Two fun announcements

Stepping Stones Magazine for writers is having a Book Cover contest! If you have a favorite book cover you'd like to nominate, go to the link at the end of this paragraph and get the details. Authors cannot nominate their own covers. Sounds like a fun contest to me! and Stepping Stones is a fabulous online magazine you'll want to check out anyway. Stepping Stones Magazine Cover Contest

And for you Science Fiction - Fantasy Writers (and readers) out there, I'd like to give you a preliminary heads-up to a new Publisher on the scene. Marcher Lord Press. If you're a writer and have had a hard time placing your manuscript with the mainstream publishers or if you're a reader looking for good Christian Speculative fiction, I encourage you to read the following News Release

New Indie Publisher Specializes in Christian Fantasy and SF


Colorado Springs, CO – August 2008 – The creative force behind WhereTheMapEnds. com, one of the Web’s premier sources of interviews and content related to Christian fantasy and science fiction, is pleased to announce the creation of a new independent publishing company, Marcher Lord Press.

Marcher Lord Press immediately becomes the leading indie publisher of Christian speculative fiction.

The Marcher Lord Press Web site (www.marcherlordpress.com) went live on October 1, 2007 , and the company’s first original novels will release on October 1, 2008 .

After more than 13 years working in the Christian publishing industry as a published novelist and professional editor on staff with three Christian publishing companies, Marcher Lord Press founder Jeff Gerke has created his own publishing venture to specialize in the kind of Christian fiction he says is lacking in the current marketplace.

“I’ve always loved Christian speculative fiction,” Gerke says. “Christian fantasy, science fiction, time travel, supernatural thrillers, the works. My own first novels were near-future technothrillers. But I was always frustrated that these novels seemed to get short shrift in the industry. So I decided to do something about it.”

The first lineup of Marcher Lord Press titles includes Hero, Second Class, a comic fantasy in the tradition of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, by first-time novelist Mitchell Bonds; The Personifid Invasion, a futuristic spiritual warfare thriller by R. E. Bartlett; and Summa Elvetica by Theodore Beale, an exploration of what would happen if something very much like the Catholic church existed in a fantasy world and decided to explore whether or not elves have souls.

Going forward, Marcher Lord Press will release six original novels a year in two release cycles: April and October. Marcher Lord Press will then begin augmenting its original releases with the re-release of Christian speculative novels that have gone out of print—all with new covers and bonus content like lost chapters or original short stories by the author.

“I’m shooting for a specific readership,” Gerke says. “I like to call them ‘Christian who love Battlestar Galactica’ or ‘Christians who love Heroes’ or—my favorite—‘Christians who would go to Comic-CON if given the chance.’ I want to give them the kind of fiction that is currently all but absent in today’s publishing climate.”

Indeed, a trip to Comic-CON 2009 in San Diego is the grand prize in the drawing to be held on Launch Day, October 1.

The name of the company comes from the marcher lords of European history. A marcher lord maintained the boundary with an enemy nation, such as the English lords who held the boundaries with Scotland or Wales . Marcher lords guarded against invasion and looked for opportunity to expand the borders of the home country.

Jeff Gerke has been in the Christian publishing industry since 1994. He has written six Christian novels—under the pen name Jefferson Scott (see www.jeffersonscott.com)—and has served on the editorial staffs of three Christian publishing companies: Multnomah Publishers, Strang Communications, and NavPress.

While at Strang, Jeff spearheaded the launch of Realms, the first-ever imprint of speculative fiction in the Christian publishing industry. After leaving Realms, Jeff headed up the fiction line for NavPress. Jeff is now a freelance book doctor, editor, and writer working from his home in Colorado Springs .

Jeff operates www.WhereTheMapEnds .com, one of the premier Web sites for content, interviews, craftsmanship, and inside information about the Christian publishing industry and Christian speculative fiction in particular. He also operates The Anomaly (http://wherethemape nds.proboards58. com/index. cgi), a forums site for original Christian speculative fiction.

Jeff and Marcher Lord Press may be reached at 719/266-8874 or through the contact information found at http://www.marcherl ordpress. com/ContactMLP.htm.