First, a working definition of “literary fiction” from Wikipedia:
A concern with social commentary, political criticism, or reflection on the human condition.
A focus on “introspective, in-depth character studies” of “interesting, complex and developed” characters, whose “inner stories” drive the plot, with detailed motivations to elicit “emotional involvement” in the reader.
A slower pace than popular fiction, “literary fiction, by its nature, allows itself to dawdle, to linger on stray beauties even at the risk of losing its way”.
A concern with the style and complexity of the writing: “elegantly written, lyrical, and … layered”.
Unlike genre fiction, plot is not the central concern. The tone of literary fiction can be darker than genre fiction.
Literary fiction is often contrasted with genre fiction, commercial fiction, popular fiction, etc. Among other trends in the publishing industry, literary fiction is increasingly becoming a lost art, driven by cultural changes and market influences. Sadly, good books don’t sell. An overstatement, of course, and there are exceptions. Here in Minnesota, we have authors Louise Erdrich and Marlon James, winners of prestigious writing awards who also manage to sell a good number of books.
Publishing industry veteran Brooke Warner sums up the dilemma this way:
This week I had lunch with an agent friend who expressed her frustration that the best manuscripts she’s representing simply aren’t selling to traditional publishers … It used to be that traditional publishers were curators of what we read, and therefore, in a trickle-down way, of our cultural values. Literary books—which usually refers to books of substance, that are more intellectual, typically better written, and stylistically more sophisticated—were valued by mainstream culture. People actually strove to be well-read. There’s no question that our cultural values have shifted in the wake of twenty-four-hour news cycles, digital content, and the constancy of social media … While literary works win awards, and are the books that transcend time, they’re also becoming the least desirable projects for agents and editors.
Wormwood and Gall imagines the person, the community, and the circumstances behind “the Gospel according to Mark.” Although there are battle scenes, escapes, desert storms, love lost and regained, Wormwood aspires to be literary fiction. Whether it qualifies remains to be seen, but I hope it wrestles with big questions in a meaningful way.
I penned Wormwood a couple of years ago, and then I brought it to a Christian writer’s conference in Nashville where I met other writers who were churning out three and four Christian romance novels a year, and the publishers were lapping them up, so long as they followed a pat formula: a chaste woman meets a fallen man; she brings him to Christ; and they live happily ever after. But, I found no takers for Wormwood.
Now, I’m going to take Warner’s concluding advice, “Set measures of success that include but are not limited to sales, and seize your own publishing future by the reins.” Wormwood will soon be self-published as an eBook through Amazon and a paperback through Amazon’s Createspace, “print on demand” platform.
Support is appreciated. Buy it. Tell your friends about it and encourage them to buy their own copy. I always smile but wince inwardly when I hear, “I love your book. We’re passing it around at church.”
