Guest Post: David Alderman

Dave Alderman and the Crossover Alliance authors represent a shift in biblical-based spec-fiction, one that resonates with me. Seeing as the Crossover Alliance Kickstarter is in full gear, I figured it was appropriate for Mr. Alderman to do a guest post here at HSSJ

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The Crossover Alliance and Kickstarter Campaign
A shift has been slowly occurring in the Christian fiction market. In years past, the definition of Christian fiction did not allow for content that extended beyond a PG rating, and anything considered ‘edgy’ or otherwise offensive was rejected by publishers. These publishers weren’t merely the gatekeepers barring entry to the possibilities of becoming a published author, but they were also the gatekeepers barring entry into genres that fell outside the norm of the traditional fare.
Then the self-publishing movement occurred, and Christian authors realized they didn’t have to follow the rules anymore. A genre known as edgy Christian fiction arose. Authors began crafting Christ-centered fiction that fell within the lines of science fiction, fantasy and romance. But there was still a strange stigma regarding the content that was allowed in these pieces of fiction. Swearing, sexual content, and even violence were still trapped behind an invisible fence that authors built around their fiction for fear of being ostracized by the Christian community altogether.

I wasn’t content to have this fence around my fiction, and in 2009 I self-published Black Earth: End of the Innocence, the first novel in my Black Earth series. End of the Innocence broke all of the rules of Christian fiction by portraying edgy content and tough spiritual themes. Not sure how to market my work, I eventually came up with the term edgy Christian speculative fiction. I even started an online community called The Crossover Alliance to try and pull authors and readers of this type of fiction together to help market it to the world.

Years later, I am in the process of turning The Crossover Alliance – http://www.thecrossoveralliance.com – into an online publishing company specializing in edgy Christian speculative fiction. The demand for this type of fiction – Christ-centered speculative fiction filled with real-world content – is growing. The big name publishing companies no longer have a say in what type of fiction can make it through the iron gates. Many authors are looking to specialize in this genre, while numerous readers are looking for more stories that cross the lines between secular and Christian fiction.

To this end, I just recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the first year of The Crossover Alliance’s publishing costs – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2054728317/the-crossover-alliance-first-year-fiction-catalog. This includes professional editing, cover design, and other various business expenses. If you want to support this type of fiction, please consider pledging to our Kickstarter campaign. Our goal is to raise $10,000 by May 9th, and we’re already 14% of the way there. You can score some awesome Kickstarter rewards, including subscriptions to our publishing catalog, unique bookmarks, and other goodies. Not to mention, you’ll also be responsible for changing the very face of publishing.

David N. Alderman is an indie author of two speculative fiction series—Black Earth and Expired Reality. You can find all of David’s work at http://www.davidnalderman.com. He is also the founder of The Crossover Alliance (www.thecrossoveralliance.com), a publishing company specializing in edgy Christian speculative fiction. He participates in National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) each year. When he’s not writing or spending time with family, you can find David gaming on any number of different consoles.

Cool YouTube video below!