Ark Press editors DJ Butler and David Afsharirad took to a podcast last night to drop a bombshell on mainstream publishing by revealing a book contest with big money behind it for the eventual winner.
When you need production, an answer is to throw money around. New entrant needs some differentiator. How long the money spigot lasts and the direction of the pivot are questions for later.
Nice structure for writer recruitment. A top prize of $10k, and there may be smaller prizes of $5k or $2k for others. Good inducement to up their game, and prep for A-C list talent.
LTUE IIRC is a combo writer's workshop and semi-con, held in Utah. Always a lot of good authors there.
The Mormon Spring (Scholastic, Baen, IIRC) like the Australian Spring in SF & Fantasy (Tor) distributed previously ignored /untapped writing talent to wider U.S. audiences. There's a small but mighty Texan spring that bloomed around the early teens.
However, human-nature entropy means that the pipeline gets corroded by requirements that these new authors adapt to corporate culture.
Okay, if that culture is generally Human Wave, U.S. Constitution-loving, and Christ-friendly (albeit not -affirming).
If it's SocJus, Pride, and Christ-hating, the Muses are offended, and refuse to come whisper to the poets.
Maybe Ark can save the Mormon talent pool, as Raconteur is trying to serve the Texan one.
I was just at LTUE 2025 (the 43rd annual!) to run their Editors' Roost table, and it was just as you say: part fan con, part writers' conference, with practical workshops too: actual martial-arts and medieval-weapons workshops to help writers understand how to choreograph realistic fight scenes and battles, etc. (though one of the key presenters in that niche, Christine Nielsen, fell ill and had to cancel her appearances)
LTUE seemed like a really good venue for ARK. It has a wide mix of political persuasions there, so the ARK folks (who seemed friendly and competent) were able to pitch "to the choir" as well as "across the aisle" and to the broad middle contingent. The "centrists" (myself included) were attracted to the idea of "what if America turns out great by 2076? What would that look like and how would it happen?" mostly because it's such a rare idea in speculative fiction. It's why I loved Eric Flint's 1632 alt-history series and Grantville Gazette, which is a series that ARK must be drooling to pick up!
In fact, considering ARK's origins, I wonder why Eric Flint and David Weber aren't on board with it... too busy with other things? Contractual conflicts? Something else?
David Weber has contracts on active aeries, and may need a new set of ideas and characters. Eric Flint's estate (IIRC he passed away) may have similar difficulty in moving the Gazette and 1632 to another publisher.
Personal view- Some big names to start, but Ark needs to bring in and develop younger authors. The big names have written for 30 some years; life and time catch up. The way to find another Flint or Drake is to work with a young, unknown, O'Brian or Howard now. LTUE is a good venue for that.
When you need production, an answer is to throw money around. New entrant needs some differentiator. How long the money spigot lasts and the direction of the pivot are questions for later.
Nice structure for writer recruitment. A top prize of $10k, and there may be smaller prizes of $5k or $2k for others. Good inducement to up their game, and prep for A-C list talent.
LTUE IIRC is a combo writer's workshop and semi-con, held in Utah. Always a lot of good authors there.
The Mormon Spring (Scholastic, Baen, IIRC) like the Australian Spring in SF & Fantasy (Tor) distributed previously ignored /untapped writing talent to wider U.S. audiences. There's a small but mighty Texan spring that bloomed around the early teens.
However, human-nature entropy means that the pipeline gets corroded by requirements that these new authors adapt to corporate culture.
Okay, if that culture is generally Human Wave, U.S. Constitution-loving, and Christ-friendly (albeit not -affirming).
If it's SocJus, Pride, and Christ-hating, the Muses are offended, and refuse to come whisper to the poets.
Maybe Ark can save the Mormon talent pool, as Raconteur is trying to serve the Texan one.
I was just at LTUE 2025 (the 43rd annual!) to run their Editors' Roost table, and it was just as you say: part fan con, part writers' conference, with practical workshops too: actual martial-arts and medieval-weapons workshops to help writers understand how to choreograph realistic fight scenes and battles, etc. (though one of the key presenters in that niche, Christine Nielsen, fell ill and had to cancel her appearances)
LTUE seemed like a really good venue for ARK. It has a wide mix of political persuasions there, so the ARK folks (who seemed friendly and competent) were able to pitch "to the choir" as well as "across the aisle" and to the broad middle contingent. The "centrists" (myself included) were attracted to the idea of "what if America turns out great by 2076? What would that look like and how would it happen?" mostly because it's such a rare idea in speculative fiction. It's why I loved Eric Flint's 1632 alt-history series and Grantville Gazette, which is a series that ARK must be drooling to pick up!
In fact, considering ARK's origins, I wonder why Eric Flint and David Weber aren't on board with it... too busy with other things? Contractual conflicts? Something else?
#Curious
David Weber has contracts on active aeries, and may need a new set of ideas and characters. Eric Flint's estate (IIRC he passed away) may have similar difficulty in moving the Gazette and 1632 to another publisher.
Personal view- Some big names to start, but Ark needs to bring in and develop younger authors. The big names have written for 30 some years; life and time catch up. The way to find another Flint or Drake is to work with a young, unknown, O'Brian or Howard now. LTUE is a good venue for that.
I don’t think we need traditional greedy publishing anymore. Authors deserve more of the money.
What is LTHUE?