I read to learn, to have my imagination stimulated, to have flights of fancy in adventures I will probably never experience, and to watch my favorite characters triumph.
If I want a Bible study, I'll sign up for one.
The authors of this scribbling even admit that entertaining and challenging the reader is completely secondary to them, after the preaching. What an insult to a reader.
I read them to see what their writing style was like to try and determine if that was a source for their success...to see if I agreed with their interpretation because I am a Christian who has an interest in what people think about the 2nd coming...and to study their success while I was writing my own series.
I determined that their story, while perhaps not a literary masterpiece by any stretch of the imaginiation, fed a desire by Christians in general, and evangelical Christians specifically, regarding fictional novels/tales/renderings of the tribulation and second coming. When those groups became fully engaged in the tale...it was a big enough audience to cause it to spread to other segnebts and for the larger publishing and retail outlets to want to get in on a piece of the action IMHO.
The way it spread is a good case study for people wanting to self-publish their own works with what may otherwise be considered non-politically correct material by the major publishing houses.
Anyhow...as with Travis...it let me know that you surely don't have to be a Dickenson or genius author to be successful. That gives me hope for the ultimate greater success of my novel series and building on its moderate success to date.