Back in June, I sold an untitled anthology to Baen on the subject of “military fantasy.” And what is that, you might ask? Military SF, of course, is a long-time staple of science fiction, but fantasy fiction often has just as many battles and military engagements and yet we rarely hear the term “military fantasy.” So I proposed an anthology that would focus on those fantastical battles and the soldiers that fight them.

In any case, the contracts were signed, the contributors started writing their stories, and all was well. The problem was: I couldn’t think of a title for the damn thing. I found that particularly troubling as I pride myself on being able to come up with good titles, and, indeed, I frequently suggest alternate titles to authors who sell me stories. Thus this failing on my part to come up with an adequate title for this book has plagued me lo these many months. Well, I guess that’s not quite true. I’ve come up with plenty of adequate titles. I just haven’t come up with anything that feels perfect.

Which brings us to this blog post. I need your help, dear readers: What the heck should I call this thing? Rather than just ask and solicit suggestions, I thought I’d make a contest out of it, so the person who makes the best suggestion would win a cool prize.

Before we get to the nitty-gritty, here’s a bit more info about the book. There are still a couple of stories forthcoming, but I’ve already accepted stories from the following authors: Myke Cole, Glen Cook, Simon R. Green, Tanya Huff, Yoon Ha Lee, Ari Marmell, T.C. McCarthy, Seanan McGuire, Elizabeth Moon, Linda Nagata, Weston Ochse, Carrie Vaughn, and Django Wexler. Otherwise, all you really need to know is that its focus is military fantasy. Think The Battle of Helm’s Deep from Lord of the Rings; The battles in Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon; The Battle of the Blackwater from GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire. And naturally several of the anthology’s contributors have written military fantasy novels and other stories as well.

So let’s do this, people! Help me title this anthology.

Prizes for the Winner: (1) A copy of the anthology (hardcopy, when it comes out); (2) A one-year ebook subscription to Lightspeed Magazine; (3) An ebook of my anthology Seeds of Change; (4) Acknowledgement of your contribution in the book itself.

Disclaimer: If I don’t get any entries that I think are good enough to use as the title, I reserve the right to not title the book with the winning entry. However, I will definitely choose a winner, and whoever has the best entry will receive the prizes even if I end up not using their title on the book.

Rules: Just fill out the form below with your title suggestions, your name, and your email address. That’s it! I’ll decide which title I like best and I will declare that title the winner.

What I’m Looking For: The ideal title would be short and to the point, and say both “military” and “fantasy” equally. I’ve been thinking something that takes a well known military phrase or title and gives it a fantasy twist could work.

Best (?) Things We’ve Come Up With So Far: Blood & Magic; Tactical Magic; Military Magic. (FWIW, it’s totally fine for it to not have “magic” in the title!)

Deadline for Submissions: Jan. 31, 2014

Note: Contest Closed! Thanks everyone for submitting your suggestions!