Barbour Books Author Guidelines

In light of what some Christian publishers are allowing in their books, I thought I'd post these guidelines that Barbour Books has set forth. I am not saying I agree with everything, and maybe they do go too far, but is it not better to err on the side of caution? Is it not better to be too careful about offending people, than to not care?


THINGS TO AVOID: Avoid the truly controversial. Although conflict is important for any storyline, certain matters should be avoided at all costs.

LANGUAGE—Stay away from any language that could be considered foul. Avoid euphemistic words and phrases like heck, darn, golly, gosh, good heavens, good grief, for Pete’s or heaven’s sake, and so on. To many of our readers these words are substitutes for curses, and in their minds as bad, or worse.

DIVORCE—We don’t want to see our heroes or heroines divorced, no matter what the circumstances. Divorce can be acceptable for secondary and non-Christian characters if handled with care.

DOCTRINE—Avoid denominations and their doctrinal issues. We will not list all these (there are too many). Keep in mind that we are appealing to a broad range of Christian evangelical readers. For example, church-sponsored activities should be proper. In a Heartsong Presents title, activities like dancing (including square dancing) and betting (including bingo) should not take place on church property or with the support of respected church leaders. See also the “Sticky Topics” area.

LIFESTYLES AND ACTIVITIES—The following activities are unacceptable for heroes and heroines in Heartsong Presents. However, for non-Christian characters, these conflicts can be explored, so long as the consequences for such actions are given in a realistic manner:



Alcohol/Drug/Tobacco Use

Dancing—this is generally acceptable in Historicals, but should be appropriate to the time period. Dancing in Contemporary novels is generally unacceptable and will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Immodest Dress—characters should never appear outside their bedrooms in nightgowns. They should never appear in underwear or other private garments. Scenes within a private room, like a bedroom or bathroom, should be handled with care, keeping our guidelines in mind.

PASSION—Physical tension between characters should not be overdone. Do not be overly descriptive when describing how characters feel in a particular romantic moment, for example, kissing, embracing, and so on. It has been our belief from day one that we can tell a great love story without going into excessive physical detail. People can easily imagine the desires and tensions between a couple who are blossoming into love. Kisses are fine (no tongues or heights of arousal, please). There will be no sex between the hero and heroine in a Heartsong Presents romance, and any details of the hero and/or heroine’s past sexual experience should be handled very delicately.

Telling a story about a married couple doesn’t give the author license to tell too many details of their intimacy. An author can easily leave these details to the reader’s imagination with a simple whisper, glance, blush, or closed door. Sometimes what is alluded to is more romantic than details.

Avid readers of inspirational romance believe that true passion goes beyond the basic desire for sexual pleasure and touches a person in the depths of the soul. When the triangle (man, woman, and God) is complete, there can be true satisfaction and lasting love in a relationship.

STICKY TOPICS

CONTROVERSIAL ITEMS TO STEER CLEAR OF:
1. Spirit baptism
2. Water baptism (meaning of)
3. Time of Spirit baptism (at conversion vs. second experience of grace)
4. Time of water baptism (children or adults)
5. Gifts of the Spirit (e.g., are tongues still around?)
6. End times (setting dates and other specifics)
7. Lord’s Supper (ordinance vs. sacrament)
8. Women’s ordination
9. Christian perfection
10. Transferring qualities of Jesus—or passages in the Bible that refer to Jesus—to heroes in books. This also applies to Mary, Jesus’ earthly mother.