I’ve got far too much work to do on this lovely Monday, so excuse the brief post. But I wanted to mention a few things coming up you’ll want to be sure not to miss.
The first is a Carnival of Christian Writers happening right now through the diligent work of Gina Conroy and Michelle Pendergrass. Stop by and sample some of the great conversations going on around our little corner of the blogosphere.
Second, I posted an announcement a while back about Relief Journal partnering with the much-anticipated arrival of Ankeny Briefcase. And now your patience has finally paid off: Relief debuts in November. Jules Quincy Stephens conducted some excellent interviews with the editors over at The Master’s Artist: here, here, and here. Bravo to Kim, Ben, Heather, Mark, and Karen for their hard work. For those of you wondering who Relief is for, Kim gives a good sound-bite summary here:
"Because there are many that want to know exactly what to expect when they pick up a Christian book, Christian publishers face a lot of pressure to keep their books ‘safe for the whole family,’ to keep from offending any of their readers. They can’t necessarily afford to publish authenticity because conservative Christians boycott the books. So while there are many that hope for more from Christian lit, they often shop the shelves of secular bookstores rather than hope for the proverbial diamond in the rough in the Christian section. It is this audience that we are trying to target with Relief. Since we are willing to offend some, I envision Relief using this freedom to allow Christians to write for mature adults rather than gearing everything they write towards being safe for children. And if that means we make little or no money, well, that’s fine with us. We’re not in it for the money."
For my part, no official endorsement of the journal is either expressed or implied (at least until my foreword in the premiere issue gets me canned). But personally, Kim’s statement leaves me imagining a new favorite literary excursion away from our hard industry realities…"relief" indeed.
Happy reading, folks.
Thanks Mick.
If your forward gets you canned, you can always join me here at Relief. Just remember: it isn’t about the money. :)
And of course Mark is offering to put up you and the family if you’re willing to relocate. It snows a lot where he’s at now so you may adjust quite well.
Here’s to hoping the forward doesn’t get you canned (can I present a toast here or will that get me canned? Or toasted?) :)
I’m looking forward to seeing what Relief has to offer as soon as they open for international customers. An e-book option would be a great way to go to save on international postage.
I’m a-working on it, Vanessa. I just put the first issue to bed, and now I can concentrate on everything else. Look for a significant upgrade to the ecommerce capabilities as a whole soon, plus international shipping options.