Joining East to West: Readers with Authors in Growing Christian Market

More Christians in India than ever before have their heads bowed low these days. Praying? Maybe, but also reading on their smart phones and tablets. The popularity of E-readers and apps for enjoying books on smart phones and tablets has substantially increased readership in India, especially in larger cities and among college students. 

After researching and speaking with Christian pastors in India, authors, and a barrage of voracious book lovers, it crystallized the truth that excellent Christian literature and clean fiction are in demand in the East.

"People from India want to read and learn about the Western world," says Shilpa Joshi, a Christian from Bangalore. "We want to explore places like Texas and reading about these places in novels takes us there, but I rarely come across such books."

Holly Michael reported, “During a visit to India last year, browsing large Christian bookstores, I found mostly self-help and spiritual non-fiction books written mainly by Indian authors. I did come across a few nonfiction titles by Joyce Meyer and Joel Olsteen, but found almost zero Christian novels.”

Renjit Varghese, a Christian from Kerala, India lives in Kansas City now. He says that readership is growing among Indians due to the lower cost of eBooks. "But Christian books are difficult to find in India," says Varghese. "Even more rare is fiction written by American authors." When I go back home to Kerala, I take books back with me for my family."  

Seeing the need to connect Christian authors in the West with readers in the East, Holly, author of the soon to be released CROOKED LINES and I began a website: www.indiascrown.com. The full name of the premier site is India's Crown in Christian Literature Excellence or ICICLE. The website will feature American Christian authors with books marketed in India through Amazon and other sources. Each author featured will have also give away one copy of their book.

India's Crown In Christian Literature Excellence (ICILE)

India’s Crown is a place where the authors and readers can also connect. It surprised me to discover a few years ago that people all over the world love Texas. My historical Christian romance—reviewers have told me I should add western adventure to my genre—Vow Unbroken is set in 1832 Texas, so I am excited about the untapped market in India. And while it’s nice to sell more books, I’m more excited with the aspect of meeting Indian Christians and making friends across the ocean. With Christ in common, we can minister to one another and see that God is doing wonderful things in other places.

So, Holly and I are off and running on a massive campaign to bring awareness of http://www.indiascrown.com/ to India, and fill this niche, with literary minded Christians working on both sides of the ocean. It is time now to welcome authors to contact us about promoting their book. We are filling our calendars now. We’re thrilled to be wide open to Indy titles, but do want to read them ahead of time to ensure the excellence in Christian Literature we advertise. It is this assurance that will catapult India’s Crown into the organization we believe God wants it to be. Visit the site and contact us with any questions.  

Get ready Christian authors in the US! Indian readers want your books! And what a platform God has given us  to spread the Gospel through our Christian Fiction.

Caryl McAdoo 
Looking forward to hearing from you!