How marketable is well researched 'heresy?'

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They called me Bruce

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Greetings,

I'm looking at a market analysis for a manuscript which uses 'default contraception' as a central theme. The concept is that a girl can use this so she has to take a pill if she wants to get pregnant. The plot is science based, with mainly atheist characters and establishment objection to the concept.

How much allowance should be made for sales lost due to boycotting under Canons 1384-1405, or is 'moral objection' simply unsolicitored publicity these days?

My assessment is that the manuscript can be described as "Books by any writers which defend heresy or schism, or attempt in any way to undermine the very foundations of religion." (Moral and Pastoral Theology, Davis) as the plot draws from works by Christopher Hitchens and Prof. Richard Dawkins and the black collar crimes list of 'Broken Rites'.

Sorry for dumping hell fire and brimstone on the site!
 

cornflake

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Greetings,

I'm looking at a market analysis for a manuscript which uses 'default contraception' as a central theme. The concept is that a girl can use this so she has to take a pill if she wants to get pregnant. The plot is science based, with mainly atheist characters and establishment objection to the concept.

How much allowance should be made for sales lost due to boycotting under Canons 1384-1405, or is 'moral objection' simply unsolicitored publicity these days?

My assessment is that the manuscript can be described as "Books by any writers which defend heresy or schism, or attempt in any way to undermine the very foundations of religion." (Moral and Pastoral Theology, Davis) as the plot draws from works by Christopher Hitchens and Prof. Richard Dawkins and the black collar crimes list of 'Broken Rites'.

Sorry for dumping hell fire and brimstone on the site!

I am so desperately confused.

Do you mean you'd be pitching this to Christian publishers? I can't see that working.

If you don't mean that, are you serious?
 

CAWriter

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I am so desperately confused.

I'm so glad to see this. My first thought when I finished reading the original post was, "This makes me feel stupid."

My best answer to my feeble understanding of the question is that there is a gigantic portion of the reading public who wouldn't consider what you've described here as 'heresy.' That being the case, I don't think there'd be huge protests or rioting in the aisles of B&N.

Your question might be better addressed on the Atheist sub-board of the "Religious and Spiritual Writing" board.

(And, it seems to me there has been a good deal of "heretical" writing that was very marketable. Not just due to the controversy, but because there was strong interest in the treatment of the subject matter.)
 

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Greetings,

I'm looking at a market analysis for a manuscript which uses 'default contraception' as a central theme. The concept is that a girl can use this so she has to take a pill if she wants to get pregnant. The plot is science based, with mainly atheist characters and establishment objection to the concept.

How much allowance should be made for sales lost due to boycotting under Canons 1384-1405, or is 'moral objection' simply unsolicitored publicity these days?

My assessment is that the manuscript can be described as "Books by any writers which defend heresy or schism, or attempt in any way to undermine the very foundations of religion." (Moral and Pastoral Theology, Davis) as the plot draws from works by Christopher Hitchens and Prof. Richard Dawkins and the black collar crimes list of 'Broken Rites'.

Sorry for dumping hell fire and brimstone on the site!

Is this manuscript a novel that is going to be set in ancient times? If you mean a modern day novel, we already have things that aren't too much different from that, imo.
 
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RussPostHoc

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I would actually hazard a guess that the market for well-researched heresy is greater than the market for well-researched orthodoxy.
 

They called me Bruce

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Hi Cornflake,

I'm not pitching it at Christian publishers, I'm wondering how much clout they've got in general publishing nowadays.

A little while back a friend made the comment 'what everyone needs is a contraceptive implant at birth.' Now this doesn't work, it mucks up physical development. There is a gadget called a bioprinter which prints 3D structures with living cells. This means things like artificial kidneys are possible as manufactured spare parts. There is a group working on a gland to replace the part of the pancreas which doesn't work in diabetics at the moment and a lot more work of this nature will be emerging presently.

I designed a theoretical gadget which provides default contraception, fixes PMT and a few other things, then wrote a book around it, so yes, I'm serious. This is Sci Fi with real Sci. Also real rules, real medical ethics, real guns and stuff.

I've been looking at who is selling what kind of books and trying to estimate the size of the potential market, but I haven't been able to gauge the effect of reactionary publicity.

Cheers,

Bruce.
 

cornflake

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Hi Cornflake,

I'm not pitching it at Christian publishers, I'm wondering how much clout they've got in general publishing nowadays.

I'd go with none, outside of that they can sell a lot of books themselves.

A little while back a friend made the comment 'what everyone needs is a contraceptive implant at birth.' Now this doesn't work, it mucks up physical development. There is a gadget called a bioprinter which prints 3D structures with living cells. This means things like artificial kidneys are possible as manufactured spare parts. There is a group working on a gland to replace the part of the pancreas which doesn't work in diabetics at the moment and a lot more work of this nature will be emerging presently.

I designed a theoretical gadget which provides default contraception, fixes PMT and a few other things, then wrote a book around it, so yes, I'm serious. This is Sci Fi with real Sci. Also real rules, real medical ethics, real guns and stuff.

I've been looking at who is selling what kind of books and trying to estimate the size of the potential market, but I haven't been able to gauge the effect of reactionary publicity.

Cheers,

Bruce.

The main problem with default contraception from birth or childhood isn't physical, imo, it's ethical.

As, as others note, there's plenty of fairly longterm contraception available currently, the only thing I can think this would raise would be an ethical issue if you mean to use it from childhood. If you don't, how's it any different from what exists now, besides it might last somewhat longer without replacement?

Oh, and the size of the market depends on the story. You haven't mentioned the story. :)
 

They called me Bruce

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Is this manuscript a novel that is going to be set in ancient times? If you mean a modern day novel, we already have things that aren't too much different from that, imo. Birth control methods where you have to actively do something to "undo" them (or wait them out or that are just undoable) are IUD, Depo-Provera, tubal ligation. And we have things that are more controversial than default contraception such as the "morning after" pill and abortion. I don't think people who want to use them (in real life) are too fussed over what the Church thinks. So without knowing more about your novel, I'd say if you want it to cause a stir, maybe you'd want to go with something more controversial. Not sure what that would be, though. Something to do with cloning or genetically engineered babies, maybe? If I even understood your post correctly?

It is a contempary novel. The idea is for something cheap enough reliable enough and administered orally- and only once. I'm not worried about causing a stir, I'm interested in orthodox reaction impacting sales.
 

Kerosene

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Most of Sci-Fi deals with very similar elements as your story (also in Fantasy too). .

What I see your problem is writing it in a believable way--that, in of itself, will make your book more widely marketable or not. Done incorrectly can make the writing feel as if you're preaching to the reader--that you're using these "hot" themes from our current times to charge the market and make your statement--without letting the statement come about. (For correctly done themes, see: The Hunger Games).
 

CAWriter

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I think maybe our definitions of "heresy" differ. (Unless you are referring to a specific Doctrine (big D) held by a specific Church (big C).) The contemporary world is filled with stories that contradict Church Doctrine. The only ones I see causing any kind of uproar are those that make doctrinally contradictory claims about God or Jesus Christ. Otherwise, just about anything goes.

As far as measuring the sales impact of "orthodox reaction," I can't imagine even trying to include that in a marketing plan. I would assume that even Dan Brown and others who did stir up "orthodox reaction" didn't include that in their initial sales projections. Perhaps on subsequent books of the same controversy degree, but I can't imagine that publishers look at a manuscript thinking, "And 25% of the sales will come from the media attention that this controversial topic will stir up."

Buzz is buzz. It usually comes from a tale well-told, not from a button-pushing topic meant to incite controversy for its own sake.
 

They called me Bruce

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Most of Sci-Fi deals with very similar elements as your story (also in Fantasy too). .

What I see your problem is writing it in a believable way--that, in of itself, will make your book more widely marketable or not. Done incorrectly can make the writing feel as if you're preaching to the reader--that you're using these "hot" themes from our current times to charge the market and make your statement--without letting the statement come about. (For correctly done themes, see: The Hunger Games).

I agree, it has been difficult to write. I've sought and received professional assistance with this. The test readers have been a big help too.
 

Mutive

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Most of Sci-Fi deals with very similar elements as your story (also in Fantasy too). .

Indeed. It's so commonly used in science fiction that I wonder whether the idea, on its own, would be considered unexpected enough to be the basis for a book. It would be a bit like examining the consequences of blasters or holocoms...
 

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I was being excessively clever, so I'm sorry about that.

You may have been trying to be clever - what you were was confusing.

If I understand correctly, you're wondering if a SF story about contraception might rile religious people?

The fact that you ask this question suggests that you don't know much about the topic or the genre.
 

veinglory

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You are talking about a novel's plot, right? If so, there is a complete lack of big deal here. You can tell stories about anything you like.
 

veinglory

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I wonder if perhaps you live in a community that is unusually religiously conservative. Because what you are describing sounds extremely non-controversial to me. Most people understand that fiction is a place to explore ideas, all kinds of ideas.
 

Filigree

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Seconding what others have posted. This is an extremely common plot device in science fiction and fantasy. Two examples come first to mind: Sherwood Smith's 'Inda' novels (default contraception via 'magic'), and Lois Bujold's 'Vorkosigan' novels (female and intersex members of a high-tech colony get contraceptive implants as part of the celebration of physical maturity.)

The only controversy would come from people who are unlikely to be enough of a buying market to worry about.
 

Cathy C

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Heck, this has been done since at least Brave New World. It was published in 1931, when "blue laws" were much stricter. I'd say you would be fine with pubbing it. Science fiction has always been about challenging ideas. I don't see anything in what you've posted as a problem for readers. The trick, as others have said, is making sure you have a protagonist up to the task of making it believable and interesting.
 

gingerwoman

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It is a contempary novel. The idea is for something cheap enough reliable enough and administered orally- and only once. I'm not worried about causing a stir, I'm interested in orthodox reaction impacting sales.
I deleted my other post. I'm extremely sick with a hack cough so I hope this post will make sense. I don't want to come across as uncharitable. But I think the things you are talking about would only happen if the book was stratospherically successful.

I strongly suspect that your average sci fi book, even if published by a top publisher, is not going to make enough of a blip on the radar of the public consciousness, or the press, for churches to start speaking out against it.

Most likely, even if the book was highly controversial in content, and sold decently, the church and media would not know of it's existence, let alone start banning it, or pump up your volume of sales by ranting in the press about it.

I'm thinking maybe you need a reality check? I mean ....yes what you are saying is possible, but it's extremely unlikely.

Also I think people mentioned to you in another thread that trying to form a "market analysis" of your unpublished novel's potential is completely unnecessary for submission to any legitimate agent, publisher or editor.

Possibly you have been reading articles about preparing a query for a non fiction book, and I have noticed that some of these articles online simply say "your book" and then go on to list things that are only relevant to non fiction submissions.
 
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shaldna

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Honestly, I wouldn't sweat too much over it. If people are offended by what your write then they aren't your target audience anyway.
 

gingerwoman

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(And, it seems to me there has been a good deal of "heretical" writing that was very marketable. Not just due to the controversy, but because there was strong interest in the treatment of the subject matter.)
I heard of this heretical series written by a welfare Mum in Britain. It was about a boy wizard with a scar on his head.
I don't think it sold very well, the church put a stop to it.
 
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isitkind

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Trying to approach the original question from a different angle: In many writing endeavors, but more often in ethical or religious writings, there is often a tendency to ask rhetorical questions, leading questions that softball lead into singular or select, preferred answers.

Whether or not there is "an answer" to the question of: Is there demand for this singular thing? Or is there an aversion to this singular thing? My concern is more for: Is the writing varied, diverse, and indirect enough to both raise curiosity in the reader or to keep the reader reading?

If you consider your favorite books, fiction or non-fiction, did most of them focus on one central question? Or did some of your favorite books have many diverse good characteristics while having a few "deal-breaker" parts you really disliked? How much did the "one" aspect affect the whole?

I think most books that garner wide interest tend to also aim at many, diverse sensibilities - this is true of non-fiction, religious, ethical, or fictional works.

For people who grew up in environments with strong moral or religious training, there may be a tendency to want to find the "few, chosen, select, or best" - to be linear, direct, and didactic. And I don't know if readers want that path often. I really don't know.
 
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