alike are less likely to go see a film about a female protagonist.
If every time you bought a cake, it was sickeningly sweet and chalky, you’d probably start wincing every time someone offered you cake, even though you know there are plenty of good, even amazing, cakes in the world.
When’s the last time you heard someone say the phrases “ladyboss,” “strong female character,” or “badass heroine” without an accompanied eye roll? People didn’t always roll their eyes 10 years ago – we were excited at first! But a decade of horrible movies has primed audiences to think that “cringe” and “ladyboss” always belong in the same sentence.
We have to discern whether Hollywood is doing this on purpose or not. Because there’s no point in criticizing their writing if they picked a barfably woke script to make us hate it and anything remotely related. There’s no point in petitioning for Kathleen Kennedy to be fired if they picked her so we would do just that! …Enabling them to replace her with a male President – the natural order of the world restored.
There’s no point in telling the baker you ordered a low-sugar cake and asking him to remake it if he purposely baked a nauseatingly sweet cake so you’d give up and order the cookies instead – his original specialty.
This is a pattern consistent across film history
Now, before you go claiming that I’m a man-hating woman with a conspiracy theory, it would behoove us to examine some film history. I actually studied Film in college – that’s my degree. If you think producers aren’t sitting in a room together making agreements about how to depict certain races, religions, professions, and genders you’re just wrong. This happened all the time.
One example is the depiction of Asian men – Hollywood studios have very deliberately portrayed Asian men as bumbling, comedic idiots or asexual, walking calculators. When Asian men cry out, as women have done, “Write more stories with active Asian characters!” Hollywood argues, “What are you talking about? There are plenty of you thrown in there. And you’re even shown as smart.”
Mixing positive features into your “stereotype template” doesn’t make it ok. I imagine an Asian man would rather play a genius tech geek in an action flick than a pudgy sidekick in a rom com, but that doesn’t mean he actually wants to play either. Just like women would rather play emotionless heroines in spandex who get to kick the bad guy in the face than buxom babes who scream and cower in the clutches of a monster.
Both depictions are templates that Hollywood has decided are acceptable for screen. Men pay to see the second one. Neither men or women want to pay to see the first. I wouldn’t pay to see a standalone movie of Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman. What Hollywood wants people to take away from that conclusion is, “Women don’t make good leads. Women aren’t meant to be the heroes.”
But I would pay to see a Catwoman movie if Selena Kyle was written as well as Nolan’s Bruce Wayne. I would pay to see a movie about Queen Boudicca if it was written and directed as well as Braveheart. But Hollywood refuses to do so.
You’ve heard the saying, the best lies are made up mostly of truth. Hollywood hasn’t written incompetent female heroines. They know that’s too far from the truth for modern audiences to accept. They’ve just written immature, unlikable heroines. They know how to cover their butts. People aren’t walking out of the theaters able to say, “Hollywood is sexist because they showed women as weak and irrelevant.”
But people should be walking out of theaters saying, “Hollywood is sexist because they’re depicting strong women as arrogant brats.”
Hollywood has power and money to spare. I think they’re playing the long game, perfectly happy to lose money now as they pretend to support PC causes, while actually twisting the narrative so they can reshape demand back into their preferred mold.
Once people gain the power to shape opinions (on an international and society-wide level!), they’re not going to give it up because people tell them to change. They’ll just use the weapons at their disposal to get people to stop asking. And their greatest weapon is their stories.
Again, this is already a well-established flaw of human nature. How many people drive themselves into bankruptcy over issues of ideology, pet feuds, and threats to their own superiority? Some people are willing to destroy themselves to be seen as right or to force their version of what is right on the world. It’s no accident that before the #metoo movement, we saw a mix of excellent and lousy female leads, but after #metoo? I come up with a blank.
It almost feels like Hollywood producers and directors are saying, “You got in our face about how we treated you and then made yourselves reserved and unavailable. We’ll reflect that version of women back at you and see how you like it.”
Still think I’m taking it too far?
Let’s consider the realism of this argument by imagining it from the other side. Let’s say the CEO of a major publisher decided that going forward, 80% of all their fantasy books need to have a male lead. The managing editors at their imprints are displeased by this decision, but they have to go along with it. How could they honor their boss’ demand while actually subverting it?
I know what I would do. I’d round up the equivalent of Terry Goodkind (The Sword of Truth), John Norman (Gor), George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones), Richard Morgan (The Steel Remains), and Mark Lawrence (Prince of Thorns) and put the most money behind the darkest, rapiest, most toxic depictions of masculinity I could find. (Those hyperlinks will take you to discussions about the controversies in those books…)
Then I’d wait for audiences to cry out, “Enough already!” I could then cock my head in innocent surprise and ask, “What? Wasn’t this what you wanted? It’s what you asked for. What you think a male hero is. You don’t like it? Aww, well I did try to tell you.”
And because they’re male authors, and many male readers don’t find the content problematic, I’d be safe from the criticism that I’m pulling this version of masculinity out of my behind so I can spit on it.
Just like Hollywood directors can laugh and say, “but the directors of Charlie’s Angels 2019 and Captain Marvel were women!” Yeah… Elizabeth Banks and Anna Boyden (the directors of each, respectively) wouldn’t exactly have been my top choices for heroic, women-led filmmaking, let alone Kathleen Kennedy. They don’t represent the potential and desire of most female creatives or audiences.
Anyone who uses those flops to prove women make poor heroes (and poor directors) is full of it and deserves to be told as much. Just as I’d call someone out if they praised publishers for rejecting male-authored or male-led fantasy novels using Terry Goodkind as the basis of their reasoning.
Don’t accept Hollywood’s lies about heroines – or their denial that they’re lying on purpose
We know what truly strong female characters look like. And so does Hollywood (“methinks you doth protest too much”) – that’s why they’re trying so hard not to give them to us – because a compassionate, selfless, strong, intelligent, brave, emotionally healthy, unencumbered woman would be truly formidable.
Hollywood can’t convince me they:
Are too simpleminded to write women well
Are just too negligent to learn anything about women
Actually think most women want the garbage they give us
Tried their best to give women what we wanted but just don’t have enough practice yet
Pick only the best women writers and directors who represent the peak of female creativity and vision
Tried their best, but it’s as they suspected – audiences just don’t want heroines
We’re left with one option. No longer able to depict women the way they want – as sex objects and attaches to male leads – Hollywood has settled for second best: a perversion of good leading women that will make viewers sick at the phrases “empowered” and “independent.”
Hollywood told us for decades that female-led superhero films would flop. We disagreed. So they set out to prove themselves right. Big studios give us terrible heroines done up in the flimsy trappings of good ones. They thought this would rob us of our voice, of our ability to call them out anymore on deliberate sexism. Too bad – I’m calling Hollywood out on it anyway.
Under no circumstances should the above portrayal or implications not be insulting to you.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
If you’ve never worked with a book editor before, you’re probably wondering what it’ll be like. What kind of feedback do editors give and how do they interact with your manuscript? Is all the time and money of a professional edit actually worth it?
Here I’ve included the first draft and two successive rounds of edits on a flash fiction story that I edited as part of Havok Magazine’s team. My hope is that you will see how editing can bring out the best in a manuscript, clarifying the language, character and plot, and emotional impact.
Havok is an online flash fiction magazine that publishes a 1000 word story each day of the week on the following schedule: Mystery Monday, Techno Tuesday (sci-fi), Wacky Wednesday (humor), Thriller Thursday, Fantasy Friday. I was an editor with the Mystery Monday team for a year.
I share these various drafts with the permission of the author, Victoria Roberts, and Havok’s owners – Andrew Winch and Teddi Deppner.
First Draft
This is the first draft the author submitted to Havok. I, and my fellow editors, read all of the submitted stories for that month and chose which ones to acquire. There were a few reasons this story stood out to me for acceptance:
The character has a clear goal and transformation
High life and death stakes
The situation is emotionally and politically complex, but grounded in a simple scene and decision
Strong physical interactions between the characters, space, and the objects in it
Varied descriptions using multiple senses
A balanced mix of dialogue and internal reflection
Take a moment to read the original version before reviewing successive edits.
These are the edits I and my team submitted to the author for review. She then had a chance to make revisions and submit a second draft. In my comments, you’ll see a combination of the three major types of editing (proofreaders were a separate team).
Developmental feedback: questions about the character’s situation and motivations and suggestions for how to improve the opening and ending.
Line edits: improving sentence structure, clarifying descriptions, and offering suggestions to maintain conciseness.
This is the stage where collaboration and clarification come into play. You’ll see that the author accepted a number of my edits as they were. In other places, she left comments explaining what her vision was and asking for further input, or made the suggested edits in her own words.
That’s the sign of an effective editor-author collaboration. Editorial suggestions are just that – suggestions. A good editor will help shape a story into the best it can be according to each author’s style. A good writer will be willing to communicate openly with their editor, standing up for their own choices where it matters, asking questions, offering various revisions and asking the editor which one they think is the clearest and most compelling choice.
A third round of edits isn’t always necessary – here, you’ll see that the author fiddled with her word choice a little more and made sure her word count fell within parameters. And I assured her that she should be the one to finalize these details.
If you want to read the final version of this story, you can find it on Havok’s website! They publish a story every day of the week – each story of the day is free to read, and an annual subscription of $4.99 gains readers access to their entire catalogue.
If you’re interested in submitting a flash fiction story of 1000 words or less, you can find information about Havok’s monthly themes on their website. They are such a kind and joyful team to work with, and I highly recommend them! Thank you, Andrew and Teddi, for allowing me to share about Havok’s process!
A big thank you to the Victoria Roberts, the author of “To Break a Kingdom,” for letting me share her in-progress story on my website. Many authors hate for their early drafts to ever see the light of day! But that makes it hard for other writers to understand how stories can change during the process of editing. So thank you for sharing your work so others can learn from your example! Please check out more of Victoria’s work through the links below.
Victoria Roberts writes uplifting stories that radiate light. As an acquisitions and freelance editor, she loves encouraging other writers to pursue their author dreams. When sheโs not penning or devouring a new tale, she spends her time adventuring with her family, spoiling her poodle Beast, or creating book-themed cross-stitch patterns.
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
Did you know that there are about 8,000 English books listed in Amazon’s “Religious Science Fiction and Fantasy” category right now?
You can find this number by going to Amazon’s book department and selecting categories and subcategories. In this instance I chose Books>Religion and Spirituality>Literature and Fiction>Science Fiction and Fantasy. The number of search results at the top indicates the number of listings in this category.
This does include different editions and formats (print, Kindle, audiobook) for the same titles, however. Meaning the real number of unique Christian SFF titles is far smaller than 8,000.
The number of paperbacks is about 5,000. So if we exclude the numerous alternate editions of Lewis, Tolkien, and classic writers like Bunyan and Dante, and ignore the nonfiction that slipped in (mythology coloring books) should we estimate half that: 2,500?
Is that how many Christian fantasy and sci-fi books there are right now?
Using Publisher Rocket for Market Research
Amazon shows you the number of results available for specific searches like “Christian Fantasy,” but programs like Publisher Rocket by Dave Chesson do it faster, pulling the data directly from Amazon.
Amazon itself called Chesson a “Kindleprenuer,” leading to the title of his website where he shares he has “worked with many New York Times bestselling authors like Ted Dekker, Orson Scott Card, Kevin J. Anderson… [plus] multiple major publishing companies.”
It’s useful for completing market research, but there can be glitches when using this program. For instance, when I first searched “Christian Fantasy,” it told me there were 60,000 titles listed under that keyword on Amazon and 50,000 filed under the keyword “Christian science fiction.”
That seemed astonishingly high to me, and when I reached out to their team, they indicated that there was indeed a disconnect between their and Amazon’s data. A direct query into Amazon’s search bar for “Christian fantasy” produced over 200 results, which Publisher Rocket then began showing.
So when compiling the numbers below, I double checked all results by searching the terms in Amazon directly and found them to be correct. Note that because these are monthly averages, you may get different results when you search the same terms. The number of competitors should change gradually though, as new books are only published so quickly.
The State of Christian Fantasy Publishing
Here is additional data about the types of Christian fantasy books which are being published, and significantly, how many shoppers are searching for such books.
The most important columns to analyze are “Number of Competitors,” which counts the number of books using the selected keyword, and “Est. Amazon Searches/Month” which tells you how many shoppers are searching for that keyword.
Looking at the number of books competing for these keywords, we can roughly estimate that there are between 200-800 Christian fantasy books of various sub-genres currently on Amazon. That’s our supply. Goodreads users seem to agree – there are 794 books on this list “Christian Fantasy.”
What’s the demand?
These are most searched-for terms from shoppers per month:
YA christian paranormal romance: 1,586 Biblical mythology fantasy: 1,439 Christian romantasy: 1,016 Christian fantasy: 869 Christian fantasy for children: 816 Christian paranormal fiction: 639 Christian young adult fantasy: 345 Christian epic fantasy: 243
So let’s estimate that there are roughly 200-1,500 readers looking for varied Christian fantasy each month.
That’s great news for writers, authors, and publishers of Christian fantasy. At worst, supply is just keeping up with demand, and at best there’s about twice as much interest per month as the current market supplies!
That’s simplifying the data. The specific numbers do much more to show where there are gaps in the market that Christian publishers and authors can meet.
Where Demand Exceeds Supply
There’s about 7 TIMES more interest in YA christian paranormal romance per month than there are books available for such readers. And about 4 times more monthly demand for Christian romantasy than supply!
That first revelation surprised me. The second did not.
I was also surprised by the apparently small interest in epic and medieval Christian fantasy. That’s the “easiest” type of Christian fantasy to pull off well, and is still one of the most popular sub-genres of fantasy in the general market, so I expected the most readers to be looking for such books. But supply and demand are about equal in this area, with 211 books listed as “Christian epic fantasy” and about 243 readers looking for such titles each month.
No doubt my own preferences colored my expectations, which is why hard data is so important for approaching publishing as a business, rather than just a passion.
Let’s look at some other surprises in the data.
Ironically, the keywords authors used most frequently – “supernatural christian fantasy:” 807 titles, and “christian medieval fantasy:” 435 titles – have the least amount of search interest, at under 100 queries a month.
This tells authors that they’re not marketing their books correctly to readers. That’s what this program was designed to accomplish – to help authors pick keywords that actually match buyer intent. (That’s what the “competition score” column at the end means – it’s telling you how hard it’d be to rank for the keyword.)
There commonly exists a gap between how authors anticipate readers look for books, and how shoppers actually search for their next read.
For instance, more shoppers are searching “fantasy like Narnia” (1,500/mo) than are searching “Christian fantasy” (870/mo).
Here’s an another example: I work in publishing, so I tend to use more “exact” terminology. I searched “middle grade christian fantasy” to see how many books existed in that sub-genre. It was around the 200 mark, just like you see above under “christian fantasy for children.” However, the search numbers were abysmal, at <100. I knew there’s no way there was that little interest in middle grade christian fantasy, so I typed in other terms, and discovered the much more accurate-sounding number of 816 average searches a month for “christian fantasy for children.”
So here we see that 807 supernatural christian fantasy books exist, with less than 100 interested readers, while less than 200 biblical mythology fantasy books exist, with over 1,400 interested readers. Could it be the case that readers are using the latter term to refer to story concepts like demons and angels, while authors are using the term supernatural instead? Or do readers think of “biblical mythology” as “stories set in bible times plus magic?”
That’s a question that polling could help answer. But for the main purpose of this article, analyzing supply and demand, my point is that there does appear to be greater interest in sub-genres of Christian fantasy than just the top 2 keywords reveal.
Follow the Money
It’s also important to factor in the data about “average monthly earnings” for each keyword, because that indicates how many readers are actually buying Christian fantasy. The number of people searching a term doesn’t equal the number of people who actually made a purchase. Many people searching this term didn’t end up buying anything, while many other shoppers who didn’t start with that specific search term did make a purchase.
It’s important to note that the column “average monthly earnings” records “the estimated average monthly earnings of the top books that rank for this keyword.” In other words, the fact that “Christian fantasy” sells an average of $36,701 a month means titles like Narnia sell that much a month, not that all books listed under that keyword combined sell this much a month.
That’s good news – shoppers are spending more than $36K a month to buy Christian fantasy books. But Publisher Rocket can create better estimates for the top performers.
The State of Christian Science Fiction Publishing
Now, let’s take a look at the state of Christian science fiction. They get lumped together in the parent category “Religious Science Fiction and Fantasy,” but we can learn more by separating them out.
I also threw in a stat for Christian horror at the bottom since it gets lumped in under the category “Christian speculative fiction.”
It was easier to round out the number of available titles here, as regardless of the sci-fi “sub-genre” or “thematic” terms I used, I consistently came up with around 200 titles. That’s fewer than the fantasy titles, which does not surprise me. The highest earners in this category also make far less than in the fantasy category.
There seems to be much less demand for Christian sci-fi across the board, though the top search query still indicates there is 3x as much demand as supply. I must also note that shoppers do weird things.
Apparently, more readers are searching with keywords like:
A Christian science fiction: 1,646 monthly queries Scifi books with christian plot: 746 (this keywords’s top titles earn >$15K/mo!) Science fiction for christian: 312 Christian science fiction series: 287 Christian sci-fi fiction: 265 (compared to <100 for just “Christian sci-fi,” go figure) Christian futuristic fiction: 245
So again, when we go a bit deeper down the rabbit hole of what shoppers are actually typing into Amazon, we see that there’s more demand than the dismal <100 searches we see for some of the more sensible terms above.
And by looking at the monthly revenue for top books, we see there are definitely more than 100 readers a month willing to purchase “christian hard scifi,” “christian science fiction for youth,” and “children christian science fiction.”
Likely, many of these purchasers searched the book titles or authors directly, which indicates word of mouth is probably a better sales tactic for Christian science fiction specifically, while more readers are evidently willing to “cold search” for Christian fantasy.
I will note another unfortunate fact, which could be skewing data. Authors, desperate to find readers who would be at all interested in their book, tend to ignore genre distinctions. For instance, I’ve seen straight up wizard, medieval fantasy books listed as sci-fi when they really shouldn’t be because authors know readers in one genre are usually interested in the other too, and they want as many views as possible.
Next Steps
If we combine all of these listings, do we reach the estimated 2,500 titles? I’m not sure if there’s a gap here, but I think we can say with confidence that the current body of Christian speculative fiction lies somewhere between 1,000-3,000 titles.
Does this fit your observations?
I’m going to keep an eye on these keywords in the coming months to track any major changes or see if the numbers remain similar.
This number is growing each year, as is reader interest and generated revenue! Amazon’s data agrees.
Considering shopper interest, it seems like the most promising paths for growth are YA Christian paranormal romance, Christian romantasy, and biblical mythology fantasy. Looking at the areas of greatest revenue production, there is potential for children’s Christian fantasy and children’s Christian science fiction as well.
I think it would be greatly fruitful for Christian speculative fiction publishers and authors with a wide reader base to initiate polling among their audiences to clarify how readers define certain sub-genres of Christian fantasy and sci-fi and verify if these expectations match up with how the books are being marketed.
For the keywords that have a decent number of searches but comparatively abysmal sales, it’d be worth asking readers how existing books have failed to motivate a purchase. For instance, there are 223 monthly searches for christian scifi space exploration which result in only a measly $13 of monthly earnings for the top title. Or 1,016 monthly searches for christian romantasy compared to only $160 of monthly revenue for the top book.
It’s possible this data is incorrect or incomplete. But it’s also possible that the Christian romantasy and space exploration books currently on the market are of poor quality, lack the necessary metadata for readers to discover them, or do not actually possess what readers want.
Also, obviously Amazon isn’t the only source of data for the book industry, but it is one of the most readily available and understandable sources, especially for indie authors and presses.
Let’s find out the answer to these questions so as authors, publishers, and industry professionals, we can create better Christian science fiction and fantasy and help readers actually find our work!
If you have data which contradicts or enhances any of these findings, I’d be incredibly grateful if you shared them. Please weigh in on the conversation so we can all make a better plan for the future. Thanks!
Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing, Eschler Editing, and Havok Magazine. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!
Thanks for stopping by my website! I hope you’ve found some helpful resources about reading, writing, and publishing. If you liked this article, here’s some more free content…
