Just a note to say that the Return of the Sword anthology from CyberWizard Productions has been released. In my capacity as Managing Editor at Every Day Fiction, I’ve run across the fiction of many of these authors before, and even shared a ToC with Angeline Hawkes in Sails & Sorcery.If you’re a fan of Sword & Sorcery, this antho includes some of the top writers in the field. If you’re interested in a sample of the quality of their writing, you can read their stories at EDF (whenever possible, I’ve tried to link each to a S&S piece that they’ve published at EDF). This is their blurb:

Return of the Sword is a brand new anthology of blood-pounding, spine-tingling stories by some of fantasy’s most critically acclaimed Sword and Sorcery authors.

 

Stacey Berg, Bill Ward, Phil Emery, Jeff Draper, Nicholas Ian Hawkins, David Pitchford, Ty Johnston, Jeff Stewart, Angeline Hawkes, Robert Rhodes, E.E. Knight, James Enge, Michael Ehart, Thomas M. MacKay, Christopher Heath, Nathan Meyer, S.C. Bryce, Allen B. Lloyd, William Clunie, Steve Goble, Bruce Durham, and Harold Lamb present you with enough fast paced adventure to keep you reading for hours.

 

A hand painted, wrap around cover by fantasy artist Johnney Perkins ensures that Return of the Sword will not only be enjoyable to read, but also look good on your coffee table or bookshelf.

Too long have the halls of fantasy been dominated by packs of weak-kneed elves hunting goblins and doughty dwarves mining for gold. Return now to the days of true adventure. Unsheath your sword and enter if you dare!

For purchase info click here:

I’m so devious… stay tuned.

My friend Michael Ehart, who I met through SFReader and at NorWesCon, has recently released a collection from DEP Publications called “Servant of the Mathycore“, and I’d urge you all to buy it. I, for one, have cleared my reading schedule for it.Michael recently published a flash fiction story called “Who Comes for Mother’s Fruit” at EDF which is set in the same world as the collection, so check it out if you’d like a taste of what the book is like.

In addition to some truly stellar fiction from one of the best Sword & Sorcery men in the business, Servant includes a foreword by Michael Moorcock, author of the Elric novels (novels I read and enjoyed as a kid). All in all, this collection looks to be one of the best of the year, so don’t miss out!

Below, I’ve included the official press release, which contains more information than I could throw at you. Enjoy!

New novel, The Servant of the Manthycore, evokes classic heroic fantasy

In the tradition of the larger-than life fantasy stories of the golden age, comes a new novel of swordplay, sorcery, betrayal and death, The Servant of the Manthycore, by Michael Ehart. Released November 17th, 2007 by Double-Edged Publishing, it includes the five previously published stories in the bronze-age adventure saga, reworked with a wealth of new tales into an episodic novel of rare power and excitement. “I am thrilled by the look and feel of this new book,” says Michael Ehart. “Both the existing fans of the stories and new readers will enjoy what they find.” Ehart has made over a dozen appearances this year with short stories in fantasy, science fiction and horror magazines and anthologies, but The Servant of the Manthycore is his first solo book.

The Servant of the Manthycore takes place over an 800 year period in a fantasy bronze-age Mesopotamia. Seeking treasure, a young couple become enslaved by a mythical beast, the Manthycore. In order to preserve her captive lover’s life, the young woman must lure the Manthycore’s human victims into the desert to be slain. Preserved by the power of the foul beast, centuries pass, and she becomes a nearly undefeatable warrior. Always she seeks for a warrior greater than herself, who can defeat her and so free her lover, and always her skill and ferocity prove her hopes to be vain.

In his foreword legendary fantasy author Michael Moorcock, creator of Elric, says this about The Servant of the Manthycore: “Michael Ehart has given us an outstanding story of the ancient world… It resonates with the authenticity of genuine myth, bringing a deep, true sense of the past; a conviction which does not borrow from genre but mines our profoundest dreams and memories; the kind which give birth to myths.” And Vera Nazarian, author of Dreams of the Compass Rose and Lords of the Rainbow says “From Michael Ehart’s fierce imagination comes an unforgettable gritty heroine, both human and goddess, and yet something much more…. Gilgamesh, Elric, and Conan have finally met their female match!”

The Servant of the Manthycore is enhanced by seven stunning interior illustrations by artist Rachel Marks. “Rachel has captured the essence of both the characters and the times,” says Ehart. “She has that rare ability to capture in pen and ink the visual sense of the words on the page.” Marks also did the cover art.

Double-Edged Publishing is the publisher of magazines like Dragons, Knights and Angels, Ray Gun Revival, The Sword Review, Fear and Trembling, Teen Age and Haruah, as well as books in the fantasy, science-fiction and inspirational genres. The Servant of the Manthycore joins their fantasy line, and is available for pre-order at http://www.doubleedgedpublishing.com and at amazon.com

A tad harsh, don’t you think, Jordan?

I, too, was disturbed by Ed’s cry out.  Not, apparently, in the manner in which you ere, however; I felt saddened by it, and scared, too, for I’m just beginning to travel this road of publication and I honestly want my anthology to do well, for the sake of the author’s within it and for the sake of the genre to boot.  Even for the sake of the reading public.

I did not plan to purchase Ed’s anthology simply because I’m not interested in reading it.  Yet I feel for him and, due to his post, I have considered buying a copy.  This I would do in support, a show of solidarity.  I still doubt I’d read it, but I have several things I could do with the book - I donate to the local Veteran’s Hospital and I hold contests on my blog, for two ideas.

I agree with you that this is unnerving and uninspiring - but I don’t join with you in condemning him.

I was going to blog about this again, so Jason’s comment was the perfect excuse.

There is one cardinal rule of writing, and indeed publishing, and it is this: “Money should flow towards the writer”. This is true even in television and movie writing. Scam artists often unmask themselves because they violate that rule (they charge reading/editing fees).

The only place where this rule doesn’t apply is Vanity Publishing (or many of the “self-publishing houses” like Authorhouse, which itself is only a thinly disguised vanity publisher). When a publisher asks authors to purchase books, in effect they are violating this rule, and what does that make them? Yes, it makes them a vanity publisher. Personally, I want my writing to get published because it touches or moves people, not just because I want to see my words in print. If the only people that are buying my books are doing so because they eventually want to get published themselves, then my efforts at writing a compelling story amount to nothing more than mental masturbation.

A publisher’s job is to connect people who want to read amazing fiction with people who write compelling stories. A publisher who calls on authors to support markets simply so they can remain afloat is a publisher who isn’t doing their job, and we need to shout it from the rooftops.

EDIT: Looks like Mr. Knight has reposted the entry in the thread, and removed the text that I was complaining in this post. Kudos to him. 

I recently ran across this thread at SFReader.com. In it, Edward Knight literarlly begs for speculative fiction readers to buy his new anthology Unparalleled Journeys II. By doing so, he had just guaranteed that I, for one, won’t be reading.

There is a definite stigma in our industry against publishers who solicit authors to buy their own work or the work of authors they know personally. This marketing ploy has be employed (effectively, unfortunately) by vanity publisher PublishAmerica, who, as you can see from the link I’ve provided, has acquired a reputation as a scam publisher.

Why does this stigma exist? Well, it boils down to what kind of services publishers provide. In these days of easy Print On Demand publishing, where authors can literally have their books in their hands without any outside help within a week, a publishing house has to add value in order to remain pertinent. In theory, that value comes in the form of selling your books. By going through a publishing house, an author should be able to sell more books than if they had self-published (or else what’s the point?).

Now, an author can easily sell to their friends, and doesn’t have much difficult selling in the tight knit speculative fiction community. So where does that leave the publisher? Well, responsible publishers try to sell to the general public, either on much trafficked websites or in bookstores, and some do so very successfully. Those who don’t berate potential authors for not promoting or buying books they have no interest in.

It’s a bad sign that Journey Books Publishing feels that they have to beg for readers. I wish Edward Knight all the luck in the world, but I, for one, will not be reading.