We’ve been asked to write a brief introduction to Liberty Island, which we have described as a “publisher of fiction, pop culture, and other fun stuff for conservatives, libertarians, and contrarians.”
Which raises an interesting question: A generation ago, would we have needed a conservative fiction publisher?
I think not. Until recently, there was a shared American culture that we all enjoyed irrespective of political differences. Did that culture often tilt to the left? Sure, especially in Hollywood. But at the same time it included talented conservative authors, screenwriters, and other creatives.
It’s only in the last couple of decades that leftist orthodoxy has become so fevered among the cultural elite that to be conservative doesn’t just mark you as different in these circles—it places a target on your back. Liberals who once believed in free speech, freedom of conscience, and open discussion have been replaced by a new generation for whom Stalinist tactics are the first recourse.
“Shut up!” they explain. And if you don’t quietly slink away, they don’t hesitate to sic the mob on you to make sure you are silenced. You will be blocked from speaking on campus. Your book will be drowned with negative reviews on Amazon. Your employer will be boycotted until you are fired.
Conservatives (and independents who refuse to be silenced) didn’t ask for a culture war. But for too long we’ve ceded the battlefield to new left commissars for whom the culture is the only fight that matters. Because their goal is not to win elections; it is to stamp out, utterly and completely, thoughts and ideas with which they disagree.
We’ve had enough.
That’s why we launched Liberty Island. We’re a couple of refugees from Big Publishing who realize that while the powers-that-be may grudgingly permit big name conservatives like Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck to make them millions of dollars in profits by leveraging their powerful media platforms, they will never open up to unknown, first-time fiction writers who don’t toe the liberal line.
But Liberty Island is not a place for strident polemics (like this one). Rather it is what we like to call an “outrage free zone” — an imaginative playground where brilliant and creative people can test their ideas without being harassed or threatened by the new breed of “community activists” who police thought and speech in the media. No feminist professors, angry LBGT activists, or race-baiting hucksters will ever determine what we publish.
How far will we go? Test our limits! Will we publish a pro-life ghost story or a fairy tale written in ebonics? We already have! What’s more we are completely non-sectarian. You can be any kind of conservative you want. We apply no litmus test and don’t require your work to reflect any particular line or view. Your work doesn’t even have to be explicitly “conservative” (though we’d love it if it is). If you’re a good writer, at any stage or level of development — whether a beginner or an established author with a following — you’ll find a home on Liberty Island.
And if you’re a reader who loves great fiction in the vein of Tom Clancy, Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, Sarah Hoyt, Larry Correia, and others like them, then you should prepare to bookmark LI in your browser.
Our writers reject the constraints of political correctness, and do so with flair, wit, and skill. We can’t think of anyplace else on the web where you’ll find such a trove of great fiction. And it’s growing and expanding every day.
We launched Liberty Island earlier this year on a shoestring out of our own pockets, but we’re growing faster than we anticipated. Even before launch we were inundated not just with great stories but terrific full-length novels. So in our next phase we will begin to offer affordably-priced books penned by conservative and libertarian writers who are, for the most part, unable to get their works published or even read by mainstream New York publishers. This is the farm team from which the next Clancy or Flynn will emerge. But they need first to develop an audience.
But the publishing business itself is changing rapidly. It’s a Wild West environment out there in the digital space and the rules are being rewritten as we type. So we’ve gone outside the box and created a unique crowd funding campaign that will allow readers to pre-order individual books or join our book club and receive a year’s worth of books – one a month for 12 months — in genres as diverse as mystery, western, sci-fi, and alt-history. This allows us to minimize the risks associated with traditional publishing, get the authors a little money upfront, and help them build an audience. Our first title, Superego, is a sci-fi technothriller that combines both action and romance. The author is a familiar name in these parts—PJ Media’s own Frank J. Fleming.
On our campaign page folks can support our authors by pre-ordering one or two books, or the whole subscription.
For our part, we promise that Liberty Island will keep up the good fight as long as there is a war being waged by the left against your freedom of thought and expression.
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Click here for an interview Sarah Hoyt conducted with Liberty Island CEO Adam Bellow. Also read interviews and story excerpts from 22 of Liberty Island’s most promising contributors at PJ Lifestyle here.
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