In early October I received a bundle from Sarah Avery. Inside were several copies of her beautiful new novella The Imlen Brat — a story I’d dearly wanted to publish in Black Gate, but was unable to before the print version of the magazine died.

It was enormously satisfying to finally see this book out in the world, and to hold a copy in my hands. And what a book! The gorgeous cover by Kate Baylay, and the delightful design and back cover blurb by Rich Horton, almost made it worth the wait (almost). And on top of it all, the dedication page touched my cold publisher’s heart.

To the whole Black Gate crew — writers, readers, artists, editors, all of you. You will always be this story’s first home.

Tucked in with the bundle was a note from Sarah, who generously offered two additional copies as to give away to Black Gate‘s readers. And that’s exactly what we’re here to do today.

Step One: let’s tell you a bit about the book. Here’s what I said about it last year:

The Imlen Brat is a tale of court intrigue, fast-changing alliances, and the constant subtle peril of being an adopted daughter in an enemy royal house. It’s a compact Game of Thrones, with mighty pirate kingdoms, weather wizards, quarrelsome ghosts, curses, and secret magics. Don’t miss it!

We’ve published a few articles about it recently, including:

Kickstarting a Belated Black Gate Story: The Imlen Bastard by Sarah Avery
Mighty Pirate Kingdoms, Weather Wizards, and Quarrelsome Ghosts: Sarah Avery’s The Imlen Brat

Sarah Avery is the author of “The War of the Wheat Berry Year” (from BG 15) and Tales from Rugosa Coven, which won the Mythopoeic Award in 2015.

How do you win one of the two precious copies of The Imlen Brat we have to give away? Easy! Just send an e-mail to john@blackgate.com with the subject “The Imlen Brat,” and a one-sentence review of your favorite fantasy novella.

[In honor of Sarah’s status as one of the most popular writers to appear in Black Gate, as an alternate we’ll also gladly accept a one-sentence review of your favorite story from Black Gate magazine — including any of the tales we’ve presented recently as part of our Black Gate Online Fiction library.]

That’s all it takes! Two winners will be drawn at random from all qualifying entries, and we’ll reprint some of the best entries when we announce the winners.

All entries become the property of New Epoch Press. No purchase necessary. Must be 12 or older. Decisions of the judges (capricious as they may be) are final. Not valid where prohibited by law, or anywhere postage for a trade paperback is more than, like, 10 bucks (practically, that means US and Canada).

The Imlen Brat was published by Point Quay Press on October 30, 2016. It is 70 pages, priced at $9.99 in trade paperback and $2.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Kate Baylay. Copies are available at Amazon and other fine outlets. See more details here.