Well it looks like Jeff Easley/R. Scott Taylor are up to no good. They're starting a fantasy publishing company trying to bring the "fun" back into fantasy publishing. Com'n I love reading fantasy novels the size of the New York phone book. I want to get whip lash from trying to turn the pages so I can follow a plot as Byzantine as a labyrinth.
Actually I think that this is a great niche product idea & I hope that sell millions of copies. They certainly have the experience for it. Anyhow here's a copy of the kick start.
I’m a fan of ‘the old ways of publishing’, meaning I like covers that inspire the imagination, and books that drive the reader forward instead of bogging them down with extended plots and dark turns. It’s the way of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and a way that iconic American fantasy artist Jeff Easley knows all too well from his work on the now venerable 1st Edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as well as the horror and fantasy magazines of Warren Press.
In the spring of 2011 Jeff and I were working on an art book featuring many images throughout his career when we struck upon and idea to revisit some of the adventure, swords & sorcery, and sword & planet serialized stories of a lost era in fantasy publishing.
We realized that with his covers and my experience editing and writing for Black Gate Magazine, we could produce works that were similar to the classics we remembered so fondly. To do this, however, we needed the support of fans of both his work and the kind of reading material that is no longer put out on the shelves of big box bookstores.
To accomplish this, I will write a 45K word novel and Jeff will provide a cover that helps rekindle the art of the late 60s and 70s.
If we can find the support, we can produce something inspired that maintains the cutting edge quality of digital publishing while still clinging to the roots of the Grognard and Old School movements.
Also, Jeff came up with an added bonus! Along with his full color fantasy cover that harkens back to the days of dark wizards, buxom vixens, and horrible beasts, he will include black and white interior illustrations similar to those found in novels of the era as well as the D&D modules he’s so famous for. If contributions add up to more than the initial pledge, Jeff will contribute a single full page black and white drawing to be used inside the book for every $250 raised [up to ten new drawings].
So that’s our project, and we hope you are with us in our desire to recreate something that has been lost. Thank you for your time and support.
You can read more about this idea right Here
You can read more about this idea right Here
