Jeff Gerke is an American writer, editor, publisher, and writing instructor best known as the founder of Marcher Lord Press, the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction, and as the author of three Writer's Digest craft books: Plot Versus Character, The First 50 Pages, and Write Your Novel in a Month (also published as How to Write a Novel in 30 Days and What to Do With It Next).
Plot Versus Character: A Balanced Approach to Writing Great Fiction (2010) takes the standard either-or argument between plot-driven and character-driven fiction and treats them instead as complementary craft disciplines. The book teaches how to build layered characters through personality, natural attributes, and backstory; how to tie a character's emotional journey to the plot's inciting incident; how to construct a three-act story structure that supports rather than fights the character arc; and how to thread backstory through the book in ways that accentuate rather than interrupt plot momentum.
Marcher Lord Press, which Gerke founded after spearheading a Christian speculative fiction imprint at a major Christian publishing house, brought Christian science fiction, fantasy, and other genres he calls wonderfully weird into print at a moment when mainline Christian publishers were not buying them. Gerke has been called the de facto gatekeeper of the Christian speculative fiction field. His own fiction includes the Operation: Firebrand novels, plus additional Christian science fiction and thriller titles.
His craft book The Art and Craft of Writing Christian Fiction is the genre's standard reference, used widely in Christian fiction writing groups, conferences, and college courses. He runs the online video training program FictionAcademy.com, teaches at writers conferences across the country, and works with individual freelance clients on editing, book cover design, and typesetting from his home in Colorado Springs.
