Inspirational romance! That's what the world--the romance reading world anyway--is coming to! The readership is increasing, the market is growing, and business is booming.

But don't rush home and brush off your rejected general market novel and expect it to work. The inspirational romance, more than any other sub genre, must be the book of your heart. Christian novels, most of which are distributed through the Christian Booksellers Association(CBA) instead of the ABA, are not regular romance with a few prayers thrown in. As Tyndale Publishers likes to say, "these novels require three threads, carefully interwoven--plot, romance, and the spiritual journey." The faith arc must be an integral part of the story just as the plot and romance are.

As with the general market, strict adherence to guidelines and reading an individual publisher's books is essential to understanding that company's unique slant in style, tone, and subject matter. The Christian market knows the expectations of its primarily conservative readership and responds to that. For this reason, guidelines at a CBA house involve some things that may not be found in the ABA. For instance, some Christian houses, such as Tyndale, require a statement of faith from their published authors.

Some no-nos for most Christian novels include:

In the past year several publishers of inspirational romance have increased their numbers or opened new lines. Harlequin's Steeple Hill imprint, Love Inspired has seen continued growth since its debut only a few years ago. Steeple Hill is now acquiring for a new mainstream inspirational romance line and has increased the Love Inspired books from two to three per month. Tyndale once only considered established authors, except for their novellas. Now they are open to submissions from all. Though Barbour has closed novella submissions except to its established authors, they are always open to writers for the Heartsong line, a category type romance that is marketed through a mail order book club. This year Barbour is looking at more mainstream women's fiction and even cozy mysteries with a romance thread. Other Christian houses that buy some romance include Multnomah, Revel, Harvest House, and Zondervan to name a few. At this time these houses, for the most part, continue to be open only to agented or established authors.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about the CBA is the broad expanse of sub-genre offered. Everything from novellas and category to mainstream women's fiction is now available in the Christian market. Romantic suspense, family sagas, historicals, romantic comedy all have a home in the CBA. And in the Christian market there is no prejudice against certain types of occupations, and a beta hero is just as welcome as an alpha. An artist, a musician, an athlete, or a mailman all have just as much appeal to the Christian reader as a cop or a billionare.

When it comes to the Christian Romance market, the sky--or perhaps I should say the Heavens--is the limit.