Blog Tour--Lost Genre Guild

This month's Christian Science Fiction Fantasy blog tour is featuring The Lost Genre Guild. The LGG's goal is to become a hub of biblical speculative fiction online. The website states:

The number-one reason people buy books is because they're recommended by family or friends. Publishers know the market is out there, which is why publishers keep throwing the dice on spec-fic. Publisher's traditional shotgun marketing isn't hitting the target market.

Why?

Christian genre fans gave-up on Christian bookstore shelves. Shotgun marketing aims inside the box, and our readership isn't in the box. Nobody home. According to the 80-20 rule of marketing, 80% of sales comes from 20% of efforts. The trick is identifying and focusing on that 20%.

The site includes forums, a Yahoo group, and a blog. If you're interested in the genre, check out this group! And here's what other bloggers are saying:

Brandon Barr, Justin Boyer, Keanan Brand, Kathy Brasby, Grace Bridges, Courtney, Frank Creed, Amy Cruson, CSFF Blog Tour, Stacey Dale, D. G. D. Davidson, Janey DeMeo, Jeff Draper, April Erwin, Karina Fabian, Andrea Graham, Todd Michael Greene, Katie Hart, Timothy Hicks, Joleen Howell, Jason Isbell, Cris Jesse, Jason Joyner, Kait, Carol Keen, Lost Genre Guild, Mike Lynch, Magma, Margaret, Rachel Marks, Rebecca LuElla Miller, Nissa, John W. Otte, Steve Rice, Crista Richey, Mirtika, Hanna Sandvig, James Somers, Robert Treskillard, Steve Trower, Speculative Faith, Jason Waguespac, Phyllis Wheeler, Timothy Wise

Leaflette-on-Etsy

If you have folks on your gift-list who are young or young-at-heart, may I suggest you stop by my very talented daughter's Etsy shop, Leaflette? She has additional information--more photos and a coupon code--on her blog, Hanna's Life is Cool.

If you're not familiar with her art (not sure how that could've happened, being as you're my friend and all!), let me tell you a bit about it. Hanna has always loved to color and draw since she was big enough to wrap her wee fingers around a crayon. Her daddy and I happily bought her artist sets and paints and sketch books and pencils as birthday and Christmas gifts throughout her childhood as she continued to show both talent and determination. When we bought our first computer in 1993, she even figured out how to use that super basic computer program--was it called Paint? or Paintbrush? Where you dotted the pixels by color? (I always thought a person could use that for designing cross-stitch patterns, but I digress.)

I guess that got her started, because she now does all her artwork digitally, though her programs have gotten more complex and her art has matured as well. She has built a website with her art portfolio on it as well as samples of website and blog designs she's done.

About a year ago she began experimenting with printing her art on 100% cotton fabric and making it colorfast. With that process in place, she designed dolls and birds that she prints onto fabric, cuts out, sews, and stuffs. This process makes toys for babies and toddlers that are completely child-friendly and can be machine washed.



She's also selling quite a few prints of her artwork at Leaflette in 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10, ready to frame up and hang on the wall. Or you can purchase them as fabric prints for use in quilts or toys of your own. Here's one of my favorite illustrations: Birder Boy.

Stay tuned in the New Year because Hanna has sold an illustration to a well-known magazine, and I'll be posting up the details when I'm free to do so! Meanwhile, go browse at Leaflette, and maybe you'll find something you'd like to purchase.