Until now, Lake Drive has focused on helping readers rebuild after religious trauma through memoir and prescriptive nonfiction.
“Books that help you heal, grow, and discover” come in many forms, and it takes imagination to work through big questions about our religious pasts and search for what is good and sacred in the present and future. We want to widen the scope of how we pursue that mission.
That’s why Lake Drive Books is starting a fiction division!
High-control religions frequently discourage fiction reading, often because fiction allows people to imagine worlds and ways of living that aren’t restricted to a single “correct” path. For those trying to find their way in the world after leaving evangelicalism, fiction can inspire a sense of possibility. (And, of course, it’s fun, too.)
As a group, Exvangelicals outnumber the entire Southern Baptist Convention, and our interests are vast and varied. But as different as we are as individuals, we’re united by a desire to explore a different world than the one that was presented to us as our only option. Just because we’re not a church doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to connect around finding meaning in our world, and telling stories is a powerful way to do that.
Specifically, we’re looking for commercial fiction—scifi, fantasy, romance, thriller, horror, literary—that appeals to readers who have emerged from evangelicalism and are redefining what an authentic and enchanted life looks like for them.
We want books from authors of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, genders and sexualities; ones who have left religion behind entirely and those who still maintain forms of faith and spirituality. As long as you’re communicative, persistent, and dedicated to growing your audience, you’re the type of author we want to work with.
We’re looking for strong genre fiction or literary fiction with a commercial bent. Think thrillers like Yesteryear, horror like Camp Damascus, and literary fiction like Transcendent Kingdom. We want romance books about people finding love after a lifetime of religious isolation like Something Wild & Wonderful and speculative fiction and sci-fi about ways that faith can be liberatory rather than oppressive like those found in the works of Octavia Butler.
How Lake Drive supports fiction authors:
- Strategic genre positioning and category alignment
- Cover design and branding optimized for genre readers
- Amazon and retail optimization
- Cross-promotion among Lake Drive fiction authors and direct promotion through Lake Drive Books channels
- Launch strategy and release cadence planning
- Lower fees for fiction authors planning multiple books
If you know anyone with a manuscript that resonates with this mission (or if you have one yourself), head to our Publishing page to learn more and submit your proposal. We’d love to see what you’ve got.
David Morris, Publisher
