Happy birthday to us!

Four years ago, Candlemark & Gleam officially incorporated and opened for business. We wouldn’t launch our first book, the stunning saga of Erekos, until September, but on April 21, 2010, we announced to the world that we existed, we were here, and we planned to leave a mark on the business and craft of storytelling.

We planned to go beyond the fantastic.

And I think we have done so. In four short, hard, frustrating, wonderful years, we’ve had a Publishers Weekly Best Book and Best Book honorable mention; a Benjamin Franklin Award silver medalist; several PW starred reviews and frequent positive PW and Library Journal reviews; a rave review on BoingBoing; made the Book Smugglers’ favourite books list a few times; and garnered critical acclaim, plus Nebula and Hugo finalist status. To say nothing of all the fan favourites and generally amazing novels and collections and anthologies we turn out time and again.

And there’s so much more yet to come – new stories and worlds and authors and adventures. We’ve only just begun, really.

We couldn’t have done all of this without you – without the amazing authors who trust us to bring their stories and vision to the physical world and put them in the hands of readers; without the ardent fans and supporters who buy, read, share, and rave about those stories; without the immensely generous, skilled, and energetic editors, artists, and proofreaders who help turn a manuscript into a book.

Thank you all. It’s been a hell of a ride, and I wouldn’t trade all the blood, sweat, dollars, tears, and sleepless nights for anything.

Here’s to the next step forward. Here’s to the past and the future. Here’s to the extraordinary.