Enclave Marches On: Q and A With Steve Laube
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A year and a half ago Steve Laube answered my questions about Enclave Publishing, renamed from Marcher Lord Press last year. Now we touch base with Steve again to explore the past, present and future of the Christian fantastical fiction publisher.
ESB: Steve, thanks much for joining us.
Enclave has released its round of spring titles. What has been the response from fans?
Agent Steve Laube bought the former Marcher Lord Press in January 2014.
Steve Laube: We have had some nice response. In fact just today we were told by our warehouse that we need to replenish the print inventory.
ESB: Enclave also debuted covers for its fall releases. Can you share more about the stories?
Steve Laube: Let’s not forget our summer titles releasing on July 21st! We have four new books:
- Crown of Fire by Kathy Tyers—the final book in the original trilogy
- Knife by R.J. Anderson—the first in an amazing series where the main characters are fairies
- Deliverer by Sharon Hinck—the fourth, long awaited, book in her Sword of Lyric epic fantasy
- Space Drifters: The Emerald Enigma by Paul Regnier—a delightful romp through the world of science fiction. Both funny and adventurous we can truly claim it is never dull!
Fall releases will get special attention soon but would like to unveil those stories at the proper time.
ESB: How is Enclave similar to the original Marcher Lord Press? How is it different?
Steve Laube: I would say the concept is still the same. To create great science fiction and fantasy from authors with a Christian worldview. The differences may become evident with time as my acquisitions and editorial oversight might be a little different than Jeff Gerke who founded the company. But in many ways it still has the same core intent.
The first books we published under our ownership did not release until Fall of 2014. Since that time we have released 13 new books in nine months with four more in Fall 2015. That is a very aggressive release schedule.
ESB: What sorts of people are buying Christian fantastical novels—e.g., parents, teenagers, adults, aspiring authors, church libraries? What may need to change for the genre to grow?
Steve Laube: An impossible question to answer definitively. You mention five categories which pretty much could cover every person on the planet. 🙂 The question of how to we grow the audience is more critical. I believe that there thousands of people that want the books we publish, they just do not know they exist. We need enthusiastic evangelists who will spread the word about what we are doing and the power of the stories we publish.
ESB: How have newer Enclave marketing attempts been going, such as the placement of titles in 100 locations of Lifeway Christian Stores?
Steve Laube: We have been very pleased with the progress and look to expand that even further.
ESB: Beyond the 2015 marketing and novel releases, what’s next for Enclave?
Steve Laube: We already have 10 books on the docket in 2016 with the remaining two slots going fast. We actually have books contracted for release in 2018 already. Which is to say, we are committed to this venture.
ESB: Steve, thanks much and Godspeed.
I’m so excited to see where Enclave goes! I’ve heard people say that they aren’t releasing much, but 13 books in 9 months seems like a lot to me when you compare it to other Christian presses’ SFF output. Are any other Christian presses putting out that much spec fic yearly?
I don’t think you can get evangelists by being aggressively safe. I think that’s really the only problem-Enclave feels really safe with those 13 releases, sticking to established,YA-level fiction, reprints, and genres. Not that they are bad, and not that they need to be edgy or graphic. But they need to draw attention.
I think a step in the right direction was John Otte’s The Hive cover. It’s of a pregnant woman with a cybernetic arm, and it makes you interested in what the story will be like. You got to give us hooks to evangelize about, or do things that draw notice.