Small Press Feature Day: Marcher Lord Press

As part of our mission to promote authors and Christian publishing, this Manuscript Monday, we're continuing our series on Small Christian Presses. Today: Marcher Lord Press.

Jeff Gerke graciously agreed to share the following information. Thanks, Jeff!

Marcher Lord Press (www.marcherlordpress.com) is a small indie publishing company dedicated to publishing the finest in Christian speculative fiction. Christian speculative fiction is an umbrella term that includes science fiction, fantasy, time travel, superhero, vampire, end times, supernatural thriller, alternate history, spiritual warfare, paranormal, and anything else that is weird fiction from the Evangelical worldview.

MLP launched in 2008 and is about to release its fifth lineup of original, full-length novels for adults and older teens. MLP novels have won or been finalists for several awards, including the Christy Award (win), ACFW Carol Award (we currently have 5 finalists in this year's competition), the EPIC Award (2 wins), the Indie Awards, and more. MLP books have been favorably reviewed in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and USA Today.

Marcher Lord Press considers completed full-length (65,000+ words) manuscripts, for adults and older teens (no YA), in the speculative genres and from the Evangelical worldview. Authors need not be agented to submit proposals to MLP. They may do so through the acquisitions portal on the MLP site. That page, plus writer's guidelines, can be found here.

MLP is an advance-paying, royalty-paying publisher. Authors who are invited to publish with MLP do not put up any money for the publication of their books, nor are they required or "encouraged" to buy a minimum number of copies of their books.

Publisher Jeff Gerke attends many Christian writers conferences across the country. In 2010 he has taught at or will teach at the following: Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, the Florida Christian Writers Conference, the ACFW conference, the Oregon Christian Writers Conference, the Orange County Christian Writers Conference, and more. He accepts appointments at every conference he attends.

Proposals that have the best chance with Marcher Lord Press are those that 1) adhere to the writer's guidelines, 2) exhibit a high level of fiction craftsmanship, and 3) tell an incredible speculative story that exalts Christ.

Jeff Gerke has been called the de facto gatekeeper of Christian speculative fiction. He is the author (under the pen name Jefferson Scott) of six published novels and three co-written nonfiction works. He is also the sole author (under the name Jeff Gerke) of The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction and the forthcoming Writers Digest book Plot Versus Character (October). He has worked on staff for three Christian publishing companies. Novels he has acquired or edited have won the Christy Award, the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Foreword magazine Book of the Year Award, the EPIC Award, the Indie Award, and more. He is one of three finalists for the ACFW Editor of the Year for 2010. He is the founder of the popular Web page www.WhereTheMapEnds.com, which is dedicated to Christian speculative fiction. And in 2008, Gerke launched Marcher Lord Press, the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction. He and his wife of 20 years live in Colorado Springs with their three children. Jeff makes his living as a freelance editor, writer, book doctor, typesetter, and cover designer.

Contact information:
www.marcherlordpress.com
jeff@marcherlordpress.com

Creating Good Fiction Proposals by Jeff Gerke, Part 4

This Manuscript Monday Jeff Gerke will wrap up his series on proposals. We've appreciated all his tips (and his fun sense of humor).

Creating Good Fiction Proposals, Part 4*
by Jeff Gerke

Let's focus on a few last items you'll want to include in your proposal.

The Synopsis

Since I've done such a brilliant job of explaining this elsewhere [pauses for applause], I'll just refer you to that article.

One note: I can't stress enough the importance of a good, 1-page synopsis. A synopsis that is too long (more than 2 pages) or poorly done or that does not give away the ending may sink you.
Some agents and acquisitions editors will skip over all your front matter and go straight to the sample chapters. Artistic purists! But if they like what they see there they will inevitably come back and read your synopsis. So it had better be good.

Note that you can begin the synopsis on the bottom of the one pager mentioned last week if you have half a page or so available. Otherwise begin it on its own page.

The Other One Pager

Very often there is about one more page's worth of pertinent information that needs to be conveyed in the proposal.

It could be any one or more of a variety of things: a brief (1/4-page) bio of you (recommended), a one-paragraph summary of each of the other books in the proposed series, or some other historical note or personal experience piece that will cause a "buyer" to be more inclined to invest in your "product."

Take a page or two to include that information.

Keeping in mind, of course, the section on What Not To Include.

Last thought: if you're especially good-looking, a photo of yourself on this page would not hurt you. It's hard to find photogenic novelists, let me tell you, and the publicity department will be interested in finding a new one.

The Sample Chapters

Here, more than in any other portion of your proposal, your chances rise or fall.

As I've mentioned, many agents and almost all fiction acquisitions editors are fiction purists. We love to discover great fiction. That's why we'll often skip over everything else and turn to the first pages of your actual writing. If we love it, you're golden. If we don't, you're sunk (er, dross?).

Note that I said you want to include the first 30-40 pages of your novel. Agents and editors need to see that you know how to start a novel well. That tells so much. This is not the time to include chapter 12 because it's really cool and chapter 21 to show that you can write snappy dialogue.

Give us your first 30-40 pages and make sure they're your best writing because they will determine your publishing future.

Notice also that I've said to include the first 30-40 pages. I didn't say include the first three chapters. Why? Because some people write chapters that are 2 stinkin' pages long and others write 65-page chapters. We don't want that little or that much. We want 30-40 (double-spaced) pages.

Go Now, My Child, and Find Your Destiny

Wow, that's a little melodramatic, wouldn't you say?

Anyway, that's all I have to say about how to create fiction proposals that will give your novel its best chance.

Oh, a word about writer's guidelines. If the publisher you're targeting has published writer's guidelines that determine what they want to have included in any proposal sent to them, then by all means do it the way they say even if it violates what I've said here.

But by and large if you include these elements, abide by the formatting rules, and write incredible fiction, you'll have a fighting chance, young padowan. Go now and find your destiny.

~~~
Jeff Gerke is a mild-mannered author and book editor living in Colorado Springs. He and his wife have a daughter and a son and in 2009, they adopted a little girl from China. See this site for more. Jeff's first novels appeared in the mid-1990s, followed in the early part of the 21st century by his Operation: Firebrand novels. His nonfiction books were published in 2003 and 2005. In 1999 Jeff came on staff with Multnomah Publishers in Sisters, Oregon, as an editor. Over his career he has been on staff with Multnomah, Strang/Realms, and NavPress. In October 2008 Jeff became the founder of Marcher Lord Press, a small indie publishing company dedicated to producing the finest in Christian science fiction, fantasy, and other wonderfully weird genres.

* This series of articles was taken from Jeff Gerke’s Where The Map Ends Web site. Used by permission.

Creating Good Fiction Proposals by Jeff Gerke, Part 3

Please welcome back Jeff Gerke as he continues his proposal series this Manuscript Monday.

A Closer Look at What To Include*
by Jeff Gerke

There are guidelines for how to format your proposal so that it looks professional. I've written them up in Tip #2, so please be sure you adhere to them. (see this site for more information on Tip #2)

All right, on to the elements.

The Cover Letter

This is just like a query letter except without the query.

A query letter is basically the proposal on one page. You pitch your idea, summarize your qualifications, and ask for permission to send the proposal to the editor or agent.

For your proposal, you're obviously past that stage (because it's included in the proposal), so you can dispense with the "May I please send you the proposal for...?" bit. Instead, replace it with a "I am pleased to present..." sentence. If you'd like, you can ask for permission to send the full manuscript.

(If you need help on what goes into a good query letter, consult the many books and Web pages on the topic.)

Only one note: In your cover letter you need to mention whether or not you're sending this to more than one agent and/or publishing house at the same time. If you're doing that (and the term for it is simultaneous submissions) you need to be sure to let everyone know.

The One Pager

This is like a tip sheet for sales. It's a one-sheet, a brief, sometimes bulleted sheet with the facts about your novel.

The hook is a little (10-word) grabber or tagline for your novel: "What happens when cloned vampires drink their clones' blood?" or "Jennifer loves Thomas--too bad Thomas died nineteen centuries ago."

The blurb is a short but arresting summary of your story. Here you can give sizzle but no steak. In other words, this is marketing copy designed to further hook your reader while giving a little more detail about your story.

"When molecular biologist Jennifer Reeves discovers a lost source of prehistoric DNA..."

The Title, Genre, Wordcount, and Audience of your novel should be self-explanatory. As for genre, read Tips 16-18. Understand that certain genres and topics are trigger words that will automatically raise or lower an agent's or editor's interest in your project. It's just reality.
As for your book's length, be sure you speak in wordcount. Pagecount is all but meaningless as font size, margin size, spacing, and a host of other variables make quantification impossible. But wordcount tells no lies.

Note that you can include several of these in one paragraph. You could say, for instance:

Death by McNugget is a supernatural thriller for preteens set in the dark crevices of a Cleveland mall's food court. The manuscript is complete at 90,000 words. Available upon request.

The Series Description is where you explain that this novel is the first in a proposed 4-book series that follows Jennifer Reeves as she uncovers further prehistoric mysteries. Just mention the series here. You'll have an opportunity later to summarize other books in the series. Your previously published books should also be self-explanatory. You either have them or you don't. If you don't, just leave this portion out of the proposal.

If you do have other books, the editor needs to know their titles, who published them, when they released, and (most importantly) how well they sold. Give exact sales data.

One note: if the previous books were published by another publisher, the acquisitions editor is going to wonder why you aren't being published again by that publisher. You might want to go ahead and provide that information here--unless it makes you look bad, in which case a don't-ask-don't-tell rule applies.

Jeff Gerke is a mild-mannered author and book editor living in Colorado Springs. He and his wife have a daughter and a son and in 2009, they adopted a little girl from China. See this site for more. Jeff's first novels appeared in the mid-1990s, followed in the early part of the 21st century by his Operation: Firebrand novels. His nonfiction books were published in 2003 and 2005. In 1999 Jeff came on staff with Multnomah Publishers in Sisters, Oregon, as an editor. Over his career he has been on staff with Multnomah, Strang/Realms, and NavPress. In October 2008 Jeff became the founder of Marcher Lord Press, a small indie publishing company dedicated to producing the finest in Christian science fiction, fantasy, and other wonderfully weird genres.

* This series of articles was taken from Jeff Gerke’s Where The Map Ends Web site. Used by permission.

Creating Good Fiction Proposals by Jeff Gerke, Part 2

Please welcome back author and editor Jeff Gerke to continue his series on creating good book proposals.

What Not To Include in a Good Book Proposal*
by Jeff Gerke

Last week I listed what to include in your proposal. Today let’s look at what is not included.

First, there's no lengthy marketing analysis or list of comparative titles. Other editors may disagree here, but I always found such things to be useless. Besides, it's my job to know what else is out there that would be similar to or might compete with any given book.

Individual authors don't usually have access to the industry sales figures like I have, so I can find that information quickly. And authors often don't have the same breadth of knowledge I have. Seeing, "As far as I know there's been no other book written about dinosaurs being brought back to life" does not encourage me about the author. Better to just leave all that off, imo.

There's also no life history of the author. "Born in Tuskogee, Michigan, to a rice farmer and a brain surgeon, Joe Author had a hard but starch-rich childhood..." Yawn.

Dude, unless you're a former mountain climber writing a novel about climbing K2, we pretty much don't care about your life story. Unless something in your life pertains to something in your novel, leave it out. If something in your life does pertain to your novel, then by all means mention it. But I don't need to know where you went to high school.

Finally, there's no mention of your awesome marketing plan. I don't know why writing teachers tell novelists to put in this kind of information. It's silly and, most likely, what you can do as an individual is kind of pathetic compared to what the publisher could do. It's like "Display Your Anonymity Day."

I'm poking fun at myself, too, when I say that, so don't hear me wrong. Most individuals, and especially most of us mousy novelist types, haven't erected massive media empires we can bring to bear to market our novels. And if we have, we'll probably self-publish and keep all the dough for ourselves!

Putting on a sheet of paper that you can guarantee the sale of fifty copies of your book or that you intend to create a Web page or you've been invited to speak to a group of two hundred people may be impressive to the lady in the cubicle next door, but it's all but laughable to a publisher.

Another source of chuckles for editors is when novelists write that they are ready and eager to devote themselves to multi-city book tours and interviews with Oprah. Um...okay. But unless you're funding and arranging those things yourself, they're probably not going to happen. It's not like publishers are sitting around waiting to publish the first person they can find who would be willing to go on the talk show circuit.

Now, if you really do have some impressive "platform" abilities, like you're a speaker for Women of Faith or PromiseKeepers or you're the head of Salem Communications and can put content on 300 radio stations, then be sure to mention that in the proposal.

If you're like most of us, though, and you're just a regular Joe, keep it out of your proposal. The publisher will be able to do much more than you can, and you'll save yourself the pointing and laughing (not that such immaturity ever happens in the hallowed halls of Christian publishing; ahem).

Next week, we'll analyze some of the components that do belong in a good fiction proposal.

Jeff Gerke is a mild-mannered author and book editor living in Colorado Springs. He and his wife have a daughter and a son and in 2009, they adopted a little girl from China. See this site for more. Jeff's first novels appeared in the mid-1990s, followed in the early part of the 21st century by his Operation: Firebrand novels. His nonfiction books were published in 2003 and 2005. In 1999 Jeff came on staff with Multnomah Publishers in Sisters, Oregon, as an editor. Over his career he has been on staff with Multnomah, Strang/Realms, and NavPress. In October 2008 Jeff became the founder of Marcher Lord Press, a small indie publishing company dedicated to producing the finest in Christian science fiction, fantasy, and other wonderfully weird genres.

* This series of articles was taken from Jeff Gerke's Where The Map Ends Web site. Used by permission.

Creating Good Fiction Proposals by Jeff Gerke

Recently, Dawn featured Jeff Gerke's writing helps on a Writer's Journey Wednesday. (see that post here) This Manuscript Monday, please welcome Jeff as he begins a four-part series on creating great book proposals.

What Goes into a Good Fiction Proposal?*
by Jeff Gerke

So you've written the first draft of your novel (you have, right?) and you're ready to approach agents and acquisitions editors to begin your path to certain fame, eh? Good for you!

Each Monday for the next four weeks, I will tell you how to put together a first-rate proposal for your novel.

I've served on the editorial staff for three Christian publishing companies and have read literally thousands of proposals as an acquisitions editor and imprint manager. Plus I've written proposals that have sold my own novels, so I know what works and what it is that editors and agents are looking for.

An acquisitions editor, by the way, is the person who goes through all the proposals submitted by agents and authors and decides which are good and should possibly be published, which are not and should help start fires, and which to get very, very excited about.

Here are the elements agents and acquisitions editors need and value in the fiction proposals they review.

Note that while I'm speaking largely of my own experience and some of my professional colleagues may disagree with one or two points, if you build a proposal like this you won't go far wrong.

Also note that I'm assuming you'll put all of these elements into a single Word file and attach that file to an e-mail message you'll send to the agent or editor in question.

The Elements of a Good Proposal:

1. A cover letter
2. One page with:
~ A very brief (~10-word) hook
~ A short (~100-word) blurb
~ The title of your novel
~ The genre of your novel
~ The length (in wordcount!) of your novel
~ The audience for your novel (age, gender, etc.)
~ Whether or not the novel fits into a series
~ Your previously published books (if any) and the to-date total sales of each
3. A 1-2-page synopsis that does give away the ending (here's how to write such a synopsis)
4. One page with anything else you think is pertinent: short bio on you, historical note, personal experience that undergirds the story, reason for special timeliness, one-paragraph summaries of other books in the series, etc.
5. The first 30-40 pages of your novel (sample chapters)

That's it. I'll discuss each one in detail in the coming weeks.

Jeff Gerke is a mild-mannered author and book editor living in Colorado Springs. He and his wife have a daughter and a son and in 2009, they adopted a little girl from China. See this site for pictures and more information. Jeff's first novels appeared in the mid-1990s, followed in the early part of the 21st century by his Operation: Firebrand novels. His nonfiction books were published in 2003 and 2005. In 1999 Jeff came on staff with Multnomah Publishers in Sisters, Oregon, as an editor. Over his career he has been on staff with Multnomah, Strang/Realms, and NavPress. In October 2008 Jeff became the founder of Marcher Lord Press, a small indie publishing company dedicated to producing the finest in Christian science fiction, fantasy, and other wonderfully weird genres.

* This series of articles was taken from his Where The Map Ends Web site. Used by permission.

The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction - Author Jeff Gerke

This Wednesday as we continue on our Writer’s Journey, I’d like to recommend the book The Art and Craft of Writing Christian Fiction by Jeff Gerke.

Christy Award-winning editor Jeff Gerke entered the Christian fiction publishing industry as a novelist. Under the pen name Jefferson Scott, Jeff has had six of his Christian novels published. He's served on the editorial staff of Multnomah, Strang Communications, and NavPress. Novels that Jeff has edited or acquired have won multiple Book of the Year awards. He's also the founder and publisher of Marcher Lord Press.

The Art and Craft of Writing Christian Fiction is divided into three parts.

Part I is devoted to the “Spiritual Heart of Writing Christian Fiction.” This section of the book asks the reader to examine such things as: Who do you write for? Why do you desire to be published? What is your calling as a writer?

Part II covers “Strategizing Yourself, Strategizing Your Novel.” As writers we need to find our story and create interesting, likeable characters. The tips shared can help us do just that.

Part III, “Writing Your Novel,” explains the tools needed to write great fiction. Topics include show vs. tell, dialogue, point of view, and description.

There are tons of books available on writing techniques, characterization, plotting, etc. Some are excellent, while others can tend to feel bogged down, or even overwhelming.

Jeff allows his personality to come through, which makes the book not only helpful to fiction writers desiring to grow in the craft—but FUN to read. I felt like I was sitting down with a cup of coffee and having a conversation with him.

I’ve read many books on writing, and this has become one of my favorites.

Although Jeff has retired the tips column on his Web site with the publication of this book, you can still access his 100 tips for writers, by visiting this Web page.

To learn more about Jeff and Marcher Lord Press, please visit Where the Map Ends.

Happy Reading!
Dawn