Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

From all at IFWGP, whatever holiday you may or may not be celebrating, whether it is cold and snowing or hot and humid where you are, we wish you a very merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a prosperous and creative New Year.

This year at IFWGP there have been a lot of changes - to our policy, to submissions - but all for the better. Next year we hope to publish roughly ten titles, as well as start accepting submissions again. We thank you all for your patience, your kindness, but most of all your support. Without you guys IFWGP would definitely suffer.

We raise a glass to you all - see you in 2011!

RAK, GH, WG and EC

Nookery

We are pleased indeed to see all our novels now available as NOOKBooks. That means that you can read our authors in print, PDF, Kindle and NOOK formats.

Visit our eBook Shop to see what is available.

New (and Last) Title for 2010!

We are very pleased indeed with the print release of Linda Penhall's They Never Gave Up. It can be purchased at Amazon, just in time for Christmas.

This is a story that is full of wonderful humor and yet interlaced with moments of great poignancy. Enjoy!

All Kindle Titles are now available in PDF Format

Hot following the Kindle explosion in IFWG Publishing, we now have PDF formats for all our titles, including Linda Penhall's They Never Gave Up, prior to it turning up in print. A scoop!

Rock along to our eStore - it is worth visiting!

All our titles are on Kindle

Guardian of the Sky Realms by Gerry Huntman, The Okapi Promise by Paula Boer, and The Empire by Elizabeth Lang - all three latest titles are now on Kindle through Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

This means that all our print products are now on Kindle.

New Release: Elizabeth Lang's The Empire

IFWG Publishing is proud to announce the release of Elizabeth Lang's The Empire.

This novel has an epic science fiction backdrop, with all the commensurate excitement and adventure, but is mainly concerned with the strength and weaknesses of the human spirit.

 

The Empire can be purchased through Amazon

Final Draws of Great Giveaway

Two draws for this final month of our Great Giveaway.

For the standard monthly giveaway, we have a winner by the Twitter name @Yorkmum. If she claims the prize within a week she will receive signed copies of Page Dancers, Knorrasky: The Deception, and Onet's Tale

For the special giveway, only drawn from newsletter subscribers, the winner is Kate Blackham. We have emailed her and if she claims within a week, she will receive the same prize as @Yorkmum, with the addition of a signed copy of The Devil Came East, the crime thriller.

Both winners have claimed their prizes.

Congratulations to all, and thank you to all who participated. We were impressed with the turnout.

Gerry Huntman
Chief Editor
IFWG Publishing

Two Titles now published

Today we are pleased to announce the publishing of two titles:

Paula Boer's The Okapi Promise

A wonderful adventure set in Africa, including photos.

click here to purchase

and Gerry Huntman's Guardian of the Sky Realms

a Young Adult fantasy adventure, set in fantasy worlds, but also in a number of countries around the globe.

click here to purchase

Elizabeth Lang's The Empire

Here is the front cover of Elizabeth Lang's science fiction novel, The Empire, out next month. We are very excited by this title, as it isn't a run-of-the-mill epic scifi - while it is epic in backdrop, the story is strong in characterization and intrigue, and delves deep into human fragility... as well as strength.

Stay tuned for the release date very soon.

eNovella to be released in December 2010

MF Burbaugh is an exciting author who has joined our fold. We are publishing a science fiction novel of his in January next year. However, we were entranced with a novella he also wrote and just had to publish it - it is called Circle of Seven and is whimsical and very exciting. It has elves, gnomes, fairies and much more, and yet it has battles in space. It would be unfair to say much more... just watch out for it, and do yourself a favor and buy it!

It is a very readable 42k in word count and because of this, this will be the first of an uncommon number of books that will only be published for electronic readers.

His bio/blurb page can be found at: http://ifwgpublishing.weebly.com/bio-mf-burbaugh.html

The Weekly IFWGP Q&A

Here's a little something for you guys to get involved in!

As of this Sunday, this blog will be host to a weekly writing Q&A, courtesy of me, Esme Carpenter, and your burning writing questions. Having problems with characterisation? Lost the sparkle in the long-haul? Or just not sure where to start? Wondering how we at IFWGP started writing, or where we get our inspiration from?

Send me your questions at esmecarpenter@ifwgpublishing.com, and every Sunday I'll pick the best ones and answer them right here on the blog. Then, from your comments, we'll be able to help each other answer those tricky questions.

So get sending me your queries, and I'll get answering them!

EC

EDIT: Okay, I misspelled the e-mail address, so we'll restart the questions and get them answered next Sunday! Apologies!

The Second Story Quest Short Story Contest

We are pleased to announce that we have a winner and four finalists for the second Story Quest Short Story Contest:

Winner - J C Martin - The Critic - an unusual short with a touch of horror in it.

(in no particular order), Finalists:

Imran Nazar - The Harness - a solid, hard-Science Fiction story.
Amanda Crum - Water For Sunshine - a Science Fiction story with a moral undertone.
Darren Moore -  Freeman's Toll - a Fantasy story in a believable medieval setting.
Steve Gepp - Rejection - A highly original, supernatural, post apocalyptic story.

Congratulations to all, and we look forward to publishing their stories in SQ Magazine!

Winner of Second Great Giveaway

Twitter, blog, newsletter and Facebook entries were combined (including older entries), and the lucky winner for the 1 November 2010 draw is a follower on our blog, who_leo (Florida).

We had lots of entries again, so thank you!

Remember, those who entered are still in for the last draw, and those in the Newsletter get the bonus draw on the same date, 1 December.

IFWG Publishing Team

Our Kindle Catalog

For those of you who are interested, here's a link to our Kindle collection at Amazon. Really good value here.

IFWG Kindle Store

GH

Second Draw of our Great Giveaway

Congratulations to who_leo (name via this blog site) for winning the second draw of our Great Giveaway!

This is a nice outcome, as the last winner had registered via Twitter.

If who_leo follows our instructions by email, and contacts us by 8 Nov, he/she will receive a 3 pack of autographed titles. Otherwise we will redraw.

IFWG Publishing Team

Improvements

In the next couple of hours IFWG Publishing will enact some policy changes to the way we do business, and will make some technical changes to our web site.

Firstly, to policy:

As of 1 Nov we will narrow our scope to speculative fiction - we have already made this adjustment to general submissions, but now this applies to SQ Magazine and the Story Quest Contest as well. This change is not a surprise to everyone, and it certainly means a sign of growth for us.

We want to stress this important point - all our authors of titles who have not written speculative fiction are safe - we will continue to publish their work on merit, and with the genres they are comfortable with. They are part of our family.

The Story Quest contest is being overhauled, and for the better. As stated above, it is restricted to speculative fiction, and it will now only be held once a year. The submission pipeline opens on 1 August each year, and closes 31 October. Winners will be announced within 3 weeks of the closing date. Prizes are cash for 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and they, along with other finalists, will be published in SQ Magazine.

Technical Changes:

We are happy indeed to incorporate the Submishmash submission management system into our operations, to make it easier for editors and authors alike to keep track of submissions.

We have also made changes to the three pages relevant to all of the policy/technical changes - Story Quest Contest, SQ Magazine, and Manuscript Submissions.

All in all, 1 November represents a key date in our company's growth.

IFWG Publishing Team

Another title coming!

We are pleased to announce that Gerry Huntman's Young Adult fantasy novel, Guardian of the Sky Realms, will be available next month. Visit his bio page on our site, and take a sneak at the front cover and blurb.

http://ifwgpublishing.weebly.com/bio-gerry-huntman.html


A bit of trivia: Gerry wrote a short story called The Painting, based on looking at Penina Gal's painting called Wings (the painting on the cover). It became apparent a longer story had to be told, and Gerry wrote Guardian of the Sky Realms. What was interesting was that Gerry was able to get in touch with Penina and make arrangements to use the original artwork on the cover of his novel - a great result, and adding meaning to the cover.

Elizabeth Lang to be published in December

We are pleased to be nearing completion of Elizabeth Lang's debut novel, The Empire.

Take this link to her bio page and read the first four chapters. Enjoy!

Of Forum Nazis

This post is regarding comments posted on a ‘writers’ blog. 

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181582 

IFWG Publishing is an honest, up-front small press, helping authors get a leg up in a tough industry, and promising no more than what we can deliver, and what we state we can deliver. Once in a while people will sensibly ask others if they have heard of us, and opinions, facts, and sometime incorrect statements, will be aired. The World Wide Web is a wonderful beast, and one of its strengths is that it is open and is mostly accessible for most of the world to use. The downside is that if an untruth or misleading statement is made, it can stick around a long time like a bad smell and many people can, and will, read it and believe it. In other words, the democracy of the Internet implies that everyone is equal, including idiots and miscreants.

Randy and I have decided to write a lengthy response to a particularly ugly set of statements made by a few ‘forum Nazis’ (of which there are many in the world, and most public facing forums seem to have at least one clique with them), not to debate them, but to try to ensure that we have our opportunity to have our say. We wont be debating further, because forum Nazis like to prolong debates  (read ‘win them at all costs’, ‘damn the torpedoes’)—we will have said our piece for the ‘world’ to consider.

We both have a lot to say, so if you are willing to bear with it, and have an interest, read on—noting that the format is to directly address points made by the forum Nazis.

Jasmine calls one of us a 'gem' (thanks Jas) and yet others in the same forum consider our co-owned company as 'worrisome', nepotistic (or alternatively, set up to publish ourselves), are self publishers (and are avoiding the label), wont support some of our authors when we tighten our genre scope, that our book covers (inferring majority) consist of clipart, that we are exclusively POD, and don't understand publishing terminology.

These views are disturbingly, and completely wrong. The reason why they are disturbing is that they were presented within a membership forum but public facing, which doesn’t make it necessarily easy for those who are attacked to respond. Additionally, the authors make strong statements while being in the comfort zone of anonymity, behind their avatars.

Based on the poor research, knowledge and logic provided in many of the statements, we are underwhelmed by most of the forum authors.

IFWG Publishing began about a year ago, with the express purpose to help new authors climb the vocational ladder. We started small and had a business plan. We figured that authors who joined with us would get the step up—not the ten rungs that the big 6 can provide (although that is debatable to an extent, see below), or the 5 rungs that the mid-range publishers provide, but up a few nevertheless. Initially we constructed a hybrid model, where we would publish some authors traditionally (see definition below), and given our resource constraints, we would provide some services in assisting in self publishing, although with the proviso that a modicum of quality was present (this last point truly made it hybrid, and unusual). It didn't take long to discover that the hybrid model was not feasible, and so we bit the bullet and we transitioned quickly to traditional (again, MM, definition below), which was our ultimate goal. We have published 6 titles and three magazine editions thus far, and by end of December we will have published 11 titles (three are coming out in the next four weeks) and four magazines. We only started publishing titles from January, and that means our business plan is on target—we aim to publish 10 to 12 titles per year.

Our hybrid model was VERY short lived and in fact we have NOT published one word where the author had to pay—all our authors paid NOTHING (oops, sorry Terrie et al.—we don't and never have self published).

We are a company that is run by authors for authors. There are 4 of us, based in New Jersey, Missouri, Australia and England. We think we are pretty good authors, but time will tell (nothing else will, not even you, MM). Of the eleven titles that will be published this year, two will have been by members of the company. One of the remainder is an anthology of short stories (41 authors, most of whom were unpublished), and the other eight are debut writers—each and every one of them. The amount of work to edit, proof, InDesign format internal block, etc is HUGE. The cost also accumulates as we publish with worldwide wholesale distribution (through Ingram, same used by the big 6), along with epublishing. Do you honestly think we are doing this work in order to prop up our own novels? As I said, we think we're pretty good writers, and we do get the work peer reviewed, and edited, and proofed etc. With what we have done, there is no guilt whatsoever (sorry CaoPaux for contradicting you, but at least your head doesn't have to hurt anymore).

Along with publishing titles, we also publish our own journal (SQ Magazine), again overwhelmingly to help new authors. Again peer reviewed—we have a dedicated editor. Ralan.com and Duotrope.com vetted us and are happy to advertise our mag (and Ralan is also happy to advertise our seeking submissions for titles—Ralan pays particular attention to avoid self publishers). Daniel Pearlman kindly submitted a short story which we will publish next month in SQ Magazine #2. Things are going well—all we need now is more good press and at the least an opportunity for people to sample our wares (oops, came to the wrong place for that).

Regarding our authors—we are very happy how things are running. Jack Eason, author of Onet's Tale, got a 4 out of 5 stars rating by Paul Goat Allen, Barnes and Noble's Specfic reviewer. Biola Olatunde is a writer from Nigeria and we are EXTREMELY proud that we have given her a break for her excellent adventure/social commentary, Blood Contract—if you think it is hard to get a break in the US, England or Australia, try Nigeria. Hey, why don't you write to some of our authors (other than Linda, who kindly already responded) and ask them how we perform—or are primary sources hard to swallow? (perhaps it is, and goes with a hurting head).

Stating it again, we are a small company and we have a clear, modest, business plan, and we believe we make a difference. We believe that we will grow and our authors will grow with us. We know that most authors fail to get published, and of those that do, the vast majority start humbly indeed and make little money—we believe we are a facilitator in this difficult process and all signs are showing that it is working. Aside from recognition by Ralan, Duotrope, etc, our authors are finding they are eligible for submissions to awards that require legitimate (read traditional, MM) publishing as a criterion for entry—and categorically state that self published works are ineligible. The industry accepts us as a small press, the only people who don't are a small scattering of armchair quarterbacks (quaint US term), in a variety of forums and wikis. Who critiques the critics? We know you guys aren't in that category, don't we?

We are figuring that Momento Mori (MM) may be the alpha forum Nazi in this particular eco-system, and it is her/his (can’t tell, with the anonymity) commentary that most perplexes us, and disgusts. Why be so volatile? Why filter the data gathered from our site? Why bother going into such depth? Why so quick to respond, and change the tack of attack in different postings? We believe that whatever the motivation, it isn’t particularly flattering. One thing is clear is that MM, despite the rhetoric, is clearly not an expert in the field of publishing. We find it interesting that someone claiming to be an author would slam a company who is simply making a way for unknown authors to get a foot in the door. We never claimed that we would kick the door open, just that we would do our very best.

The following itemization addresses most of her/his points made over a few postings (again, not to debate, but to set our point of view for a fair hearing):

1. Advances - we assert on our website that payment of royalty advances are 'disappearing' or 'diminishing in size'. Note that the wording is not in absolute terms—this is our observation of a trend. MM's criticism is illogical and unwarranted, as she/he is stating that we are making an absolute statement.

2. We use a high level definition of 'traditional'—contrasting it with 'self publishing'. Many traditional, mainstream publishers use POD (Printing on Demand, Digital Printing, Green Publishing) facilities—particularly the small press, but not confined to them. We consider it being part of traditional publishing technology for some years now. We see it as a viable option compared to hundreds of thousands of unsold books ending up in landfills, which is what happens every year. We ALSO carry out offset print runs of titles, by the way. POD does not equal Self Publishing, but Self Publishers almost exclusively use POD. POD is a technology. Some statements made in this site about POD are categorically wrong, and a whole lot of reputable small, medium and large publishing companies would be most unhappy indeed with the insults. We think MM is the one with definitional problems.

3. Regarding our statement about not necessarily putting books on shelves—it's just a natural extension of point 2 above. We are up front about everything, and certainly in more detail when we work with our authors. Is it easy to get a book on the shelves? No. Will every book that the big 6 publishes make it on book shelves. No. The amount of shelf space that they would require comprises 2 feet of new shelf space per day every day of the year.  Bookstores would have to double in size every year and that is just for new releases. MM infers (by way of contrast with us) that just because one of the big six publishes a book, that instant success will follow. Not true and if one of their titles does not sell well, they mothball it.

4.Yes we take both ebook rights and print rights—and more importantly, we actually publish in both mediums for every one of our titles. Most publishers include this clause.

5. Prediction on how well Duleek’s novel will sell, including marketing, royalties etc. MM’s statement is a lazy statement, as in a year the posting is likely to have (deservedly) fallen into relative obscurity. MM’s understanding of the publishing industry is dismal. How many authors who are taken up by the big 6 get decent royalty checks (ie get good sales)? How many of them have contracts that require them to spend large amounts of time travelling, at their own expense (via deduction from royalties?) How many of them with books that don’t sell, find that they are removed from the shelves (mothballed, as stated in 4 above?) Research, MM, research. The chances of IFWG Publishing turning a first-timer into a best seller is very small indeed, but we will give them the leg up through bona fide, recognized, publishing, and are likely to be on parity with the majority of first time midlist writers in medium publishing houses. The leg up is of high value in itself, as already described ad nauseum. While IFWG Publishing knows that author participation makes a big difference in sales, it does not expect or require the author to do anything. If the author chooses to promote their work by doing independent advertising, that is their choice. IFWG and the author are partners in the process. IFWG promotes authors work by contacting book buyers, especially those in the area near the author. Our authors are from all parts of the world so our promotion varies from country to country. It would be hard indeed to find a publishing house that pays higher royalties than us. Our authors receive royalties in four different categories. If anyone knows anything about other publishers the best you will get are two categories.

6. Our move to specialization and those who are not within scope. This is probably the most underhanded, ugly statement that MM has made. Whenever we announced this move, targeted for 1 January 2011, we made it crystal clear we will support all our authors for as long as they want to associate with us, gladly. We emphasize loyalty and are committed to it. MM deliberately left those statements out, and this, for us, is clear proof of very poor analysis (or worse). We should also point out that all four author-owners are specific specialists and have good, and growing connections in the industry (hence the ease to get Barnes and Noble to review, to get Ralan to pick us up, etc).

7. Clipart, schmipart. We aren’t the big 6 and we aren’t in the top end of the midrange publishers. MM is using a high benchmark of the big 6 to pick on the small dudes. IFWG Publishing, by and large, have good art and getting better. SQ Magazine and The Devil Came East were produced by excellent artists, They Never Gave Up is a very clever graphic job, delighting the author with its symbolism (the inverted footprints), etc etc.

8. Questions about IFWG’s marketing. We do plenty and plenty more to come. Rhetoric by MM with no information at all, for reasons that we cannot fathom, but guess.

We believe that MM smacks of an ill-intentioned, clueless amateur.

Finally Jasmine. We will say little in order to honor our disclaimer agreement (and thanks again Jas, for the nice words). Since she had a few things to say about us (nevertheless), we are happy to at least state that we parted on reasonable grounds and we don't necessarily disagree with Jas' statement that she wanted to go it alone—a philosophical point. As a publisher, we get exposed to a lot of people, and people = unpredictability. We are grateful this has been, thus far, an isolated event.

We are a growing company and we are already starting to get points on the board. We will have eleven titles out this year, and we are already booked out until July 2011 with a further nine (non IFWG Publishing owner-authored) titles slotted (that's 20 over 19 months - we had to lock down submissions for a while). We will have published by this December something in the order of 70 authors’ short fiction. In other words, we are working hard and are very busy helping emerging authors, while at the same time making a business of it (mutual benefit).

We wrote this long retort because, regardless of the dubious qualifications of commentators in this forum, publicly accessible electronic postings stick around a very long time and gets picked up by Google and other search engines. It would be good to have our say equally visible, particularly on points of fact. We currently have eighteen new authors who are doing their damnedest to break into the market and we are doing everything we can to help them.

Are members of this fine forum helping them?

Latest Titles on Kindle

Drum roll! At last, our latest titles are now on Kindle (that means ALL our titles are on Kindle):

Blood Contract, by Biola Olatunde (adventure/social commentary) and

The Devil Came East, by Geri Fitzsimmons & Andy Stephenson (crime thriller).

Excellent prices for quality fiction.

- The IFWG Publishing Team

Apologies - Newsletter October

Hello once again, and once again sincerest apologies for the lateness of this month's newsletter!

As you're all aware, everyone here at IFWGP is extremely busy - rest assured the newsletter will be out in the first half of next week!

**UPDATE**

Newsletter is now on its way. In it are details of our new releases and ways you can get involved with The Great Giveaway. Apologies again! EC

IFWG Publishing Great Giveaway Draw #1

Twitter, blog, newsletter and Facebook entries were combined, and the lucky winner for the 1 October 2010 draw is a Twitterer, @dazzzen (Darren Watson, London, England).

We had lots of entries, so thank you!

Remember, those who entered are still in for the next two draws, and those in the Newsletter get the bonus draw on 1 December.

IFWG Publishing Team

The Great Giveaway - First Draw Draws Near!

It's nearly October 1st - which means it's nearly time for us to pull the first name out of the hat for The IFWGP Great Giveaway!

If you've not yet entered or have simply forgotten how to, check this very blog for the rules - you have only 2 days to enter the October draw, but there is still plenty of time to enter the November one!

Fair fortune to all who have entered!

EC

Hidden Tentacle Art Exhibition - Featuring IFWG Authors

The art group Hidden Tentacle are setting up their art exhibition - and our authors are going to be part of it!

A selection of our authors' finest short stories will be on display with the artwork of the incredibly talented Hidden Tentacle group. If you're based in England and fancy a long drive, why not pop up to Beningborough Hall near York and take a look? It's open from 17th September, Sunday to Wednesday 11am-5pm. It'll also be up for the food and craft weekend, the 25th and 26th September, which is free entry.

And if you aren't based in England, don't fret - Hidden Tentacle are avid bloggers, and will put up pictures of the exhibition for all to see on their blogspot blog.

Among the authors are:
Jack Eason (author of Onet's Tale)
Gerry Huntman (author of Guardians Of The Sky Realms, release date to be confirmed)
And Esme Carpenter.

We hope you can make it, and if not, we hope you will send your most positive thoughts towards Beningborough Hall!

EC

Writer Profile: Geri Fitzsimmons & Andy Stephenson

We have two authors who have collaborated on a wonderful crime thriller.

Geri Fitzsimmons

Geri a native New Yorker, who fled the state at an early age, but continued to return, resides now in the town of Whitesboro, NY as a member of a large extended family in the immediate Upstate area.

Her years of roaming this great land from the deserts of New Mexico to Ocean beaches of South Jersey, often alone and scared, started her people-watching, fantasizing, and eventually writing about the secret lives she could give these strangers. When she encountered Andy Stephenson a fire was ignited and they commenced in the winter of 2008 to combine their abilities to create The Devil Came East.

Andy Stephenson


Andy Stephenson, forced to write a poem in the second grade, froze in front of the class, unable to speak, when expected to recite it.  Thus began his writing career.    To impress a high school girl, he began writing more poetry and was first published in 1970.  He's been published many times in spurts in small periodicals.    Writing mostly songs over the years, in 2005 he changed his creative efforts to stories, novellas, and novels.  October 2007, he produced and self-published, 'One More Time, America', containing twenty-one songs he'd written or co-written.

In February 2008, he teamed up with Geri Fitzsimmons to write The Devil Came East, his first completed novel.   He loves to co-write and to encourage others to strive for their dreams.

He is owned by and resides with five cats in Norman, Oklahoma, his favorite city, pursuing his creative interests

The Devil Came East

Had Dr. Neil Harris, a sincere, genuine psychiatrist and radio talk show host, not become concerned, the killing rampage of the devil might have gone unnoticed. Perhaps, the authorities would have never discovered the trail of bodies in his wake. The young women who died might have been destined to be no more than a statistic, one among a number of tragic deaths of girls who'd lost their will to live, among the masses of New York City.

The devil disguised his crimes well until Neil mentioned his concerns to his long time friend, Detective Sergeant Joseph Farley of the 61st precinct of the NYPD. From his conversation with Neil, Farley decides to delve into what turns out to be a string of killings by a serial killer, knowing neither remorse nor fear.

Joe Farley and his men strive to catch the devil before he strikes again or escapes to hunt victims in another locale, while they face personal problems and the politics of the city of New York.

The devil targets his next victim....

The Cover Artist: Isaiah Stephens

Born in the Artistic city of Lowell , Ma in 1988, from the age of 5,Isaiah spent a great portion of his youth in the rural town of Raeford, NC until 2005 when he returned to his birthplace.

Having a tumultuous relationship with his adopted guardian, he turned to drawing and writing as outlets to express himself. Now he is content with writing and drawing all the time.

He lives in his hometown now and works as an amateur freelance artist and story writer . His artistic icons are Greg Horn, J. Scott Campbell, Randy Green and Chuck Close.

Sketchy yet realistic is the style he like to play with. A gallery of his works can be found at www.isaiahs.deviantart.com/gallery .

Artists and Us

Here at IFWGP, all creativity is good creativity, and we love to join forces with like-minded people. Currently we're working with the talented individuals at Hidden Tentacle, an art group based in York, England, to produce some fine artwork and collaborative story projects.

Our first joint venutre will be an exhibition at Beningbrough Hall where some of our teams' short stories will sit alongside the fine art of HT's members. The artists there are also interested in helping to create cover art and illustrations for our new and existing authors should they wish for some extra creative input or if they don't know where to turn for their novel's cover!

HT have both a blog and a website. Have a look!

Hidden Tentacle Official Website
Hidden Tentacle Blog

The Great IFWG Publishing Giveaway!!!

IFWG Publishing is about to stop taking manuscript submissions for the next six months (to end March 2011) in order to consolidate our busy schedule of new releases. To celebrate our great line up, and to share in our gratitude for such an overwhelming response from authors, we have decided to give away a series of signed copies of our latest titles. Our giveaway will run for three months and take two forms:

1. Monthly - September, October & November

On the first of October, November and December we will announce one winner (for each date). The winner will receive three signed copies of Page Dancers anthology (various authors), Knorrasky: The Deception (R.A. Knowlton), and Onet's Tale (Jack Eason).

To get this giveaway, you have to register yourself in the following services. You will remain in the running for as long as the giveaway runs, although you will only be able to win once. Each registration can only be done once, but if you use two or all three, it doubles or trebles your chance to get the giveaway.

• Follow us on Twitter at @IFWGPublishing. Post "I am registered in the @IFWGPublishing Great Giveaway".
• Follow us at Facebook (IFWG Publishing) and post "I am registered in the Great Giveaway".
• Follow this Blog site and comment "I am registered in the Great Giveaway".

2.  From Now to end November 2010

As a separate giveaway arrangement, if you register for our monthly Newsletter, and write in the comments box "I am registered in the Great Giveaway", you have  chance for the same prize pack as the Monthly draw, but you will also receive a signed ARC of The Devil Came East by Andy Stephenson and Geri Fitzsimmons. This will be drawn on 1 December 2010.

NEWSFLASH (date: 25 August 2010)

Due to unprecedented manuscript submissions, IFWG Publishing will have to close to submissions from 1 September 2010 to 31 March 2011. We will literally be publishing titles throughout the period and we need to focus on them. It gives us time to breath. We apologize to those who have considered submitting during this period, but rest assured, we will be happy to receive submissions from April next year.

We will continue to be open to short story and article submissions for our Story Quest Contest and SQ Magazine lines.

 

Gerry Huntman

Chief Editor

IFWG Publishing

SQ Magazine #1 About To Be Published!

Finally! It took us a little while but we have finally got there. We promised a July publishing, but it ended up end August. With the processes now ironed out, the next edition will be on time.

SQ Magazine, this year, covers any genre of literature, but you will see that it is oriented strongly toward specfic. Not a coincidence really, as our followers know this. Edition #3 onwards will be limited to specfic.SQ Magazine at IFWG's web site

We have 54 pages containing 14 short stories - yes, 14!, including our first Story Quest Contest winner and finalist entries. We have an interview with Jack Eason (who kindly let us publish a short story waaaay out of his usual genre space), and we a very different take on how to write speculative fiction - a continuing series. And there's more.

Here is our cover, in line with Story Quest #1's theme of a shining knight, and we're grateful indeed to Andrew Herman for allowing us to publish it.

In 1 to 2 weeks the magazine will be available in print format. It will be able to be ordered through Amazon or our site for $6.99US plus $3.50US P&H - for US residents. Kindle and other ebook formats will be available this weekend for $3.00 US. A bargain, for what you get.

Great work, team!

Writer Profile: R. A. Knowlton

R. A. Knowlton is a native of the state of Maine. He was born upstate but lived most of his childhood in southern Maine near Wells. His extended family line includes: Searles, Little, Peabody, Kennedy and Ketch. His love for writing only blossomed in the last few years - prior to that he worked in the construction industry. Now he is a full time writer and publisher, a pastime he much prefers.

He is married and has several children, most grown and out on their own. He and his wife love to travel and have been to every state except Hawaii. Their trip to Alaska was an adventure! He has also been to Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas.

On many sites on-line R.A. is known as KnorraSky and on others they call him The Storyteller.

R.A. is certainly The Storyteller - he tells great tales and enjoys others telling them too. We (four of us, including R.A.) formed IFWG Publishing for the express purpose of helping good authors become great, and R.A is a major driving force in this endeavor. He is the Managing Director of IFWG Publishing - but is also a top writer by himself. He published Knorrasky: The Deception through IFWG Publishing, and it was, in fact, the company's first publication. He has also published a collection of short stories, and an instruction book associated with the building industry. He is a Next Generation Indie Book Finalist.

This is the cover of R.A.'s book. Here is the blurb:

KnorraSky: the Deception, is an exciting story of courage and heartbreak amidst a medieval setting. The opening pages describe a confident king, Noman, who leads his people without hesitation. Soon things changes when during an epic battle a Deception occurs and Noman is forced to confront his worst fears. KnorraSky: the Deception covers 3000 miles and five years as King Noman tries desperately to regain what he has lost.

IFWG Publishing August Newsletter

Please click here to gain access to our pdf August Newsletter.

August Newsletter

Hello all!

The August newsletter is now winging its merry way to you. Included:

• Information on our recent releases and our new authors, including Biola Olatunde and our very own Gerry Huntman
• The new release date for the SQ Magazine
• Our submission dates

... And more!

And if you aren't signed up for the newsletter, get it done! Go to www.ifwgpublishing.com and sign up to get our monthly update.

Esme Carpenter

Writer Profile: Jack Eason

Born in the English county of Suffolk in 1948, from the age of ten, Jack spent most of his life in New Zealand until 2000 when he returned to his birthplace.

After military service in the 1960's, he traveled the world, visiting many places, speaking with many peoples over the years. Now he is content to write and travel via the Internet.

He lives in semi-retirement surrounded by  his favorite books, ranging from historical fact to science fiction. His literary icons are J.R.R Tolkien, George Orwell, Arthur C Clarke and John Wyndham.

"Onet's Tale" is his first foray into the world of Heroic Science Fiction and publishing.

We met Jack fortuitously via Facebook, and learned of his love of science fiction and his efforts in trying to publish his work. With a little bit of dialogue and some reading, it was clear to us that he had something worthwhile to offer to the reading public (and so did Paul Goat Allen - spec-fic reviewer for Barnes and Noble). Since publishing his first novel, Onet's Tale, Jack has worked very hard to promote it, and also has been a staunch supporter of IFWG Publishing. 

This is the cover of Jack's first book, published this year by IFWG Publishing. And here is the blurb:

Onet's Tale is a classic tale of good versus evil, but it is interspersed with unexpected and challenging twists. It is an epic science fiction, spanning eons. It is mythic in scope and theme.

Onet is an ancient being whose sole purpose is to trap and remove the evil he awaits. He is the story teller.

Onet’s tale takes us across the cosmos as our heroes, transformed into magnificent berserker warriors, are caught up in an ancient intergalactic power struggle between the Alliance of Planets, led by a consortium of Human and Nephile nations, and their arch enemy, the Drana Empire, who use Onet's own kind - the Khaz - to carry out their spying, and expedite their evil intent across countless worlds.

Just when Onet finally believes he has captured his evil foe, the story changes yet again for the worse...

Delays

Okay, apologies to all - the August newsletter will be a little late.

Here at IFWGP we've been absolutely swamped with some brilliant manuscripts and new ideas to make the company spread its wings a little further. All will be revealed - as soon as the newsletter comes out!

In the meantime, check out some of our other links at the bottom of the screen. Our Twitter is updated regularly with news of upcoming novels and updates on our publishing processes. We also have a Facebook page, and a forum where interested authors can get involved.

Best wishes to all - hope it's sunny where you are!

Esme Carpenter
Customer Relations

A reminder of what we do, and don't do (sort of)

This blog is new and it occurred to me that stuff we posted in Twitter, FB, our web site and also our wiki site, is not reflected here. I don't want to go entirely granular, but there are important messages to give. Perhaps to begin with, a catalog of our services might be a good starting point.

1. We are a traditional publisher. We started as a hybrid publisher but we quickly grew and turned to traditional publishing only (in fact the growth was so quick, we actually ONLY published traditionally).
2. We started off publishing almost anything, "as long as it was good". It is changing fast now, again, because it is part of our growth. Basically, we publish speculative fiction, children's fiction, and non-fiction (if is it is good). We also publish magazines, with no real need to be genre specific. 
3. We are a small and vibrant team. We believe in loyalty. Authors who published outside of our descoped genres/types, will be supported for as long as they want to be.
4. Twice a year we run the Story Quest Short Story Contest. For the two contests this year (one already completed), the main prize is an automatic journey to title publication with us. There is a similar subcomponent prize for illustration.
5. Twice a year we publish SQ Magazine, which is a literary journal that runs as an extension of our team, our authors, and the finalists of the Story Quest Contest. One is about to be published, and it is chock full of great short stories and articles (not to mention a super cover).

Over time we have learned much. Sometimes the hard way. It also sometimes seems to act against our main mission, which is to give upcoming authors a chance at being published, to make good writers better. For example, we have had to develop a policy on authors who were self-published, who wanted to transition to traditional publishing - this was never directed at any one author, but just reflected some commercial realities that we have had to learn.

Nevertheless, we have had an enjoyable ride and are publishing very worthwhile titles, giving authors an opportunity to get a 'leg up' toward their goals and aspirations. We have already revealed on this blog one of our authors, we will fairly rapidly show the others in the next few weeks.


Gerry
Chief Editor

Writer Profile: Biola Olatunde

We thought we would provide author profiles here and there, just so you get a feel for who is up and coming. We decided to start with Biola, whose inaugural novel will be published in the next month or two.

With more than 30 years experience as  a scriptwriter and producer, Biola has written more than 200 stories for both radio and television.

She is an alumnus of the Dramatic Arts department Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

A professionally trained newscaster, she went independent some 23 years ago. She got involved in intervention drama to help change attitudes towards behavioral change and so created a series for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on teenage reproductive health, “I NEED TO KNOW” It was so successful that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) got involved and had it adapted into radio as well as in two of the major languages. It was shown on national, state and private television and radio in the country as well as on a satellite television.

Biola has always been interested in bringing social issues to public attention using drama and has thus written for USAID on maternal health, Democracy and Governance, Womens issues, and HIV/AIDS.

She was given a distinguished alumni award from the Dramatic Arts Department of her alma mater O.A.U Ife, in recognition of her contributions to the growth of the legacy of Dramatic Art.

She is also a poet.

It really was by good fortune that we met Biola through Facebook and she decided to chance sending her manuscript to us. We saw great potential, and the rest is history. Biola's novel is a short novel, against the norm, but it is a wonderful work. It is an action adventure, set in an exotic location, and the characters are all real. What especially attracted us to the story, however, is the extent to which Biola drew from real life settings, and her probing interest in social issues. This is not a clinical novel, but it is based on what is happening in Nigeria today. In other words, Blood Contract is a social commentary.

This is current proof of the cover of Blood Contract. It pretty much sums up the adventure of the novel. 

Finally, Here is the current blurb for the novel:

Ken (Kenawari) left his village in the Niger Delta region many years ago, carrying with him emotional scars. However, he did make a life for himself in the city and built a reputation as a slick troubleshooter in inter-village disputes, of which there were many. He was one of the best operators on the books of the private security firm he worked for.

Then it happened. There was trouble in his tribal home. Reluctantly he agreed to return. Not only has he got to settle a dispute that resulted in kidnapping, and tread gingerly through the political minefield of the region - including local robber barons, but he also has to face the most fearsome obstacles of all - his past.

Blood Contract is not just an adventure set in the dangerous swamps of the Niger Delta, it is also the story of a man who is imperfect and must finally find some reconciliation with his past. Most of all, Biola Olatunde provides the reader with a vivid social commentary of the lives and challenges of those who live in this most neglected of corners of the earth.

Welcome to the IFWGP Blog

Welcome to all!

This is the brand new IFWGP blog, where (hopefully) we will have short blurbs of our up and coming books, guest blogs by our authors and editors, and news about the company and what you can do to get involved.

I hope everything on here will be useful to our followers - including any short rants about my own authorial failures, if only that you learn from my mistakes!

Good to have you on board. Hope it's a smooth journey!

Your friendly blogger,
Esme Carpenter
Customer Relations