Season's Greetings

The team at IFWG Publishing, and SQ Mag would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a joyous, fulfilling New Year!

We have had a very good first two years of publishing, and we look forward to many ahead of us.

Have a safe time during this period of festivity.

SQ Mag to become an eZine with annual print Anthology

IFWG Publishing will be transforming SQ Magazine into an eZine from March 2012 and will print an annual ‘Best Of’ print and ebook anthology in tandem with it. The reasons for this decision are many and complex, and it is worthwhile spending a few paragraphs explaining our philosophy and attitude toward change.

IFWG Publishing was formed in late 2009 and commenced publishing in January 2010. The four of us established the company for essentially three reasons, and they form our continuing core values:

1. We believe that there is a real need for more publishers in our industry who are willing to take on, and invest in, emerging authors, particularly in the speculative fiction genres and subgenres.
2. We believe that we can be a viable, maintainable speculative fiction publishing business.
3. We believe that we can be a publisher with an industry accepted reputation for excellence.

When we started we set ourselves goals and created a business and delivery plan that consisted of several elements. The prime element was to publish about a dozen titles a year—this we achieved for our first year, and the success will be repeated at the close of 2011.

We frequently review our goals and plans, and we have certainly jettisoned some of the elements over time. Two goals did emerge early on and are key to this discussion: The Story Quest Short Story Contest, and SQ Magazine. Both these initiatives were felt to contribute to all three core values, but in particular number 1.

The Story Quest Short Story contest was created with the view to attracting new writers to the reading public. It started as a two contest per year event, with no genre restrictions. Prizes at the time reflected IFWG’s core values—the winner would be given the opportunity to have a large body of work published through traditional means; the winner and short listed authors would have their stories published in SQ Magazine—being the prime technique to expose new writers to the reading public.

SQ Magazine was named after the Story Quest contest. This, at the time, seemed to reflect the synergy between the two initiatives. We started by not being restricted to genres, but with the view to moving to speculative fiction—this we did in 2011. We followed the philosophy of publishing new authors fastidiously—and will continue to indefinitely. 

Both our initiatives have been, in our view, successful, albeit with a relatively small footprint in the publishing and speculative fiction domains. This was expected, as we believe it takes time to build ‘street cred’.

Now to the specific reasons/background to why we are making this major change.

• Print magazines are in decline, especially for small publications, and this in turn ups the unit production cost, which in turn declines sales. Get the rather nasty spiralling pattern?
•  eZines are in the ascendency—they are more popular, are ultimately more easy to produce, and are more flexible with different business models.
• Our magazine schedule is harder impacted by delays than our title schedules—as a small publisher we need to find a way to address this, and ezine production is a good solution.
• Finally, our production of the magazine through Amazon has been king-hit with a price increase—this really was the final blow.

The ‘final blow’ meant that our plans to moving to ezine after SQ Magazine #4 or #5 (middle to late 2012) has now been moved forward to early 2012. We are aiming for March 2012 to go live. The ezine will be rebadged to ‘SQ Mag’.

We see this as a smart move. We are following a model that has a much better opportunity for author exposure to readers, and the yearly anthology that will publish the best 20 or so stories for a year, will satisfy authors who wish for print (and ebook). Readers will get a boost in quality and quantity of short fiction—for free.

Transition, however, is always a companion of pain and inconvenience. SQ#4 was due in December 2011/January 2012, but the ezine won’t be ready by then. We are in about to go into negotiation with authors who submitted to SQ prior to this announcement, to make sure they are happy with the processes of change. We need to construct our website. And so forth.

The details of what we will produce will come soon. I can foreshadow this much: we will more than DOUBLE the number of short stories that will be published in a year; we will continue to publish a high percentage of emerging writers.

regards

The SQ Mag and IFWG Publishing Team

Discontinuation of PDF Copies of Catalog Titles

IFWG Publishing has recognized, for some time, the emerging black market of PDF copies of published titles, as well as reverse engineering activities. We have finally concluded that we cannot viably offer PDF versions at this stage of the technology. We have therefore immediately withdrawn PDF offers from our catalog.

We should add that technologies are such that those of you who do not want eReader appliances, can easily download Kindle as well as NOOK for PC, and purchase our titles in Kindle or NOOK Book format.

We will be looking at other formats for readers in the near future.

SQ Magazine #3 Is Released!!!

IFWG Publishing is relieved and pleased to announce the release of SQ Magazine #3. The use of exclamation marks as well as the term 'relieved' is because our magazine was the most affected by the delay effect caused by the Missouri Floods - there was a cascading delay effect and it was more important for us to publish our title schedule than the magazine (unfortunately). Any other delays simply added to this accumulated effect.

To make matters worse, we lost a bit of time when we discovered that Amazon had changed its pricing policy - which added considerably to the retail price - we strongly recommend you compare their price (which will appear in a few days) with what we can make available on our site. However, this has caused us to seriously rethink how our business and delivery model should be shaped for the future - stay tuned for that.

In this edition we have 11 short stories by new authors, as well as 3 stories by IFWG Publishing Authors (MF Burbaugh, author of Circle of Seven and We Were Legends; Ian Hall, author of Opportunities: Jamie Leith in Darién; and Gary Alexander Azerier, author of the children's title, Constellation Station). We should add that this edition has an interview with Gary and illustrator Ioanny Dimov, regarding the children's story.

We also have a book review and some articles on writing speculative fiction, including world building.

This is a strong edition, complemented by Roan Carter's fabulous illustration gracing our cover.

IFWG Publishing Closed To Manuscript Submissions Until 1 March 2012

With success comes compromise. We at IFWG are ecstatic with the submissions we have received since opening to manuscript submissions, but it had a powerful side effect - our 2012 calendar is already full.

While we were going to stay open into the new year, and incorporate children's submissions, we have no choice but to shut the pipe for the while.

The process we have decided to use is to open to speculative fiction and children's fiction on 1 March 2012, and remain open until our 2013 publishing calendar is full. We may repeat this process each year, until circumstances change again.

We apologize to those authors who were considering submitting a work in the near future - we simply cannot handle more work for 2012, and it would be grossly unfair to authors to have to wait 18 months or longer to see their work published.

We look forward to new submissions on 1 March 2012.

The IFWG Publishing Team

Larry Ivkovich (author of The Sixth Precept) at Philcon

Larry Ivkovich, author of the recently released urban fantasy, The Sixth Precept, attended Philcon 2011 November 18-20. Apparently he enjoyed the con a great deal, and got many visitors interest in his new title. Those who are going to Megacon next year will see Larry there!

World Launch of Brumbies in Australia

Over eighty people attended the launch of the first of five novels in the Brumbies series, published by IFWG Publishing (Australia).  Brumbies was formally launched by local horseman and former Member of Parliament Peter Cochran at the Raglan Gallery, Cooma, NSW, Australia.

Peter Cochran is descended from a pioneer family that settled in Yaouk in the 1850s on what is now the edge of Kosciusko National Park in the Snowy Mountains. Peter made his first trip across the mountains at eighteen months of age on the pommel of his mother's saddle. Since then, he has been a Vietnam veteran, the Mayor of Cooma and local Federal Member of Parliament. These days, Peter is busy with his family's horse trekking and motel business.

Peter spoke about how the wild horses of Australia came to live in the Snowy Mountains, sharing his experience of their lifestyles in the wild. He claimed that the Brumbies novel captured real life and that the author (Paula Boer) demonstrated an in-depth understanding of horses. Peter hoped that Brumbies would play a significant role in assisting young readers to understand the issues surrounding horses in Australia's natural parks and protect this important part of pioneer heritage.

Paula Boer thanked those people who had helped in the creation of the book, and also presented a copy of the novel to Zoe Bullmore to whom the book is dedicated. Rowena Evans (illustrator) shared the process of developing an illustrated book and how the map of the realistic but fictional environment helped in the creation of this exciting adventure.

The paperback novel is now available in Australia from www.Horsewyse.com.au. The book can also be pre-ordered for delivery after January 1, 2012 direct from the publisher at www.IFWGPublishing.com. 

Brumbies will be available worldwide in paperback and e-book formats from online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble from January 1, 2012.

 

Peter Cochran speaking at the launch of Brumbies 

L to R Paula Boer, Peter Cochran, Peter Boer, Rowena Evans

General view of the launch

 

Illustrations Table

Brumbies on Display at Monaro Books

Paula Boer (author) and Rowena Evans (illustrator) have been busy promoting their new children's novel, Brumbies, in their home town (Cooma, NSW, Australia).

Here the proprietor of Monaro Books and Music, allowed them to set up a window display. They did a wonderful job of it, and notice that Rowena supplied original illustrations from the books, beautifully framed.

It was a sunny day, so there was a bit of reflection on two of these shots, but you can certainly get the idea here.

Best wishes for lots of sales in your home town!

 

 

New Release: The Sixth Precept by Larry Ivkovich

IFWG is excited to announce that The Sixth Precept by Larry Ivkovich is now released. This is an urban fantasy with a difference, and Larry has succeeded in producing a story that will keep the reader turning the pages - it will be hard to read the book in more than one sitting.

Larry already has strong credentials, with a finalist status in the prestigious Writers of the Future awards, and the 2010 recipient of the CZP/Rannu Fund Award for fiction.

At this stage, the book can be purchases from IFWG Publishing, or Amazon. The ebooks will be out shortly.

Brumbies on Sale in Australia

Given the Australian authorship, editing, subject matter and printing of Brumbies, by Paula Boer (illustrator Rowena Evans), we have agreed to exclusive sale to Australian buyers for November and December 2011 by Horsewyse Magazine.

If you are an Australian (or nearby neighbor) you can go now to Horsewyse and purchase a copy (or more!).

For the rest of you, you can preorder copies for a very good price from our site.


Click HERE for Horsewyse Magazine bookstore purchases.

Click HERE for pre-orders from our site for delivery early January 2012.

The Okapi Promise Being Marketed

Paula Boer, had already acquired merchandise (including t-shirt) for her new novel, Brumbies, but decided that they looked so good, she would have a t-shirt made of her last novel, The Okapi Promise - an exciting travel adventure primarily set in various locales in Africa.

IFWG Publishing agrees - it sure looks good!

Pre-Orders Now Being Taken: Brumbies by Paula Boer

Yes, we are taking pre-orders for Brumbies, by Paula Boer (and Illustrator Rowena Evans). We will be launching Brumbies in Australia next week, where Australians can get early purchases of the title through Horsewyse Magazine, but on 1 January 2012, Brumbies will be available worldwide for distribution, including ebooks.

Those who pre-order now get the benefit of a good price, and delivery on or soon after 1 January 2012.

Visit our special page for pre-orders.

New Children's Book Release: Whirl Wind by Jennifer R. Resetar

IFWG Publishing has the pleasure of announcing the release of Jennifer R. Resetar's special children's book, Whirl Wind. Tribute should also be given to John Power's wonderful illustrations.

This IS a special book. It is about a boy who discovers he has super powers - but he isn't an ordinary boy - he has Cerebral Palsy. And yet, the book shows that in fact he is as normal as anyone else. This book isn't really about super heroes. It's about showing that the world is diverse and it is made up of all kinds of people, and we all have challenges. This book also depicts one particulra challenge that many school children have - schoolyard bullying. Again, we are shown how this can be overcome.

This is a labor of love by the author and illustrator, as well as our publishing house. We believe it is as much an educational tool, as it is a young child's tale of superheroes.

This is a special book.

Author's bio and a summary of the story can be found in Jennifer's Bio Site
We also have a bio site for the artist, John Powers.

Available now in Amazon as an ebook, soon in print and NOOK Book formats.

Preordering can take place in Jennifer's Bio Site.

IFWG News: New Cover for Circle of Seven by MF Burbaugh

We are pleased to show you the improved cover of Circle of Seven, by MF Burbaugh, which was released earlier this year. For several reasons, including just a wish to improve on it, we have tweaked it, and believe it looks a great deal better.

New Release: A Magpie Called Will by Peter Rondel

Hot on the heels of Constellation Station, is a wonderful illustrated children's story called A Magpie Called Will, by Western Australian Peter Rondel, and illustrated by New Zealander Frances Hutt. This is a wonderful story about a boy who is playing in his back yard when suddenly he meets a magpie - who talks! And then the amazing things happen! We will say no more - buy it, and enjoy it.

Out in Kindle, and shortly in Print, PDF and NOOK Book.

Release: Constellation Station by Gary Alexander Azerier & Ioanny Dimov

IFWG Publishing is proud to announce the release of Constellation Station by Gary Alexander Azerier and illustrated by Ioanny Dimov. This has been a long project but well worth it. The illustrations are glorious and we can assure you that this work will be nominated for a number of illustrated children's books awards. It's that good.

It is currently released in Kindle format (which doesn't do it justice), and it will shortly be followed by NOOK Book and Print.

Brumbies by Paula Boer - Launch T-Shirt

Paula is modeling her T-Shirt for the Launch of Brumbies in November.

For Australian enthusiasts, the novel will be available for sale from 1 November through Horsewyse Magazine.

Sneak Peak: The Sixth Precept by Larry Ivkovich

IFWG Publishing is very pleased to provide you with a sneak peak of Larry Ivkovich's urban fantasy, The Sixth Precept. It should be out in a week or so, and you will be spell bound by this detective-fantasy, set in modern US as well as feudal Japan - you'll need to read it to work out how this happens!

Wonderful artwork by Isaiah Stephens!

Sneak Peak: Against The Elements by Esme Carpenter

We are proud indeed to reveal the front cover of Esme Carpenter's teen fantasy novel, Against The Elements, to be released in November/December 2011. Esme is a prolific writer and we are fortunate that she has chosen IFWG Publishing to publish her debut novel.

Sneak Peak: A Magpie Called Will by Peter Rondel (illustrator Frances Hutt)

Another children's book coming out very shortly is A Magpie Called Will, by Western Australian Peter Rondel and New Zealander Frances Hutt (illustrator).

This is a delightful children's story set in the suburbs of Perth, Western Australia - but be warned, space and time will be traversed!!!

Here is the latest version of the cover:

IFWG Author On Writing Panel

Die Laughing author, Louis K. Lowy, participated in the Sept. 21 discussion panel 'You're Published! Now Comes the Hard Part’ along with authors Deborah Sharp and Sean Keniff. Louis said, “It was a great turn out and the audience was enthusiastic. I had a blast.” The panel was sponsored by The Writers Network of South Florida and was held at the main branch of The Broward County Library in Fort. Lauderdale, FL.

The following are several pictures of the event.

IFWG's Latest Author at Bridgewater Bookfest, Penn.

Here's a photo of Larry Ivkovich at the 3rd annual Bridgewater Bookfest held in Bridgewater, Pennsylvania. This is organized by members of PennWriters, a Pennsylvania-based writers group which Larry is a member of. They spotlight Pennsylvania authors of all genres and categories. He promoted The Sixth Precept (his upcoming urban fantasy novel through IFWG). Note - the illustration at the front of his table will form the basis of his cover - tremendous art by Isaiah Stephens. More to show later.

Sneak Peak: The Brumbies by Paula Boer & Rowena Evans

IFWG Publishing promised for some time we would be publishing several children/teen books this year, and this is a sneak peak at the cover of Brumbies, by Paula Boer (who previously published the riveting adventure, The Okapi Promise last year with us) and Rowena Evans, a very talented illustrator - who graces the pages of this new title with many fine illustrations.

When city girl Louise moves to the country, she discovers the mountain brumbies are to be killed for pet food. She and Ben, a local farm boy, determine to save as many of the wild horses as they can. Despite opposition, they arrange a muster, but nothing goes according to plan.

Following in the hoof-prints of “The Silver Brumby” and “The Man from Snowy River”, this horse-packed adventure encounters challenges through some of the toughest territory in Australia.

Sneak Peak: Constellation Station

IFWG Publishing is proud to reveal the cover of Constellation Station, its first children's title. It also represents a long collaboration with Gary Alexander Azerier (author) and Ioanny Dimov (illustrator) - the longest project IFWG has carried out.

Expect the release of Constellation Station in the next few weeks - the illustrations are absolutely stunning, and the story enchanting.

Here's the sneak peak of the cover:

IFWG is intensely proud of this title - work commenced in November 2009, and the wait was well and truly worth it.

Visit Gary's bio page for more information.

The blurb for the title is taken from an early page of book:

Karl opened the book of maps. Inside, however, there were no maps. There seemed to be…a story! It began:

Through his room window, Karl could see the night was thick, but he could see pinpoints of gold and patches of orange light scattered along the horizon.

Soon, thought Karl, he would reach Constellation Station. He had been planning this trip for as long as he could remember and now, finally, his dream would become realized..

Story Quest Short Story Contest #3 - Important Policy Change

IFWG Publishing is pleased to announce that it has decided to waive the admin charge for entry. This means that submissions are completely free - all other rules apply, including the cash prizes.

Please visit the contest web page for full details.

Those who have paid will be reimbursed. We look forward to exciting speculative fiction submissions!

Big Turnout At Louis K Lowy's Reading/Booksigning

Louis K Lowy had a special day on 27 August this year, giving a reading of his debut novel, Die Laughing, at Books and Books (Coral Gables, Fl). It was followed by book signings.

Louis has graciously provided us with a few of his snaps.

 

Louis reading from Die Laughing

 

Another moment from his reading

 

An appreciative audience

 

Book Signing in progress...

 

And another signing.

And so it went on. Well done, Louis! and we hope you have many more successful readings and signings in the future!

 

Submission Announcement

We are pleased to announce that we will be open, from 1 September 2011, to unsolicited manuscripts for adult speculative fiction. Children's book manuscript submissions will be open from 1 January 2012.

New Title: Opportunities: Jamie Leith in Darién by Ian Hall.

IFWG is pleased to announce the release of Ian Hall's epic sized historical adventure, Opportunities: Jamie Leith in Darién.

We are also pleased by the illustration by IFWG artist, Roan Carter - watch out for him, as he has also done the cover of SQ Magazine 3!

Ian's novel is currently available in Kindle in the US and UK, as well as NOOK Book. The print version will be available online in just a matter of days.

Sneak Preview of Ian Hall's Opportunities Cover

In a few days we will be releasing Ian Hall's historic novel, Opportunities: Jamie Leith in Darién. Here's a sneak peak of the final front cover:

Story Quest Short Story Contest #3

Hi Folks

The annual (now) Story Quest Short Story Contest #3 is now open for speculative fiction submissions and will close on 1 October 2011. The process of organizing the first two was pleasurable, as we received many quality entries, and the winners and other finalists are top examples of quality short story writing. We also enjoy the collaboration with a non-IFWG staff member guest judge - #1 we had Jack Eason, author of Onet's Tale, and in contest #2 we had Daniel Pearlman, noted academic and science fiction writer.

This year we have Mysti Parker as guest judge, author of her debut fantasy novel, A Ranger's Tale. What makes this contest different from the previous two is that we have replaced the (always limited to 2010) manuscript publishing offer with cash prizes. as well as the short listed short stories being published in SQ Magazine #4. We have also asked for a small entry payment (US$5.00 by PayPal), to cover overheads and to ensure that serious entries are only submitted.

You can submit your speculative fiction short story here.

We look forward to receiving quality submissions again this year.

 The IFWG Publishing Team

Print Release of MF Burbaugh's We Were Legends

We are very pleased indeed to announce the release of MF Burbaugh's science fiction adventure, We Were Legends, in print format.

Visit Amazon to purchase a copy.

Congratulations Skip!

Just Released: Louis K. Lowy's dark humorous scifi novel, Die Laughing

We are pleased to announce that Louis K. Lowy's novel, Die Laughing, is now out in Kindle format - in a day or so it will be out in NOOKBook, and in PDF and print by early August.

Great Review of Louis K. Lowy's Die Laughing (pre-release)

Elizabeth Lang, author of The Empire, contributes an insightful review of Lowy's Die Laughing posted on the popular writer's ezine, Angie's Diary. A great 5 star review!

Well done, Louis!

Last Days of Distribution of Our First Publication

When IFWG Publishing commenced business, it was with great pleasure that we assisted a large bunch of writers who were members of the Storywrite site, to get their collective short stories published. We joined in after the editorial policy and cover design was already set in train, but we helped where we could and got the product published. It is called Page Dancers.

It achieved its prime objective - to get a large number of writers published through traditional means.

As it is a specialized product, and there is no expectation that it will make many more sales, we have decided to stop distribution of the title. By close of business 26 June 2011 (US EST) we will stop distribution.

If any good readers are interested, there are a few more days to purchase it. It is a hefty tome with a huge number of short stories, in almost every genre under the sun. It is unique.

We believe it may end up a bit of a collectors' item, as it is limited in production and many of its writers, no doubt, will become well known, if not famous.

Go here for paperback purchase,

and here for various ebook formats.

M F Burbaugh's New Novel, We Were Legends

We are proud to announce that M F Burbaugh's latest novel, We Were Legends, is now out in Kindle and within a day or two, NOOK Book. The print and pdf versions will also be released very soon.

We are also chuffed that this is our first author who has published a second title with us (the previous novella is Circle of Seven). A great milestone, and thank's Skip!

Jake is a NASA pioneer pilot in a newly developed one-man explorer ship who takes to the stars to escape torment. Odds of survival are less than four in ten, and it is believed NASA pads the statistics.

He is forced to crash on an unknown planet that is dying, as its star gets colder in defiance of the laws of physics. Jake begins his survival quest with a few technological items from his ship and a still-functioning computer. It gets more complex when he rescues a beautiful girl and struggles to overcome the life and death challenges of the planet's inhabitants, mega-fauna, and extreme climate. He discovers a few of Earth's ancient stories of gods and demi-gods that are embroiled in hate, vanity, and what some call magic, are more than myths.

With success or failure, Jake proves that legends are made, not born.

New Look Cover for Elizabeth Lang's THE EMPIRE

We are pleased to announce that Elizabeth Lang's riveting scifi-romance, The Empire, has a new cover. At this stage, it has promulgated to ebook format: Kindle and NOOKBook, and will soon follow in print and pdf.

Oh, and by the way - the cover rocks!

Message regarding The Book Depository from IFWG's Managing Director

Hi everyone.

I looked at The Book Depository site and did a search. It seems that Onet's Tale, Blood Contract, The Devil Came East, KnorraSky and Page Dancers and are available. The others are not.

There is no reason for this since all of our titles are handled the same way. There must be more to it. I contacted our printer about this. I await their answer. When I get it I will send that answer to The Book Depository.
 
R.A. Knowlton

Disappointed

Very disappointed.

For some time now, IFWG Publishing has recommended readers to purchase our titles through The Book Depository (UK and US online stores). We still do, but now rather reluctantly.

Firstly, we should point out that from a US based, international small publisher, The Book Depository is an excellent avenue for our readers to purchase out titles, if they do not live in the US. It is the most cost effective way to purchase our print titles.

However, over recent months our latest titles have been shown on their sites as 'not currently available' or the like, and request the reader place a notification order via their email addresses.

This is very bad for us, and anyone like us.

We currently publish most of our print titles via POD - it is a most cost effective means of publishing, and it literally means that anyone who places an order will have the title printed in a very short time frame, and then shipped. Despite numerous email exchanges - where the answers have been stock and frankly illogical - we are now in the situation where our non-US fans will not be able to purchase our products through The Book Depository. You will not be able to order then and there, and if you place your email address for notification, you will never get notified. Amazing isn't it.

They are cutting significant sales pipelines for us, and as a small publisher, this is critical.

We kindly ask all our fans, acquaintances, professional networkees, and anyone else who would like to burst a massive bubble of nonsense, to contact The Book Depository and ask them to make POD books available for order. Please please cite recent titles by IFWG Publishing as a good example.


Here's to solidarity.


The IFWG Publishing Team

Louis K. Lowy's Video Trailer For His Debut Novel, Die Laughing

IFWG is very pleased to present to you the video trailer for Die Laughing, by Louis K. Lowy. Mr Lowy is talented indeed - his did this work himself. The book will be out shortly.

Plug: Scott S. Colley's Mythica Genesis

IFWG has a lot of friends, and one of our oldest and dearest is Scott Colley, an early member of the Fantasy Writers' Guild. We are pleased indeed to find out he has an epic fantasy released, his debut novel.

His novel can be found in Krullstone Publishing.

Here is a book launch blurb - take a look, you wont be disappointed!

 

Visit http://mythicagenesislaunch.com on the 7th June!

Sneak Preview of new cover for Elizabeth Lang's THE EMPIRE

We are happy to announce that in the very near future, Elizabeth Lang's scifi-romance novel, THE EMPIRE, will have a make-over cover:

And while we are at it, the following is the new blurb:

It will be interesting to discover which will make you beg. Will it be the pain or the pleasure?"

How do you tame a man without breaking his spirit?

The galaxy is under siege from alien invaders. The Empire is the only force that stands in their way, trading the freedom of its citizens for a tenuous security.

Amidst this chaos, Lt. Adrian Stannis is a brilliant scientist trying to stay out of the limelight. He hides on a research vessel plying the Outer Rim and finds peace of a sort with Kali Mirren, a psi-enabled humanoid. But his days of anonymity may be coming to an end. Someone has discovered his secret and is determined to make him pay for his treachery. He must finish the project he abandoned years ago, one the Council deems essential in its fight against the aliens, but things are never that simple where Adrian is concerned.
 

Is he more man than machine, or have years hiding behind a mountain of logic eroded his humanity? Can he survive the tangled web of political expediency and psychological manipulation that surrounds him? 

 

Will Kali be able to save him from himself, or is there a mystery surrounding him that may explode in their faces?

Everyone wants to know the truth, but will it set them free?

Sneak Preview of Cover: Louis K Lowy's Die Laughing

IFWG is excited to provide you with a sneak peak at Louis K. Lowy's new science fiction novel, Die Laughing - a wonderfully humorous, and yet at times poignant, story set in the late 1950s. The cover was designed by Laura Givens, a talented illustrator who no doubt will work with us again. Look to see this novel out in late June/July 2011.

Guest Judge For 2012 Story Quest Short Story Contest

We are pleased to announce that Mysti Parker, fantasy novelist, will be the guest judge for this year's speculative fiction Story Quest Short Story Contest.

Sneak Peak at the Cover of R.A.Knowlton's Upcoming Knorrasky Novel

IFWG Publishing are happy to give you a glimpse of the latest (but not final) draft of Knorrasky: The Earth Blade, by R.A. Knowton.

Floods Affecting Publishing Schedule

The region of Missouri where IFWG Publishing's headquarters is based, has been subject to severe flooding.

Consequently, several titles expected to be published in May and June 2011 will be disrupted.

We will soon provide a 2 month forward schedule of some of our excellent new titles.

regards

IFWG Publishing Team

IFWG Author Wins Prominent Fiction Award

IFWG Publishing are pleased indeed, that one of our newest authors, Larry Ivkovich (his novel, The Sixth Precept, will be published later this year), has won the 2010 ChiZine Publishing/Rannu Fund Award for fiction.

We are very aware that ChiZine Publishing is a highly prestigious small publisher, and their magazine, ChiZine: Treatments of Light and Shade, is one of only a handful of speculative fiction magazines that are recognized by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America professional organization, for membership entry.

Congratulations Larry!

Correction re: SQ Magazine #2

Folks, we found out today that our print and PDF versions of SQ Magazine #2 (not the ebooks) incorrectly attributed one of the illustrations inside (the girl with whip) to Tim Larsen, when it should have been to Exchael Agus. Tim, of course, has other wonderful illustrations inside. Both these artists' work, as well as the graphic novel, Kaina Pt 1, were reproduced in the magazine by kind permission of Artyrian Entertainment. 

Corrections are being made as soon as practicable, with minimal resultant disruption to production.

We want to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to Exchael Angus as well as Artyrian Entertainment, for this error.

MF Burbaugh's novel, We Were Legends nearing release

IFWG Publishing is pleased to announce that MF Burbaugh's second title with us, a science fiction novel, We Were Legends, will be released in Kindle and EPUB format within the week, shortly followed by print and PDF.

Synopsis:

Jake is a NASA pioneer pilot in a newly developed one-man explorer ship who takes to the stars to escape torment. Odds of survival are less than four in ten, and it is believed NASA pads the statistics.

He is forced to crash on an unknown planet that is dying, as its star gets colder in defiance of the laws of physics. Jake begins his survival quest with a few technological items from his ship and a still-functioning computer. It gets more complex when he rescues a beautiful girl and struggles to overcome the life and death challenges of the planet's inhabitants, mega-fauna, and extreme climate. He discovers a few of Earth's ancient stories of gods and demi-gods that are embroiled in hate, vanity, and what some call magic, are more than myths.

With success or failure, Jake proves that legends are made, not born.

IFWG Publishing Artists Featured

We are pleased to have started bio pages for artists who have been involved in illustrating our titles, or covers for our magazines. Visit our site www.ifwgpublishing.com, and click on an artist's name in the drop down menu, "Our Artists".

We have featured their art for us, as well as sample art from their careers.

Enjoy!

Review of Elizabeth Lang's THE EMPIRE, by All Books Review Intl.

    "It will be interesting to discover which will make you beg. Will it be the pain or the pleasure?"

    The brilliantly intelligent scientist; Adrian Stannis suddenly finds himself pulled away from the walls he put up in his own mind, to keep him in solitude. Trapped doing research on a small science vessel far away from others, he finds that for once he must rely on friends he never wanted to make, in order to succeed. Everything he once knew seems to have been destroyed as he's pushed into the middle of political rebellion and an alien invasion. After a strange kind of torture, he is pushed even farther from other beings but his freedom and even his life may depend on the trust he finds so hard to create.

    Elizabeth Lang has created a wonderful story of intrigue and twists and turns that I couldn't put down from the moment I picked it up. The story was interesting and compelling, pushing me towards the end hastily. As an avid reader Ms. Lang has had a passion for science fiction and fantasy since she was young and her love for these things was obvious throughout the well written pages of her work. The characters were well developed, and you could see the differing thought processes in each person and how much they were affected by the situation. I truly began to believe in these characters as I read The Empire; they communicated so realistically amongst each other and had appealing personalities to read about. Elizabeth Lang began her writing career later in life, but once she started she just couldn't stop and I certainly hope that doesn't change, because her words are wonderful. 

    Overall, I was very pleased with The Empire and I found it to be quite an adventure, leaving me wanting more. Hopefully, I will be able to read her other novels and complete the story because I continue to wonder what might happen next. Elizabeth Lang has created a story that will appeal to people on many levels and I hope that she continues writing wonderful stories like this.The Empire is highly recommended by Kirsten Bussière,  www.allbooksreviewint.com

via Writing Raw

Sneak Peak at early cover concept: Ian Hall's Opportunities: Jamie Leith at Darién

We loved Roan Carter's artwork for Ian Hall's upcoming novel so much we wanted to share it with you. Lettering etc will be improved, and the usual formatting, but this is essentially it. As an aside, Roan has also done the art work for the upcoming SQ Magazine #3.

Writer Profile: MF Burbaugh

Born in the post war era of 1947 and raised in the farm country of upstate New York, MF Burbaugh saw ground level life and death.

Joining the Army in 1966 and spending almost two years in Vietnam, he added to that grounding of reality, and after 21 years in the Army he now resides with his wife of forty years in El Paso, Texas.

He writes in the sci-fi/fantasy genre but has a collection of short stories based in the 1860s of a humorous western genre, where he received good reviews. He tries to bring his stories to life such that you feel you are right there.

He writes a weekly column on a website dedicated to aspiring young authors to assist them were he can.

We had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of 'Skip' last year, where we were enchanted by his manuscript, We Were Legends, a science fiction story. This is now in pre-production, but we surprisingly were were presented with a novella, Circle of Seven, late last year, and we fast tracked it into production - and were delighted with the result.

After being kidnapped by pirates, a young earth girl, Myra, finds herself on a strange planet full of magic, hate, and ancient prophesies. Befriended by a Dwarf Princess, she struggles to understand her environment or die.
War looms on the horizon as Elves, Dwarfs, Dragons, and others face the reality of an ancient judgment to come.

This is the story of pirates, death, war, magic, and ancient prophesies.
Myra may hold the key to their planet's destiny in her tiny hands as she struggles to fulfill the ancient writings and stay alive.

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And stay tuned for We Were Legends:

Jake is a NASA pioneer pilot in a newly developed one-man explorer ship who takes to the stars to escape torment. Odds of survival are less than four in ten, and it is believed NASA pads the statistics.

He is forced to crash on an unknown planet that is dying, as its star gets colder in defiance of the laws of physics. Jake begins his survival quest with a few technological items from his ship and a still-functioning computer. It gets more complex when he rescues a beautiful girl and struggles to overcome the life and death challenges of the planet's inhabitants, mega-fauna, and extreme climate. He discovers a few of Earth's ancient stories of gods and demi-gods that are embroiled in hate, vanity, and what some call magic, are more than myths.

With success or failure, Jake proves that legends are made, not born.