Four years ago, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and the racial reckoning that followed, Christian publishers began an effort to publish more Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC) authors. And in a PW story in 2021, BIPOC literary agents said they’d “seen significant increases in interest—and deals—with Christian publishers.” Now, with the passage of time, agents are moderating their optimism.
“I saw an openness three or four years ago, but in the last few years, that openness has begun to close,” said Adrienne Ingrum, senior agent at Serendipity Literary.
“The decision to actually publish BIPOC authors has tempered," said Barb Roose, agent with Books & Such Literary Management. "There was a fervor in 2020 [from publishers] to put out as much as we can, do everything we can, find the voices, take the risks. It doesn’t feel like that attitude is there anymore. It’s still positive, it’s just a little less passionate.”
Jevon Bolden of Embolden Media Group said that deals are still happening, but that publishers now are declining books by BIPOC authors about the intersection of faith and culture because of similar books in the market. “I find that disappointing," Bolden said. "People of color have a much wider [set of] experiences and advice to offer.”
Bolden also points to a distinction between white and BIPOC readers. “People feel certain things aren’t for them, but audiences of color are less likely to think that way. We’ve been reading white authors for generations, but some White people won’t read books [by BIPOC authors] because it’s not for them.”
Chris Park, an agent with DeFiore & Company, agrees. “BIPOCs have used what is available out there and made it work for them as best as possible, but the fact remains: most of the prescriptive books in the Christian market are written by and for White Christians. We need to acknowledge that there are issues that work differently for BIPOCs and are wholly unique to them.”
But Ingrum adds that the tempering of BIPOC acquisitions may not be entirely negative. "I felt some BIPOC authors were being published by White editors and publishers who did not have good discernment. They just wanted BIPOC authors," she said. There were authors who didn’t reflect their culture or who had little to contribute to the conversations published alongside BIPOC authors who did and that led to the dilution of marketing budgets and funds were spent on books that didn’t sell well, she added.
“The lack of success by some BIPOC authors has led to the retrenchment now,” Ingrum said. “We’re not seeing specific houses closing their doors to BIPOC authors or even areas of the country closing to them, but we are experiencing a much higher bar for acquisitions, a much narrower selection.”
What the market needs now, the agents said, is refinement. While Bolden says progressive publishers are “putting efforts into reaching broader and more diverse audiences,” she adds, “I’ve been saying that audiences of color and authors want to be in touch with communities in high-touch ways. We like to see and hear and touch; there is something special about in-person events. Email blasts and ads don’t always trickle down to those audiences.”
Ingram agrees, and says change is needed, including more in-person events and author tours, and more creativity in money spent supporting authors of color. “Christian publishers still seem pretty clueless about what they need to do to reach that bankable market via marketing and sales,” said Ingrum. “When Christian publishers get this right, everybody will make bank.”
Wants and Needs
Agents see an array of needs when it comes to publishing BIPOC authors. Park, who also addresses the needs of Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) readers, says that these readers need practical nonfiction in categories such as parenting, marriage, relationships, biblical manhood and womanhood, ministry and evangelism, books for new Christians, mental and emotional health, and more. “Really, almost anything that falls under Christian Living," Park explains. "For BIPOC/AAPI Christians, all of these topics require tools that aren’t in today’s books.”
Ingrum, meanwhile, looks at the Christian publishing hierarchy. “I’d change the top-down decision making that allows non-BIPOCS—even when well-meaning—the final say in the publishing process for BIPOC authors. Replace it with more collaboration with people of color, inviting more of us into the rooms where decisions are made, and respect what we say even when it doesn’t resonate with the White experience or the White way.”
Roose would like to see more BIPOC fiction. “BIPOC novelists can have conversations that Christians need around how we need and learn from each other. If a Christian doesn’t have a lot of diversity in their lives, a novel can help them learn about people different than them," Roose explains, "plus what it looks like to be the light and love of Jesus in ways they aren’t comfortable with.”
She points to BIPOC novelists such as Jenny Erlingsson, Toni Shiloh, and Robin Pearson, plus Nicole Doyley’s nonfiction What About the Children: 5 Values for Multiracial Families releasing in February 2025 with Westminster John Knox Press.
Upcoming books Bolden recommends include: John Onwuchekwa’s Grief is a Language: Finding the Right Words When There Are None (Zondervan Reflective, fall 2026); Claude Atcho’s Word and Time (WaterBrook Multnomah, fall 2025); Kristin T. Lee’s We Mend with Gold: An Asian American Spiritual Manifesto (Broadleaf, spring 2026).
Park highlights Jason Wilson, who writes to men on topics related to emotional health. “His message has a particular resonance for BIPOC readers who have not seen themselves in other books about masculinity,” she said. The Man the Moment Demands: Master the 10 Characteristics of the Comprehensive Man releases in January 2025 with Thomas Nelson.
Bolden would like to see “a brave imprint or publisher rise up that focuses on stories of people of color, with a staff that knows the market and puts money toward it—a full-out initiative. Visionaries together in one space would be great, with fiction, kid’s books, devotionals, Bibles.”
Yet Bolden also sees forward movement. “I feel like there are those who are trying and working hard. I had dinner with a publisher who said ‘We are not giving up, no matter what. Whether popular or not, we’re not giving up,’” she said. “There is a great future ahead. We’re going to keep pushing. What’s felt good is the boldness of publishing professionals of color. We’re pushing, pushing, pushing.”
