So, um, that story last week about reports Nelson was working the Nicene Creed into its contracts? Not so much. CEO Mike Hyatt sets the record straight on his company blog, explaining that the editorial standards are not limited to simply the Nicene Creed (or Philippians 4:8), and that they aren’t written into the contracts Nelson offers writers. But, yes, the house is reaffirming those values as part of what you or I might call a “back to basics” move after several publishing decisions that were retrospectively seen as out of step with the core mission. “Like other Christian publishers, we want all of our books to be written from the perspective of a Christian worldview,” Hyatt writes. Within that, there’s room for books that promote that view overtly, or books that embody it more subtly, and “no topic is off limits, provided it is written from a Christian worldview, written well, and has commercial value.”
“We want to align ourselves with people who share our vision, our mission, and our values,” Hyatt adds, and “a personal faith in Jesus Christ” and “embrac[ing] the central truths of historic Christianity” are viewed as good markers of that, along with “seek[ing] to live according to the standards of biblical morality.” And, again, the point of all this is simple: “We want people to have confidence that our books will be written from a Christian worldview, by people who profess to be Christians and are striving to walk the talk, regardless of the subject matter they may be addressing.”
Freed of the cumbersome burden of contractual obligation, a regrettable error in reporting which I compounded from the original PW article, this is of course nothing more than a straightforward mission statement: Of course a Christian publisher is going to publish Christian books by Christian writers. Some readers will respect that, some will find it exclusionary, and some may never consciously notice the difference, especially if they don’t hear about the shift in policy. The ultimate proof of the standards’ effectiveness will come from the future Nelson frontlist; you might even say the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God.