Post by Jeff Gerke on Jul 6, 2007 9:52:47 GMT -5
As you may know (or can discover by clicking here: www.wherethemapends.com/marcherlord/marcherlord.htm), I have a dream of launching a small publishing company that will specialize in producing Christian speculative novels.
The idea would be to fill the gap that currently exists between the readers who want this kind of fiction and the authors who write it. The CBA publishing industry has been acting as more of a barrier than a bridge-builder in this area, and Marcher Lord Press (MLP) would seek to span the gap.
By keeping costs low and overhead nonexistent, my publishing model should be successful on a very low number of units sold per title. Whereas CBA publishers have to sell upwards of 8,000 units to break even on any given fiction title, MLP would break even on fewer than 300.
It would be an Internet-only model, though, and would not employ any sales force or try to gain placement in any bookstores. It would be short print runs and print-on-demand only. While authors would receive no advance, they wouldn't have to PAY (this wouldn't be a vanity press) and they would receive a much larger share of the profits after I recoup expenses.
I've got the numbers all worked out and the business plan written. I even have one or two novelists ready to sign on the dotted line. I've got enthusiasm and the feeling that the time may be right for this kind of "third way" of publishing (the first two ways being secular publishing and traditional Christian publishing).
What I don't have is the assurance from God that this is something I should be doing. And that's why I need your prayers.
I'm praying for a definite YES or a definite NO from Him, because this murkiness in the middle isn't very helpful. Does a non-answer mean no, yes, or that it's fine with Him either way?
Then there are the psychological issues. Would I be creating MLP to fill the gap and provide the very kind of publisher that would need to exist to publish the fiction I want to write? Or would I be doing it to have a massive excuse not to be writing my own fiction? Ah, the mind of man.
MLP, incidentally, would seek to not only connect those who read Christian speculative fiction with those who write it. It would also be to see what Christian speculative fiction could and should be when it is allowed to operate independent of the restrictions currently placed on fiction by the Christian publishing and bookselling industry.
Not that we want to push the boundaries just to see what we can get away with. But if I want to publish the first Christian vampire novel, I could do it! If I wanted (like we've discussed in another thread here) to have more mature content than CBA publishers would allow, I could. Again, I don't mean putting in junk just to titillate. But just having a freedom of the press broader than what is allowed in the CBA publishing industry.
So...I would value your prayers for clear guidance regarding Marcher Lord Press. If the answer from God is yes, then I would ask for the financial means to appear and wisdom for what books to acquire, etc. And if the answer from God is no, then I would ask for knowledge of what to do instead. Especially for help in writing this book that doesn't seem to want to be born.
Thank you, friends.
Jeff
The idea would be to fill the gap that currently exists between the readers who want this kind of fiction and the authors who write it. The CBA publishing industry has been acting as more of a barrier than a bridge-builder in this area, and Marcher Lord Press (MLP) would seek to span the gap.
By keeping costs low and overhead nonexistent, my publishing model should be successful on a very low number of units sold per title. Whereas CBA publishers have to sell upwards of 8,000 units to break even on any given fiction title, MLP would break even on fewer than 300.
It would be an Internet-only model, though, and would not employ any sales force or try to gain placement in any bookstores. It would be short print runs and print-on-demand only. While authors would receive no advance, they wouldn't have to PAY (this wouldn't be a vanity press) and they would receive a much larger share of the profits after I recoup expenses.
I've got the numbers all worked out and the business plan written. I even have one or two novelists ready to sign on the dotted line. I've got enthusiasm and the feeling that the time may be right for this kind of "third way" of publishing (the first two ways being secular publishing and traditional Christian publishing).
What I don't have is the assurance from God that this is something I should be doing. And that's why I need your prayers.
I'm praying for a definite YES or a definite NO from Him, because this murkiness in the middle isn't very helpful. Does a non-answer mean no, yes, or that it's fine with Him either way?
Then there are the psychological issues. Would I be creating MLP to fill the gap and provide the very kind of publisher that would need to exist to publish the fiction I want to write? Or would I be doing it to have a massive excuse not to be writing my own fiction? Ah, the mind of man.
MLP, incidentally, would seek to not only connect those who read Christian speculative fiction with those who write it. It would also be to see what Christian speculative fiction could and should be when it is allowed to operate independent of the restrictions currently placed on fiction by the Christian publishing and bookselling industry.
Not that we want to push the boundaries just to see what we can get away with. But if I want to publish the first Christian vampire novel, I could do it! If I wanted (like we've discussed in another thread here) to have more mature content than CBA publishers would allow, I could. Again, I don't mean putting in junk just to titillate. But just having a freedom of the press broader than what is allowed in the CBA publishing industry.
So...I would value your prayers for clear guidance regarding Marcher Lord Press. If the answer from God is yes, then I would ask for the financial means to appear and wisdom for what books to acquire, etc. And if the answer from God is no, then I would ask for knowledge of what to do instead. Especially for help in writing this book that doesn't seem to want to be born.
Thank you, friends.
Jeff