Letter From The Editor (taken from the July 2013 Newsletter)

Another short and sweet editorial for this month, readers.

IFWG Publishing is pleased to announce, with effect immediately, the creation of an Australian imprint of IFWG Publishing. This doesn't really change much on the surface, for readers and authors, but there are a lot of good things that come out of this.

The reasons why we are doing this, and the benefits, can be outlined below:

1. For non-US authors, sending shipments of books from the US to the country of destination places a large amount of overhead on the author and publisher (in terms of time and money). This new arrangement has printing and distribution centered in Australia for Australian books, but with the flexibility of printing and distributing overseas (same infrastructure company is used - Ingram/Lightning Source).
2. A sizeable portion of our authors are Australian, and the majority of works are Australian in content. We really need to capture the local market as a priority, and see later if we want to 'internationalise' it. This means we want Australian printed books written in Australian English, for Australian audiences. This makes a lot of sense to us.

So in the coming months, we will carry out the following, in rough order of priority:

• Publish Kings of Under-Castle in the Australian imprint, instead of the International (and convert to Australian English). The ebook is already published, but an Australian English version will also be published.
• Publish Paper Magic in the Australian Imprint, instead of the International.
• Publish the third Brumbies novel in the Australian imprint.
• Adjust printer and distribution locations for the first two Brumbies books.
• Re-publish A Magpie Called Will in Australian English in the Australian Imprint.
• Publish Sealskin Coast in the Australian Imprint.
• Publish The Adventures of Teddy and Karl in the Australian Imprint.

No doubt there will be more, but this is plenty of work for our new imprint.

Gerry Huntman
Chief Editor
IFWG Publishing

Letter From The Editor (taken from IFWG Publishing Newsletter June 2013)

It isn't breaking news that IFWG Publishing has been in a bit of a hiatus over recent months. This is the classic issue that any small publisher faces - when there are a few critical people, if they are out of action, then, well, nothing much happens. The good news is that all key personnel are back on deck, and the ship is being rounded to its designated course. Sail ho!

We have some important tasks to take care of first, related to better reporting and royalty payment infrastructure - stay tuned on this. Immediately following that we are tackling our very significant backlog of titles. First cab off that rank is getting our ebooks that don't have print versions, onto trade paperback. Some are long overdue. Following that we have some fantastic titles that are eagerly awaiting release. We will shortly do a bit of pre-publishing marketing as they deserve it. Finally, we will catch up on the remainder of 2013's releases.

Needless to say we will be busy. Good busy, however.

Gerry Huntman
Chief Editor
IFWG Publishing

Great Review of Biola Olatunde's Numen Yeye

Clara Freeman provided a complimentary review of Biola Olatunde's Numen Yeye, a novel that bridges between the spirit world and terra firma reflected in a village in Nigeria. It is a fantasy story but it is ringed in truth about superstition and deep-centered truth. It preserves, in this Western edition of the novel, as much of the Nigerian English idiom as possible, which adds to the color and texture of the narrative.

Visit Clara's site a few times, because Biola will soon have an interview posted in the blog.

Notes from the Editor (taken from May 2013 IFWG Newsletter)

For a change, instead of discussing what we are publishing, I want to spend a little time on SQ Mag, the ezine that we publish, but we don't manage.

Let me explain.

IFWG Publishing has always had an ethos of helping new authors. We do this by publishing many such writers, but we also established some years ago a print magazine called "SQ Magazine". It was an experiment, and in fact it succeeded in producing 3 large editions, with a lot of very good fiction. However, we realized it was following a business model that was not in line with what the market is currently operating under. We chose last year to take the plunge.

In March 2012 we ceased production of 'SQ Magazine' and replaced it with 'SQ Mag', a 6 per year ezine, with an annual 'best of' anthology. We also decided we would start off free, to show to the world that we were serious about making it work, and more importantly, that we still want to publish new talent. Sophie Yorkston agreed to continue her excellent Editor In Chief role.

To make SQ Mag work, we decided that it needed to have its own financial arrangements, and not be reliant on funding from IFWG Publishing, nor to muddy accounting. The end result was an agreement with IFWG Publishing that the company would support the ezine with 'intangible assets', such as web infrastructure, and IFWG would publish the 'best of' anthology, but only recoup publication costs. This is very generous. The net result is that any donations, or after-cost profits of the anthology (and aside from royalty sharing with contributors), SQ Mag has a source of income. They are also considering merchandizing. This is why SQ Mag is independently managed. This is also why they are are able to continue to support new writers.

As of 2nd May 2013, SQ Mag has decided to elevate its market status to 'token', which means that they now pay a small sum to all authors whose work are published. This is, in the scheme of things, a small step, but it is a critical step to progress to the next level of payment to authors. For SQ Mag, and for IFWG Publishing, this is in fact a big deal. Very big. It elevates SQ Mag into a PAID market, and the industry notices this. Authors notice this. This is an opportunity to get a stronger reader base, and attract more author submissions. Hopefully we get more donations.

I ask you to spread the word that SQ Mag is now a paying market. I would also urge you to ask your friends, family and acquaintances to go to www.sqmag.com and read Issue 8, which is second to none. They will immediately see what SQ Mag can produce.

I would like to close this editorial with an observation. Edition 8 of SQ Mag is something special. Not only is it the largest and most talent-filled edition yet, it is also devoted entirely to short fiction by women writers. This is a bold move and makes a strong statement about how much talent and skill exists in the female strata of the speculative fiction writing community, as well commentary on the lingering discrimination in areas of the industry. Well done, Sophie Yorkston!

Gerry Huntman
Chief Editor
IFWG Publishing

Significant Review of Biola Olatunde's Numen Yeye

It is with immense pleasure to have read a glowing review of Numen Yeye, by Biola Olatunde, in the Nigerian newspaper The Hope. This is a regional broadsheet with a readership of at least one million people. More importantly, this is a Nigerian review of a novel that IFWG Publishing has taken great pains in ensuring the story is readable for Western World English readers, and yet retain the style and quality of the Nigerian idiom. It appears we have passed with flying colors from a local point of view - and we are relieved and very proud of this achievement.

The review, titled 'Predetermination and man's earthly mission', was written by the reviewer, Sunmola Olowookere.

Here are a few snippets from the full-page review:

"This work of fiction by this seasoned writer, Biola Olatunde is not a novel for the ordinary man, it is for deep thinkers who are striving for higher and ennobling recognitions and the human link with the spiritual world."

"The novel, Numen Yeye, is about intertwining worlds and it teaches about predestination. The novel also has satiric qualities as the readers become aware of the ills of polygamy and extended families. It also gently scoffs at Nigerians' show of religiousity which had not helped in solving our problems. It also encourages female education."

"It is a work rich with cultural practices of the Yoruba people. While the author does not bore the reader with traditional mumbo-jumbo, it has brought home to us that we cannot forget our roots and our links to what has been before our existence."

"The author, in this work, has outdone herself. Her understanding of man's existence and the importance of understanding his purpose in life is portrayed in Imole Ife [main character] and her desire to understand her mission in life."

"Really, I want to say the readers who know Biola Olatunde and the richness of her prose could not have expected anything less than the dexterity she exhibited in Numen Yeye."

From The Editor: April 2013 Newsletter

In this editorial I will do my last retrospective for this year, focusing on our publications of 2012.

2012 was in many ways a good year for IFWG, as we had perfected a number of our publishing processes. However, we also were affected by a few natural events as well as personal that caused some delays in several of our titles, and in which we are only now starting to recover from. Nevertheless we published a fair number of titles.

We kicked the year off very quickly with the publication of Ferryman, by Jonathan Wise, a wonderful post-apocalyptic tale with strong grounding in characterization and original storyline. I cannot say much more about this story as the twists require me to give too much away.

Shortly after Jonathan's title, we published Blackthorns of the Forgotten by Bree Donovan, a story with many unique facets. This story is courageous as it explores the nature of love in many dimensions, and yet maintains a great pace of contemporary fantasy set largely in modern Ireland.

Our own Esme Carpenter published her first novel Against the Elements in late January 2012 (yes, we published three novels in January 2012!), an early teen (middle grade) fantasy of relentless pace set in a world reminiscent of Ancient Greece. This was our second middle grade novel and since then, IFWG Publishing has viewed this audience as an important target for future publications.

Later in the first half of 2012 we published KnorraSky: The Earth Blade, volume 2 of the KnorraSky series, by R.A. Knowlton. This heroic fantasy piece fluidly continues from the conclusion of KnorraSky: The Deception, further developing well-loved characters and introducing new. This was our first sequel, so it holds a special place in our hearts.

Aside from tornadoes and flooding, later in the year we published Bounty Hunter by MF Burbaugh, an Arthurian-inspired fantasy that explores the nature of revenge and faithfulness to higher causes (and, may I add, a little saucy in places). A great adventure.

Elizabeth Lang's sequel to The Empire, The Rebels, was published, to high acclaim by critics. Again, characters loved and hated continue their drama, and some very interesting new characters are introduced.

Geraldine Fitzsimmons' Unlikely Hero was published, which is a police and espionage thriller - powerful and riveting to readers - set in Ireland and the USA, during the 'Troubles'. This was one of the few non-speculative fiction novels published in the year.

Biola Olatunde's Numen Yeye was published later in 2012, an amazing work of contemporary African fantasy, in many ways submerged deep into Nigerian culture, the wonder of their religion, but also an expose of the damage of superstition. This work was a long, great labor of love, as it had to retain the nuances of Nigerian idiomatic English while still be 'translated' sufficiently into US English to be appreciated by Western audiences.

We published the third sequel of the year, Brumbies in the Snow, second of five children's novels in the Brumbies series written by Paula Boer, set in outback Australia - a beautifully illustrated horse story (Rowena Evans is the illustrator). This book has already been very well received in Australia, as was Brumbies.

Talking about Australia, in December 2012 we published Tasmanian Michael B Fletcher's collection of tales about two rogues, Pickel and Weasle who live in sewers beneath a royal palace - Kings of Under-Castle. This is our first collection of short stories by a single author, and only the second anthology since Page Dancers in 2010.

So that is it - a good collection of titles for 2012, with no small number of books written for the younger folk, three sequels, and a collection of short fiction.

Next month I am hoping to provide you with news of our new titles, and upcoming books for later in the year.

Gerry Huntman
Chief Editor
IFWG Publishing

IFWG Writer Holding Workshop With Kids at Writer's Festival

Here's a few snaps of Paula Boer, author of the Brumbies series, holding a workshop with children at the Snow Writer's Festival in Australia's Snowy Mountains.