In the latest in our series on so-called niche markets, we speak to Christian ‘chick lit’ author Penny Culliford. Penny first came to fame with the Theodora diaries, which were described by one critic as ‘Bridget Jones Goes to Church’. After concluding the third in the series, Penny turned her hand to a reporter sleuth mystery, The Art of Standing Still, (Zondervan, 2007) about a community that revives a series of mediaeval mystery plays. She also writes poetry, plays and articles for magazines. Continue reading ‘Niche markets: Christian ‘chick lit’’
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Sometimes literature is defined by its content and other times simply by its target readership. There is ‘black’ literature, ‘feminist’ literature, ‘Christian’ literature and ‘gay’ literature; and somewhere I’m sure there’ll be black, feminist, Christian gay lit too! It may be argued that these are simply marketing niches rather than literary categories or that they are sub-genre of broader literary categories. For example, is gay literature just romance with homosexual characters? Is a Christian historical any different from an ordinary historical? Is there a more overt ‘message’ when a niche readership is catered for?
The Crafty Writer interviewed gay novelist and short story writer Jay Mandal in the hope of shedding some light on the debate. Continue reading ‘Gay literature: separate genre or marketing niche?’
Alex Gazzola is an author and journalist specialising in food, nutrition and health, with a particular focus on food intolerance, food allergy, digestion and digestive orders. Continue reading ‘A health writer coughs up’
Welcome to The Crafty Writer, published by Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance journalist, author, playwright and writing teacher. This site is full of information and resources to help you on your journey to become a better writer. 
