Tyrean Martinson

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Creator of IWSG: Alex J. Cavanaugh aka The Captain

Co-hosts this month: Toi Thomas, T. Powell Coltrin, MJ Fifield, Tara Tyler

Optional Question: What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?

Publishing Path - Indie Publishing and Small Press Publishing

So far, I've taken the Indie and Small Press publishing path. When I looked around at publishing houses, agents, and other places to send my work between 2010 and 2013, I couldn't seem to find any who took Christian Fantasy and Christian Scifi. Since I had a Christian Fantasy novel for YA, I grew desperately concerned.

I couldn't seem to find anyone who published Christian Fantasy or who agented Christian Fantasy unless the authors already had several books of non-Fantasy writing under their belt, or several books of secular Fantasy under their belt. I remember seeing several websites saying they would only look at Christian Fantasy by established authors. What? I didn't want to write Christian Amish Romance (the Christian bookstore shelves teemed with those books at the time) in the hopes of writing Christian Fantasy someday.

So, I started researching Indie Publishing aka Self-Publishing. I spent two years combing the web for information, checking sources, finding books at the library, and then, with what I thought was great preparation, I self-published and set up a book blog tour and a book signing. The first month felt like a great success! The second month kind of bombed. I didn't know how to sustain sales. I didn't know how to market. I had troubles with my product (I have a post about that), and I floundered, but I kept on writing and working.

Several Indie-Published books later, I still can't say I have great financial success, but I do have awesome readers. And, four years ago, a small press who I knew through an Indie film project asked me to turn an episode from one of their other projects into a novella. We had good communication at the start of the project, but it fizzled when the book was published. I didn't even know the book was out. (It still is, but I rarely advertise it.)

However, I know that there are many small press publishers out there and some are excellent communicators. Dancing Lemur Press publishes the IWSG anthologies and since I had a story published in the 2016 IWSG anthology Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life, I've had the opportunity to discover that every communication with Dancing Lemur Press is professional, timely, and helpful.

In the future, I hope to query agents, send work to small presses, and continue Indie publishing. I don't think there's a need to write myself into just one kind of publishing box.

And, by the way, I have found one small press which does specialize in Christian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Enclave Publishing. Do you know of any others?

IWSG NEWS

The next anthology contest is open!!!

Word count: 3500-6000

Genre: Young Adult Romance

Theme:

Masquerade

A Masquerade can be a false show or pretense, someone pretending to be someone they aren't. It can be a ball, a fancy dress party, it can be a mask. Open to interpretation.

Submissions accepted: September 5 - November 4, 2018

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (Double spaced, no page numbers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges who will be announced September 5.

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.