Armin Sykes has been a pal and supporter of my work since long before there ever was a Cumberland Games, and a regular booster for Sparks and my other work now that there is one. He makes gaming software, including an adaptation of one of my abstract games, and one of the best GURPS character generators around.

HyperBooks

Proprietor Terry Austin is a deservedly infamous Internet rabble-rouser, a sharp-witted provocateur that I'm especially proud to be associated with. His electronic bookstore, HyperBooks, was the first to provide dedicated gamer-related service, and it's still my favorite by a million miles.

Dan Smith

There would be no Sparks without ace illustrator and game designer Dan Smith. He and I were pen-pals back when we both began working for the traditional gaming industry (if you game at all, you've seen his art), and he risked a lot of his valuable work time lending his unique style to the world's first font-format paper miniatures.

Eric Hotz

Eric Hotz was already a legendary game illustrator (known for his masterful cartography and atmospheric historical style) before he created Red Stag Inn. But with that, he became the founder of independent electronic publishing in roleplaying, and it still stands as one of the very best (and most beautifully designed) gaming PDFs you can buy. He makes excellent cardstock terrain models, too.

Eric Trautmann & Peter Schweighofer

I met both of these guys back when I was a regular on the east-coast SF convention circuit. I was a freelancer; they were staff at West End Games. I was courted to be a West End writer but WEG collapsed before that could happen. Instead of ending my relationship with Eric and Peter, they both became some of the friendliest allies, advisors, and moral-supporters a game designer could hope for. And I still have a stack of free Star Wars books. Sweet.

Microtactix

I've been a doe-eyed Guy McLimore fanboy since his work on FASA's Star Trek RPG inspired some of my earliest game design when I was in high school. These days, his publishing outfit stands as one of the real lights of professional brilliance in the emerging electronic frontier, and his assistance and encouragement is part of the foundation on which Cumberland stands.

BTRC

Of course, I'm very proud to publish the official Macho Women With Guns minis font on license from BTRC, but more than that, I'm fascinated to see BTRC's evolution from a more traditional paper publisher to an enthusiastic participant in the electronic arena. Greg Porter was one of the very first game publishers to embrace the PDF format, and he's still doing great and enviable things with it.

Matt Drake

The artist behind both the Sunburned & Rusty and Sparks Interiors titles, Matt has been dipping his toes into electronic publishing, as well, and (with Guy McLimore) did a regular RPG.net column about it.

T. Jordan Peacock

"Greywolf" has become one of the stars of the Sparks line, producing several quality genre sets and always eager to make more. His own site has tons of great free things (he's a fontmaker in his own right; he's even taken up the fonts-as-paper-miniatures banner). Great stuff.

Jonathan McNally

While he's only done one Cumberland title - he's the illustrator of the fun-and-quirky Adventures of Darcy Dare set - I still swell with pride just at the thought of being associated with this guy. His talent is downright humbling and I expect great things from him - here and at publishers who can actually pay him what he's worth - in the future.

Steve Jackson Games

Steve Jackson graciously provided a plug for Sparks when they were new, and working for SJ Games gave me my apprenticeship in book production, without which my PDFs would be impossible projects.

Guardians of Order

In addition to publishing a game I love (Big Eyes, Small Mouth), GoO have granted me an unprecedented freedom to provide commercial support for a fantasy world I created for them as a freelancer. There would be no Temphis Runes, or Uresia Arcana, or forthcoming Uresia sourcebooks without Mark MacKinnon's forward-looking openness to the changing face of the hobby.