Marcher Lord Press and American Idol?

Marcher Lord Press, the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction, today announces the debut of a revolution in fiction acquisitions.

"Marcher Lord Select is American Idol meets book acquisitions," says publisher Jeff Gerke. "We're presenting upwards of 40 completed manuscripts and letting 'the people' decide which one should be published."

The contest will proceed in phases, Gerke explains, in each subsequent round of which the voters will receive larger glimpses of the competing manuscripts.

The first phase will consist of no more than the book's title, genre, length, a 20-word premise, and a 100-word back cover copy teaser blurb. Voters will cut the entries from 40 to 20 based on these items alone.

"We want to show authors that getting published involves more than simply writing a great novel," Gerke says. "There are marketing skills to be developed--and you've got to hook the reader with a good premise."

Following rounds will provide voters with a 1-page synopsis, the first 500 words of the book, the first 30 pages of the book, and, in the final round, the first 60 pages of the book.

The manuscript receiving the most votes in the final round will be published by Marcher Lord Press in its Spring 2010 release list.

No portion of any contestant's mss. will be posted online, as MLP works to preserve the non-publication status of all contestants and entries.

Participating entrants have been contacted personally by Marcher Lord Press and are included in Marcher Lord Select by invitation only.

"We're also running a secondary contest," Gerke says. "The 'premise contest' is for those authors who have completed a Christian speculative fiction manuscript that fits within MLP guidelines and who have submitted their proposals to me through the Marcher Lord Press acquisitions portal before October 29, 2009."

The premise contest will allow voters to select the books that sound the best based on a 20-word premise, a 100-word back cover copy teaser blurb, and (possibly) the first 500 words of the book.

The premise contest entrants receiving the top three vote totals will receive priority acquisitions reading by MLP publisher Jeff Gerke.

"It's a way for virtually everyone to play, even those folks who didn't receive an invitation to compete in the primary Marcher Lord Select contest."

The premise contest is open to anyone with a completed Christian speculative fiction manuscript that meets MLP guidelines for length, content, genre, worldview, audience, etc. To enter, authors must complete the acquisitions form found at the Marcher Lord Press site and supply all the components listed below on or before October 29, 2009.

Marcher Lord Select officially begins on November 1, 2009, and runs until completion in January or February 2010. All voting and discussions and Marcher Lord Select activities will take place at The Anomaly forums in the Marcher Lord Select subforum. Free registration is required.

"In order for this to work as we're envisioning," Gerke says, "we need lots and lots of voters. So even if you're not a fan of Christian science fiction or fantasy, I'm sure you love letting your voice be heard about what constitutes good Christian fiction. So come on out and join the fun!"

Marcher Lord Press is a Colorado Springs-based independent publisher producing Christian speculative fiction exclusively. MLP was launched in fall of 2008 and is privately owned. Contact: Jeff Gerke; www.marcherlordpress.com.

Marcher Lord Press 3rd Release List Going Sci-fi!

This just in from Jeff Gerke, publisher at Marcher Lord Press:

Marcher Lord Press has been kidnapped. Alas, it's true. Strange beings from outer space have apprehended MLP leadership while the authorities slept.

The fiends knew exactly how to hurt us. First, they disabled our defenses. Knocked the silly cat right out. Then they overhwelmed our proximity alarms with vastly advanced weaponry that MLP scientists are only now beginning to study. Finally, they attacked MLP leadership in the first wave. Without command instructions from the top, the loyal MLP defenders were paralyzed. It was classic shock and awe.

The morning after the attack dawned on a Marcher Lord Press materially different from what had been. Witnesses emerged from the rubble of their homes to behold three otherworldly vehicles cooling on the landscape.

The first was a futuristic-looking craft that appeared to be constructed half of terrestrial composites and half of strange metallic alloys. From this vehicle popped a superhuman warrior who told a tale of cyborgs, massacres, and autonomous battle tanks. In his world, a miracle anti-aging elixer has been developed--but something terrible has gone wrong, and the powers that be will do anything to keep the populace from finding out.

This cybernetically augmented human told us that his name was Kirk Outerbridge and that his ship was called The Miracle Cure. Though apparently ship names in his galaxy are subject to change.

No sooner had Outerbridge concluded his tale than a bald cyberpunk exited the second vehicle and began to speak. This vessel was even more advanced than the first. It was seemingly capable of deep-space--perhaps even interstellar--flight. The bald man spun a yarn of a future Earth in which Islam has conquered all, and privately owned debuggers, like him, must do the work that keeps this Imam-ordered civilization running smoothly.

Unfortunately, one of the bots has malfunctioned. On this ship's maiden voyage to a star curiously singing (which is, he said, also the name of his vessel), something happened to the main servbot on the crew. It seemed to go crazy and tear itself apart limb from limb. Our man has been called in to find out what happend. The debugger, who calls himself Kerry Nietz, says his tale is something akin to I, Robot meets Muhammed--in space.

The third vessel is the most advanced of the three. It sits confidentaly atop monstrous landing struts, towering over the battlefield. A young man leaps from an open portal and lands on the ruined street. He carries an odd white box at his hip. His ship is capable of many leaps between stars and has seen galaxies the other two could not begin to guess at.

In his world, the Act of Religious Tolerance has outlawed all but the state religion, and the holy books from all belief systems are banned. The galaxy is held in uneasy alliance and all the colonized worlds are at peace--or so goes the official story. The truth is that the secret military is about to stage a coup, a powerful warrior family is about to be shredded, and the forbidden item in the young man's white box can tear the empire apart. Or save it.

Our youth offers his name, Steve Rzasa, and utters an enigmatic whisper: The Word Reclaimed.

Whether or not these three vessels of war and their mysterious captains mean us further harm is yet to be determined. Possibly they pose no further danger and the destruction they wrought was merely the result of their interdimensional rifting into our dimension. Perhaps their stories are something we must and shall hear.

All we can say with any assurance is that the future--that future beginning October 2009--has been claimed by men from the future and their tales of wonder, woe, and awe.

Read our interview with Jeff.

Marcher Lord Press Readying for 2nd Release List

Marcher Lord Press, the premier Christian publisher of speculative fiction is readying for the release of its second set of novels this April.

Says Jeff Gerke about the novels:

"Like the first novels, these three books represent the very best in Christian speculative fiction. Each has been hand-picked, lovingly edited, and beautifully presented by a team of artists, editors, and technical specialists. The first time around we had two previously published novelists in the lineup and one newbie. This time it's all newbies! At Marcher Lord Press we love finding new and incredible voices like these to bring to readers as appreciative as you. You're going to love these novels by these fresh voices."

The next batch of novels will be:

Starfire by Stuart Vaughn Stockton

Starfire is a non-Earth, non-human science fiction about Rathe, a member of a race of talking, machine-using dinosaur people. (No, really.)

Rathe is trying to make his mark in his military unit while concealing the secret of his quick advancement through the ranks.

The empire he serves is at war with an enemy that is on the brink of discovering the secret of a lost civilization—a civilization whose Starfire weapons system will assure victory to whichever side seizes it first.

A mysterious follower of an all but forgotten God warns Rathe not to use the weapon as he has planned to.

Starfire is one of those books we created Marcher Lord Press to publish. Because of Stuart’s genre and subject matter, the book is all but unpublishable at traditional Christian houses. There's not a humanoid in the bunch, after all.

But it’s terrific and needs to be published. If the regular houses can’t publish books like this, we thought, let’s create a house that can. Oh, wait, that’s what we’ve done! :D

Read excerpt of Starfire here.
Read interview with Stuart here.


By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson

Achan is a stray, mere property ranked lower even than a slave. His entire life he has lived as the abused ward of Poril, who is cook to Lord Narthak. Every morning Poril forces Achan to drink a foul elixer. It is supposedly for his health, but it's never prevented any illness that Achan can see.

Sometimes Achan has feelings about things before they happen. Sometimes he senses when someone will ill intent are on their way to abuse him.

One day, Achan has a new feeling. Someone is approaching who wishes him only well. It turns out to be Sir Gavin, famed hero of the Old Kingsguard. For some reason, Gavin takes an interest in Achan and even offers to train him in the ways of knighthood.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, a teenage girl dons mens' clothing to conceal her identity. Her mother is under pressure to marry her daughter, Averella (now going as Vrell), to an evil lord. Vrell uses the mental communication ability she and her mother share to vanish into the world of men.

Forces of darkness have become aware of both Vrell and Achan and are seeking to seize their powers. Because while one knows her gift and hides it, the other's true gift, and identiy, is known only to a few who seek to use it to overthrow the world.

Read excerpt of By Darkness Hid here.
Read interview with Jill here.


The Dark Man by Marc Schooley

The Dark Man was the first novel acquired for the second release list of Marcher Lord Press. The story was so bizarre, so beautiful, and so well written that we said, "We have to publish this."

Charles Graves is a master of disguise working with the secret police to bring down the last remnants of 21st century Christianity.

Possessed of remarkable powers of disguise--and haunted by a mysterious talking wooden puzzle--Charles is the government's most potent weapon against these undesireables.

Charles effortlessly becomes other people, slipping into character like others step through a doorway. But what remains of Charles's own character is being pulled under by his accursed past. When he is not working a job, he is lost to alcohol and despair.

And then comes one more assignment. Take down the ringleader of the Christian cult holding forth from some secret quarter of militarized Houston.

He doesn't know it, but God has plans for Charles. Along the way he'll discover the truth about his past, the extent of his depravity, and the strength to look inside.

Perhaps through love and firepower and a change of leadership, Charles can cease to be a man of darkness.

Read excerpt of The Dark Man here.
Read interview with Marc here.

Marcher Lord Press launches October 1st!

It's almost time for the launch of Jeff Gerke's Marcher Lord Press, fast becoming the premier Christian speculative fiction publisher.

Be sure to visit the site now so you can enter to win some cool prizes -- deadline is October 1st.

And you also might want to read our interview with Jeff to find out all that's gone into this press, their launch list novels, and much more!

Marcher Lord Press Preview #1: Hero, Second Class

Jeff Gerke has unveiled the first book in his three-book launch list over at Marcher Lord Press. It's called Hero, Second Class and is written by a 20-year-old author named Mitchell Bonds.

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Summary of novel:

Hero, Second Class is a delightful roast of all the fantasy fiction elements we hold dear. It is said that only someone who loves something can truly lampoon it. So it is in this case. Bonds' novel is a riot.

Quest with Cyrus, our your protagonist who aspires to be a Hero. But Heroes have a guild, you see, and lots of rules. One has to pay one's dues, apprentice to a Hero in good standing, and comport oneself as befits a member of the Heroes Guild.

Cyrus is fortunate to be serving his apprenticeship during a True Crisis, during which an Arch Villain is on the loose. An ambitious hero-in-training could make quite a name for himself during such times.

Cyrus's progress toward achieving his next level in the Heroes Guild is complicated by a wise-cracking dragon, a self-narrating knight, a droll zombie, and an attractive young woman who also happens to kind of be a cat.

On top of it all, Cyrus is discovering he has strange, non-standard-issue magical powers that definitely don't fit into his plans. And the Arch Villain (along with sundry Villains Guild members) has suddenly taken an intense personal interest in our plucky young protagonist.

If Cyrus isn't careful, he's not going to live long enough to become a Hero of any class.
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Read an interview with Mitchell here.
Read a sample chapter from Hero, Second Class here.

Marcher Lord Press Grand Prize Announced!

Here's what founder & publisher Jeff Gerke announced:

The grand prize, to be given away in the massive drawing on launch day, October 1, 2008, is...[drum roll]...a trip for two to the 2009 ComicCON convention in San Diego.

If you know what ComicCON is, you're no doubt rejoicing right now. It's a speculative geek's (er, fan's) dream come true. Movie stars, famous illustrators, big-time directors, comics, Star Wars, collectibles, and lots of loonies in costume. Ah...heaven.

I went to the 2007 ComicCON and knew right away it would make an incredible grand prize for anyone who loves speculative fiction and movies. Like you!

If you don't know what ComicCON is, well...you're in for a treat. Check www.marcherlordpress.com for more about why this is such an awesome prize for someone like you and me.

The prize includes airfare, hotel, convention passes, and more.

Also check the site for information about the dozens of secondary prizes that have already come in. It's going to be cool even to win 30th prize.

But oh, that grand prize.

Remember, you can increase your chances of winning by telling everyone you know to get over to the site and register and mention your name as referrer. Every time you are named as referrer, your name goes into the prize pool an additional time. If you want to increase your chances of going to the SF/fantasy lover's sunny paradise, get out there and spread the word.

Also be sure to check out the new page covering the bonus books you'll be able to receive for free when you purchase one or more Marcher Lord Press novels on launch day.

All in all, there are some incredible reasons to mark your calendar for October 1 and get ready for a crazy good launch.

What's Robin Parrish writing after the Dominion Trilogy?

Well, first of all, let us remind you that Book #3 in Robin's Dominion Trilogy, Merciless, comes out this July from Bethany House. We're looking forward to discovering how the story ends!

But after that? Robin recently shared in an interview with our friends at Where The Map Ends what his next projects will be. Says Robin:

"Next up I'll be doing a standalone science fiction novel about the first manned mission to Mars, and what happens when the crew from that mission returns home to find...well, something no one ever imagined possible. It'll be another blend of genres with lots of suspense and mystery and action.

After that, I'm planning a supernatural thriller with one of the most original story hooks I've ever come up with. I'm obsessed with this idea and can't wait to write the story."

Read our review of Robin's first novel Relentless here.

Marcher Lord Press news

Jeff Gerke has recently announced the three novels he hopes to launch his fantasy/SF/speculative publishing house Marcher Lord Press. Negotiations are still underway with the authors, but here's a rundown on what we can look forward to soon in Jeff's words:

• The first novel is an "intellectual fantasy" by seasoned novelist Theodore Beale. Theo has written a trilogy of spiritual warfare novels for Pocket Books--a secular publisher. His novel for Marcher Lord Press, Summa Elvetica, is an exploration of a wonderful speculative premise: what if something oddly similar to the medieval Catholic church existed in a fantasy world and they had to decide whether or not elves (and orcs and more) have souls? Like I said, intellectual fantasy.

• The second novel I'll be launching with is by R. E. Bartlett, the New Zealander behind the awesome Christian SF The Personifid Project. For Marcher Lord Press she'll be writing the standalone sequel, The Personifid Invasion. In the first one, we entered a far-future world in which humans can trade out their old bodies for artificial ones--personifids--and thus live forever. In this one, science finally finds verifiable proof of spiritual entities--and the entities find that personifid bodies will house them quite well, too. It's intense SF action with quirky characters and a strong undercurrent of thoughtful spirituality.

• The third novel that will launch the publishing company is one I found through the acquisitions portal at www.marcherlordpress.com. It's a fantasy, but that's about all it has in common with Summa Elvetica. This one is called Hero, Second Class, and it's by newcomer Mitchell Bonds. Mitch is a young man (he's stinkin' 19, for crying out loud) who has more voice and craftsmanship than he has any right to at his (or any) age. His story is a lampoon of fantasy stories. Think Spaceballs meets Lord of the Rings. Get ready to have your most beloved fantasy conventions skewered. Quest forth with Cyrus, our young hero, as he encounters the world of professional Heroes and Villains (complete with their own rule-setting governing bodies, of course), and strives to complete his first Quest and earn the title of Hero, Second Class. Along the way you'll meet kindhearted golems, droll zombies, and a fearsome mercenary band who dares utter trigger words such as "inerrant," "witch," and "retarded." Oh, and you'll meet Cyrus's true love, who also happens to be kind of a cat.
  

About Marcher Lord Press:

Marcher Lord Press is the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction.

Whether it's fantasy you love, or science fiction, time travel, chillers, supernatural thrillers, alternate history, spiritual warfare, superhero, vampire, or technothriller—if it's speculative and it comes from the Christian worldview, Marcher Lord Press is your publisher.

Marcher Lord Press is a small, independent press that bypasses the traditional Christian publishing industry to get Christian speculative fiction directly into the hands of the fans who devour it.

For more information, visit the Marcher Lord Press website here.