CBA or rather the Christian Booksellers Association was formed in 1950 when Christian bookstores, at that time gift shops and providers of Bibles and Sunday School materials, decided they'd like to provide fiction that would appeal to those that frequented their stores. Targeted fiction that wouldn't offend their readers. CBA was formed as a gatekeeper association for this fiction. Publishers had to join in order to be a part. ECPA, the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, was formed a few years later.
Over time, CBA and ECPA became a formidable presence in the publishing world monetarily. Larger general market houses even brought up several larger CBA and ECPA houses for this reason and allowed them to keep their very targeted restrictions and guidelines that protected their core market readers. This allowed for CBA and ECPA books to start showing up in places other than affiliated Christian Bookstores but the affiliated Christian bookstores were still a safe haven for readers of CBA or ECPA fiction. No other Christian author or publisher not affiliated could get their product on the shelf of an affiliated bookstore.
Things began to change in 1997 however with Spring Arbor, CBA’s largest distributor combining with Ingram. Once the deal was done, CBA and ECPA books began to show up in the most unlikely of places. But so did non-affiliated general market books that were written with a broader Christian slant. Unlike the bigger houses that took on CBA and ECPA imprints, Ingram/Spring Arbor set out to serve a much broader audience of Christians. Non-affiliated books found their way into affiliated bookstores and today you can find work like The Shack a self-published work being distributed by Hatchette books and CS Lewis. I’m excited to know that despite not being affiliated or writing for this market specifically I can at least finally get to the audience primarily buying my stories.
Do understand that you still have to look to find the kind of fiction you want to read if you visit a Christian bookstore. As a result of CBA and ECPA losing a little control over what goes in their store, they've began to release fiction that seems to go against what they stand for. Thomas Nelson, Waterbrook and Realms to name a few have recently released titles dealing with "halloween" type storylines.
Indeed!
Just know that CBA and ECPA publishers will only produce books for their market first and the broader Christian market second, if ever. It will help you find what you’re looking for now that different types of fiction are showing up on Christian bookstore shelves. :)
Forever Richard will be available through Ingram/Spring Arbor shortly but is already available through all major distributors.
