Fantasy Magic

[Inkachu]

To the OP:

I'm a Christian fantasy author. My published novel has plenty of "magic" in it, and it's also got very solid Christian themes throughout. It's entirely possible to do and when done well, it makes an awesome story.

 

[Christianfantasy]

Hi, Inkabink. Congratulations! That's really an accomplishment, and I hope the novel is selling like hotcakes. Out of professional curiosity, I would be extremely interested to find out the name of the agent, if you had one, and even more interested in finding out the name of the publishing house. Of course you needn't mention your name or the title of your novel, unless you'd like to. Thank you in advance.

 

[HighwayMan]

btw, just to let you know, the "magic" referred to in the Bible has nothing to do whatsoever with the fantasy magic most people think of today. It'd be nice for someone to correct that era after 2000 years.

 

[Christianfantasy]

I wanted to post a clarification re: my earlier comments on how difficult it is for non-Catholic Christian Fantasy writers to get published. In case there was any confusion, I was talking about Traditional Publishing only. That’s a publishing arrangement where a publishing house buys your ms, with an agreement to pay you additional royalties from the book’s sales. The publisher takes the lead in promoting the book, and assumes the entire financial risk should the book fail to sell. The money, as the saying goes, flows from the publisher to the author throughout the process.

There are three other principal ways to get published: self-publishing, vanity and POD [Print on Demand]. In self publication, the author bears the entire cost of publication and marketing, but retains control of his or her ms and owns all revenue from sales.

In vanity publishing the author pays for a package of services that includes printing and, depending on how much he or she is willing to pay, can also include publicity and other sales help. The costs are usually higher than in self publishing because the author’s choices are more limited (and, frankly, because a lot of vanity publishers specialize in fleecing the authors; a person who is willing to pay large sums to see their own work in print is also a person who can all too often be scammed). The author retains the rights to his or her ms, and owns all the profit after the initial outlay.

In POD publishing, the books are only printed after orders are placed. The author pays an upfront fee, and then typically splits the royalties with the publisher also [thus paying twice for the same service]. The rights to the ms are usually owned by the POD service for at least some period of time.

If an author chooses to go the self-publishing, vanity or POD route, then of course there is no obstacle whatsoever to publishing Christian Fantasy. I have a friend who published a so-called Christian Fantasy via POD. [‘So-called’ because the underlying theology was awful; God was alternately wholly detached/absent or a monster.] Her sales were so lackluster, even her POD service eventually dropped her. I also know of cases where vanity books were published with grammatical and spelling errors. In the world of non-Traditional publishing anything goes.

There are some additional permutations on POD and vanity, including one Christian publisher who claims to fuse Traditional and vanity publishing in an arrangement very favorable to the author. I turned down her offer to publish one of my Christian Fantasy novels because I made a decision to go the straight Traditional route. If a story is good enough, there is no reason it won’t make it in the Traditional market eventually, imho.

Fwiw.

PS: I also know of Christian authors who claim to have had very positive experiences with vanity publishers, and who swear by them. I’m not trying to paint everything but Traditional publishing as bad or a Beware. I’m just trying to clarify that the prejudice against non-Catholic Christian Fantasy pertains only to Traditional Publishing.

PPS: This is just a quickie post I threw together. If anyone wants to quibble over the finer points of POD or vanity, etc., please just post your own set of definitions and guidelines. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’ve picked up a few things along the way and I thought I’d share an overview. I’m sure there are exceptions and variations to almost everything I wrote, but in the main the information is solid.

 

[Axioma]

You know, fantasy has become more magical over time. At its roots, back in the good old Conan days, magic was dishonorable at best and the province of mad evil wizards and demon-summoning cults at worst. Heroes lived by their steel and their wits, not some nancy magical lightshow.

 

[Lindon Tinuviel]

On the topic of wands (never been a PM person), an aside (I like those (if you aven't noticed, I like parentheses too P))): Gandalf's staff was described in "The Hobbit" as a "wand." WOO.

"Gandalfr" is an Old Norse or Saxon name meaning "wand elf"... a spooky guy with a stick. Tolkien originally planned for Gandalf to be a Dwarf (almost as shocking as his plan for Strider to be a Hobbit wearing wooden shoes....)

From the Norse Dvergatal ("List of Dwarves"):

Nyi and Nithi, Northri and Suthri, Austri and Vestri, Althjofr, Dvalinn, Bifurr, Bafurr, Bomburr, Nori, An... Anarr, Ai, Mjothvitnir, Veigr and Gandalfr, Vindalfr, Thrainn, Thekkr and Thorinn, Thror, Litr and Vitr, Nar and Nyrathr, Reginn and Rathsvithr....

[spelling Americanized by me]

 

[Axioma]

Why is there a dwarf named Wand Elf?

 

[Lindon Tinuviel]

Cuz Dwarves are Elves... sorta.

 

[Axioma]

This is terrible news.

 

[Lindon Tinuviel]

How come?

 

[Axioma]

I...I have issues with elves.

 

[Lindon Tinuviel]

Finally voted. Chose "Other"--put whatever you want in there.

 

[Lindon Tinuviel]

I...I have issues with elves.

Any of those issues related to writing?

 

[Axioma]

Basically, I object to races that are just plain Better Than You at everything. Any object in the world is better if it can be described with the adjective elven, and their emotions are so much more intense and detailed than yours, and their taste in room decoration is better than yours, and their hairstyler is better than yours (because he's an elf, too) and oh lookie lookie they can walk on snow, don't you wish YOU could walk on snow, you pitiful monkey-man, but you can't because you're not as awesome as elves, they're so awesome.

 

[Lindon Tinuviel]

Of course Elves are better than you. The word's origin is likely the Indo-European ALB*, meaning "bright, shining", and they were probably the spirits of the dead set to guard the living. It's hard for mere mortals to compete with the Angels.

I have to agree, though--most modern fantasy literature has Elves down as just another race, losing most of the fey otherworldly spookiness that's been attributed to them since time out of mind. According to the Germanic tradition, even the best Elves would steal your children. Take an elven trinket from those fellows, and you may not live to regret your mistake.

Legolas walked on snow, true. Tolkien's internal consistency allowed it--he considered his Elves to have been unfallen and untainted by Original Sin, so their need affected the physical world. It wasn't a learned skill, and it wasn't magic. It's just how they interacted with the world. Men, on the other hand, were fallen creatures and bound by the laws of nature.

I like Tolkien's Elves. If their crafts were often superior to those of Men, it was because they had eternity to practice. If they could walk on snow, well... we could have too, if it hadn't been for Eve and that damned apple*.


* Interesting to note that "ALB" contains the letter "B", as does the Proto-Indo-European word for "apple", "ABLU". Yet, the letter "B" was not typically a part of the PIE phonology. Some suspect that this indicates that the words may have their origins in the paleolithic. If so, then Elves have been around for a good long time.

 

[Axioma]

Well, if Tolkien's elves had had the decency to steal babies and not be so perfect, I might have liked them. As it is, the only elves I will admit to liking are Pratchett's.

“Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.
No one ever said elves are nice.
Elves are bad.”

 

[Lindon Tinuviel]

Well, if Tolkien's elves had had the decency to steal babies and not be so perfect, I might have liked them.

Read The Silmarillion.

 

[NeoScribe]

Ah yes, the reason Tolkien's elves manages to be so perfect was because all the stupid and violent ones killed themselves off in The Silmarillion.

 

[Tariel]

You said it, NeoScribe, and the ones that didn't manage to kill themselves off learned from the mistakes from the rest of their race. These guys have had several thousand years of life experience and dumb mistakes to learn from, remember. Just because they don't have the same problems as the average human doesn't mean they don't have problems.

 

[Jesus_Luvs_techies]

I like Tolkien's Elves. If their crafts were often superior to those of Men, it was because they had eternity to practice. If they could walk on snow, well... we could have too, if it hadn't been for Eve and that damned apple*.

Did u know that the Bible says Adam was there when eve did that. he could have stoped her but he didn't. so adam is at as much fault as eve.