Agents for a fantasy involving a non-believer?

Skabr

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Hey, :)

I've almost completed a novel that features a non-believer protagonist who falls in love with a Christian girl. It's supposed to be an urban fantasy. My question: would any fantasy-novel accepting agent be willing to consider it given its theme that has something to do with religion/non-religion kind of thing?

What attitude would agents have towards such a novel? Would it be difficult to sell? I'm starting to get worried about this thing.

Thanks,:)

Skabr


P.S. (I'm not sure if I should put this question here. I'm new.)
 

Wilde_at_heart

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Not an agent, but ... If it's heavy-handed and 'preachy' it might be a turn-off, but if the story simply explores various themes without deciding for the reader, it would probably be fine. Many consider CS Lewis fairly mainstream, yet his books had strong Christian overtones.

It's always a good idea to do your research, though. Many agents are on Twitter these days, so it might not be a bad idea to read through their posts as a way to gauge their attitudes towards such subjects.
 

quicklime

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seconding Wilde; I suspect many agents don't have an issue with Christianity or Christian themes, but do so with ham-fisted, suffocating preaching.


note off the top of my head, books that deal with Christian themes: Most of King, Koontz, Brown, etc. I love King, find Koontz crosses that preaching line, and just hate reading what Dan Brown seems to believe are literate sentences, but all 3 sell reasonably well. At the same time, there are many, many "here is my allegory with the really cruel and stewpid nonbeliever finally seeing the light (or paying) after meeting one of God's Chosen" manifestos languishing in self-publishing obscurity.
 
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mayqueen

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Is it specifically Christian fiction, or no?

I agree with Wilde and quicklime. As long as it isn't heavy-handed or preachy about anything, I'm sure the agent will care more about whether the plot is compelling, the characters are interesting, and the world-building is fresh. :)

But do your research. Find some comp titles. Research some agents. Ask around in the appropriate genre fora here.
 

Corinne Duyvis

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Totally fine. I wouldn't worry about it. It reminds me of Jeri Smith-Ready's urban fantasy series, actually--atheist protagonist, Catholic boyfriend, deals with various questions of faith as a result of there being vampires and holy water and such. (There's more, but that wold go into spoilery territory.) The first book is called WICKED GAME. They're fun!
 

Skabr

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Hey everybody,

Thanks a lot for all the helpful information.

No, mayqueen, it's not Christian fiction, as far as I know, as there's nothing preachy about it, though the protagonist gets to meet God, and later Devil. You don't count this stuff as Christian fiction?

Thanks,

Skabr
 
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quicklime

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both god and the devil show up well outside "Christian Fiction"....again, King, Koontz, etc.
 

mayqueen

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Oh, I just asked about Christian fiction because it has very specific rules. A story isn't automatically Christian fiction just because God shows up. I mean, SUPERNATURAL has angels and the Devil, and I don't think it's a Christian television show. :) I just asked about that because I wanted to clarify it.
 

Giant Baby

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God is a main character in my novel, and it's most definitely not Christian fiction. I'll be honest, I did get my fair share of "I don't represent religious works" rejections from agents (despite a query and comp titles that--I felt--made that quite clear). So, it might be a little bit of a hiccup with some, but I did find an agent for it and she's recently sold it to an imprint of a Big Five house. Good luck!