Lost Genre Guild Review
Looking for one of the premiere websites on Christian speculative fiction?
Look no further than the Lost Genre Guild, a group of eclectic authors and readers who have banded together to promote Christian Fantasy, Science-Fiction, and yes, Christian Horror.
Here’s a rundown of the features on their expansive website:
- Definition of Christian speculative fiction
- History of the Guild
- Book reviews
- A place to request reviews
- LGG members book list
- Light At The Edge Of Darkness Anthology
- Books For Sale / Promotion
- Story Excerpts
- Author interviews and biographies
- Links to Christian spec-fic media
- Links to important resources
- Mentoring group bulletin board
- AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST … a BLOG, which was not on any of their menus!
Overall, this is an excellent site, and provides a lot of good information for anyone interested in Christian speculative fiction.
In particular, I subscribed to their blog’s email newsletter, and will look forward to updates on the happenings all around the web that they post about.
Suggested Improvements For The Lost Genre Guild:
In the spirit of edification, I have a list of suggestions for the LGG website to improve its effectiveness in promoting Christian Speculative Fiction.
- An overhaul of the page layouts to make them have a consistent look and feel
- An update of the graphics … for instance the “shield” button logo is of a completely different style than their website graphics … the two should be consistent
- The images on the book review page are CD shaped and made me think it had music reviews
- Putting the menu on each and every page to improve navigation
- Putting a link back to the home page as part of the menu
- Making the blog a cornerstone of the site and more heavily promoting it
- There are only 10 books reviewed so far … could use more
- Better fonts in the pdf catalog … it’s hard to read right now
- A page that provides a wider variety of graphic buttons that bloggers can use on their website to help promote the LGG
Also, here are the other members of the CSFF Blog Tour. Check out their websites, as they are all reviewing the Lost Genre Guild and will have other things to say.
Robert, really helpful observations about ways to improve the site. You’ve also been very thorough in your list of things offered. A very good post, as always.
Becky
I wish I had more time to devote to these posts. Maybe next year I’ll find a few of the tours where I can put in more time!
Robert, thank you for the compliments about the LGG website — however, the LGG is an orgainzation, not just much a bunch of little sites! It is about a group of people who actively promote well-written speculative fiction that is respectful of Christian values and beliefs AND is, for a large part, ignored by the traditional publishers and CBA affiliated bookstores. Most of our promotion takes place in venues other than the website where we can meet people face-to-face, so to speak, and let them know about what is available in the world of spec-fic. I am not sure any of this is made clear on the website — in fact it seems that it is something I have to change.
I like some of your criticisms, others are beyond my capabilities time and talent-wise!
For instance:
A page that provides a wider variety of graphic buttons that bloggers can use on their website to help promote the LGG This is a grand idea!
Making the blog a cornerstone of the site and more heavily promoting it. First, I would love it if someone explained to me how to embed the blog into the site! I’ve tried, believe me. Second, while our blog helps get news out, I am not sure how to increase its visibility in any new way. I’m always open to suggestions, though.
Thanks for the kind words and suggestions. BTW, I use “I” a lot in the post because it is “I” who takes care of the web presence stuff in my spare time. *cough* An amateur for sure, but a well-intentioned one!
c
Hey Robert,
I like how you mentioned some good constructive criticism. Those are good points that could use updating
Nothing like a smooth site to give it that authoritative feel. And the LGG deserves to feel that way.