Free Resources from Jeff Gerke

Calling all speculative fiction fans. Jeff Gerke is a man you'd like to know. Not only is he the author of eight books, he began his own publishing company, Marcher Lord Press, an enterprise that has produced several award-winning Christian spec-fic novels in the few years since its start.

I've had the opportunity to sit under Jeff's teaching at conferences, and learned a great deal. I'll devote a future post to the fiction-writing book he authored.

But on to the free stuff. Jeff maintains a speculative fiction website with lots of great resources for us starving writers, called Where the Map Ends. Let's check it out.

Tools to improve your writing. Jeff explains which are the best books on writing fiction, tips on finding the right critique group, recommended writing conferences, and a list of editorial services on his Writer's Tools page.

The process of getting published. A step-by-step explanation of the publishing process, "From Twinkle in Your Eye, To Book On the Shelf".  More info on the Tools for Writers page.

96 Fiction Tips. Jeff has compiled a detailed list of the topics he teaches at writing conferences. You can buy them as a print book, or you can find all of them here.

When your mind is blank. Jeff offers links to resources that will get your fingers typing on his Idea Starters page.

Tools to create new worlds. This page is a must-bookmark page for writers of fantasy and science fiction. Where to begin? Jeff gives link upon link for websites and software that will enable you to create maps of unknown lands (yes, even in outer space!). You'll find sites that generate new characters and character names, come up with new story ideas, generate sci-fi names, villain names, and new languages. There's even a gravitation simulator and a dark matter simulator.

Network with like-minded spec-fic fans. Jeff maintains a message board, called The Anomaly, where fans can discuss their various interests. You can even join his Editorial Board to give input on which books Jeff should publish next.

Spec-fic Artists. Links to the web pages of some amazing artists in Fantastic Visions.

Free Newsletter. If you sign up for Jeff's newsletter, he'll send you a copy of The Horrific But True Psychological Phases of Writing a Novel.

If there's an author, agent or publisher with amazing resources on their site, leave a comment, and I'll highlight them in a future post. Thanks for reading!