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Nebula Awards Weekend
The Forty-Seventh Nebula Awards Weekend will be held Thursday through Sunday, May 17 to May 20, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, near Reagan National Airport.
We honor Connie Willis as our Grand Master!
To register, click on “Registration” in the menu to the immediate left. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Register” button.
Tours, workshops and panels are available for registered attendees (the number of people who can be accommodated on the tours and workshops is limited.) Active and Associate SFWA members may nominate works, until February 15th, for the awards to be presented at the May 19th Nebula Awards Weekend Banquet. Hour long interviews and readings will be recorded by Jim Freund for his Hour of the Wolf radio show broadcast on WBAI (99.5FM) in New York City.
Jon Williams is our Toastmaster (he will also conduct a half-day Writers Workshop on Friday morning.) Mike Fincke is our Keynote Speaker.
The Mass Autographing Session on Friday, May 18th will be followed by a reception to honor the nominees and other honorees.
You don’t have to be a nominee, a member of SFWA, or even a writer to participate in the weekend. Registration for the 2012 Nebula Awards Weekend is open now. The cost for the Nebula Awards Banquet is $75.00 per person. The cost to register is $50.00 for a SFWA Member and $60.00 for a non-SFWA Member until February 29, 2012. Rates for registration will be higher as the date of the event draws closer.
Results from the 2010 Nebula Awards (presented 2011).
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Archive for January, 2010
Amazon’s response to Macmillan
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Conversation has swept through the internet, and science fiction and fantasy authors in particular, about Amazon’s decision to remove Macmillan titles from their stock after a disagreement about pricing.
Today, Amazon has posted a statement about their policy.
Dear Customers:
Macmillan, one of the “big six” publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.
We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it’s reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don’t believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.
Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!
Thank you for being a customer.
Tags: Amazon, Macmillan
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | 1 Comment »
RIP: Kage Baker 1952-2010
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Kage Baker has passed away this morning after a fierce struggle with cancer. She was best known for her Company novels, including In the Garden of Iden. For months, she had fought the uterine cancer privately, but the tumor spread to her brain.
The Green Man review posted this letter from her sister, Kathleen.
She died at 1:15 this morning. She had begun to have difficulty breathing early this evening; I gave her atropine and morphine for the breathing problems and the pain, but by about 8 PM she slipped into unconsciousness. The last thing she requested was to have her pillows adjusted – she said she was more comfortable, and after that she said nothing else. She became unresponsive very shortly thereafter, and by her own request, no heroic efforts were made.
Her sister Anne and nieces Kate and Emma were up this weekend, and watched with me for most of the evening. At about 1 AM her breathing got louder and lighter and more urgent, though her pupils were not responsive to light; there was a rush of bile from her mouth, and then she passed away very quietly in our arms.
Kage’s body will go to MedCure, a body donation program working on training surgery students. They will cremate it and return the ashes to me in about 3 weeks. Her ashes will then be scattered half from Catalina Island and half from Plaskett Creek beach near Big Sur.
For a beautiful appreciation of her, please visit Marty Halpern’s site to read “In the Company of Kage Baker”
Kage’s family and friends have our deepest sympathy. Science fiction has lost a brilliant light.
Tags: Kage Baker
Posted in In Memoriam, News, SFWA Blog | 23 Comments »
Announcement about SFWA vice president
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
SFWA Vice President Elizabeth Moon has tendered her resignation for personal reasons. In doing so, she assured me that this decision is not due to any conflicts with SFWA, the other officers, or any members, but is a personal decision due to factors outside the organization. Speaking for the Board, we have enjoyed working with Elizabeth and am deeply sorry to see her go. Her service has been appreciated, and she has been a voice of candor and reason throughout her tenure.
In accordance with the bylaws, I have appointed Michael Capobianco to serve out the remaining five months of Elizabeth’s term. Michael has served the Board in an advisory capacity since I took office, and he is aware of the various projects and issues before us. His long service to SFWA makes him superbly qualified. He has previously served two terms as Treasurer, one as Vice President, and three as SFWA President. He has been SFWA’s liaison to the Authors Coalition since 1994.
Regards,
Russell Davis
President, SFWA
Tags: Elizabeth Moon, Michael Capobianco
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | Comments Off
Why My Books Are No Longer Available on Amazon.com
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
by Tobias Buckell
This is long.
Like, really long.
And talks about the intimate details of publishing in long and meandering manner.
I tried to make it shorter, I really did, but as Mark Twain once said, I didn’t have the time. So I wrote this instead.
So as of right now, you can’t buy my books via Amazon, as they have stopped selling all Macmillan books (both mailing print books to you, and selling Kindle books).
So, Amazon wants to sell books for $9.99 or less, my publisher wants to sell books for a more dynamic range of $5.99 to $14.99.
Right. So Amazon and Macmillan are in the middle of negotiations about how to sell eBooks. Amazon had, for a while, paid publishers an agreed upon price, and then discounted them to $9.99. Amazon’s reasoning: this would move eBooks, in particular Kindle eBooks (and maybe some Kindles, though I think Amazon’s creating a Kindle was to move more eBooks).
Publishers would like to be able to set eBooks at a higher price, say $15, then degrade the price over time to a much lower price. How much? CEO of Macmillan says “Our plan is to price the digital edition of most adult trade books in a price range from $14.99 to $5.99.” (more…)
Tags: Amazon, Macmillan, Tobias Buckell
Posted in SFWA Blog | 52 Comments »
Quick Updates for 2010-01-31
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Member News
- Congratulations to SFWA member Paolo Bacigalupi who signed a deal with Night Shade Books for two more novels.
- Congratulations to SFWA member Gary Kloster who has upgraded to Active with a sale to Fantasy Magazine.
Industry News
- Cory Doctorow: Amazon vs Macmillan: a war where readers and writers are civilian casualties.
- Macmillan CEO says Amazon “informed me that they were taking all our books off…”
Tags: Gary Kloster, Paolo Bacigalupi, twitter
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | Comments Off
“The Mermaid’s Tea Party” by Samantha Henderson
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
“The Mermaid’s Tea Party” by Samantha Henderson
Summer 2008, Helix
Tags: Henderson, Samantha Henderson, The Mermaid's Tea Party
Posted in Nebula Suggested Reading, Short Stories | Comments Off
“She Called Me Sweetie” by Glenn Lewis Gillette
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
“She Called Me Sweetie” by Glenn Lewis Gillette
July 2009, Apex Magazine
Tags: Gillette, Glenn Lewis Gillette, She Called Me Sweetie
Posted in Nebula Suggested Reading, Short Stories | Comments Off
“A Particular Silence” by Glenn Lewis Gillette
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
“A Particular Silence” by Glenn Lewis Gillette
April 2009, Mystic Signals, WolfSinger Publications, Carol Hightshoe, ed.
Tags: A Particular Silence, Gillette, Glenn Lewis Gillette
Posted in Nebula Suggested Reading, Novelettes | Comments Off
Candidate for South/Central regional director: Diana Rowland
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
I’m Diana Rowland, and I’m submitting my candidacy for the position of South/Central Regional Director of SFWA. I have been an active member of SFWA since 2008, and am a graduate of Clarion West (1998).
About me:
I’m a first place winner of the 2005 Writers of the Future contest (3rd quarter).
I currently write urban fantasy/police procedurals. My first novel, Mark of the Demon, was published in 2009, and my second, Blood of the Demon, will be out in February 2010. Moreover, I’m under contract for six more novels with DAW.
I’m a member of the Romance Writers of America.
I worked in law enforcement and death investigation for nearly a decade, and now write full-time.
I live in south Louisiana with my husband and daughter.
As South/Central Regional Director, I intend to provide outreach, support, and accessibility to members in the region, while also working to promote and continue all that the current SFWA board has accomplished. Moreover, I feel it is vital for this organization to do more to bridge the divide between science fiction/fantasy and other genres. With the current popularity of paranormal and urban fantasy, with its extensive crossover appeal to romance, mystery, and even mainstream, I consider this to be an ideal time for SFWA to increase cooperation and communication, and feel that I’m well-positioned to assist with this.
Though I’ve been an active member of SFWA for less than two years, I have a long history of involvement in the genre, both as fan and author. I’m encouraged and excited about the changes coming to SFWA and am highly motivated to help the organization continue to improve and better serve all its members.
Diana Rowland
Tags: diana rowland, elections. platforms, South/Central Regional Director
Posted in Candidate Platforms | 1 Comment »
Cris Robins and The Robins Agency: She’s Ba-aaack!
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
Once upon a time, there was a self-styled literary agent named Cris Robins who ran a purported literary agency called The Robins Agency. For more than ten years, Robins charged editing fees, levied various upfront fees, and, as far as Writer Beware can determine, never made a single verifiable commercial book sale. Complaints about her were among the first Writer Beware collected when we began operation in 1998. Due to the volume of these complaints and the length of time over which they were received, we placed her on our Thumbs Down Agency List in 2006.
That same year, shortly after an unhappy recipient of her editing services won an $8,000 judgment against her for breach of contract, fraudulent business practice, and consumer protection violations, Robins closed her agency’s doors. For a time, she continued to solicit her services to writers–in 2007, I got a number of reports from authors who received emails with offers of editing services and the “packaging” of manuscripts for submission to publishers. By 2008, however, Robins had gone silent. Writer Beware dared to hope that The Robins Agency was out of business for good.
But being a fee-charging agent is so easy and so lucrative that many of those who practice it find it difficult to give up. This week, I learned that Robins is once again soliciting writers with offers of fee-based representation.
Robins’ email begins:
After a three-year hiatus, The Robins Agency is now accepting new clients. Oh, sure, we still offer a full editorial staff and exceptional literary agents to present your work to publishers and movie producers here and abroad, but this year we’re kicking off a brand new service that sells your books … when buyers want to buy them – like right now.
Our agency shook up the industry when we offered our clients an editorial service, rocked it even more when we charged a retainer for our services; and now, well, now watch out because this is going to be revolutionary!!
A bit of hyperbole here–Robins was prolific in her editorial referrals and her retainer, at $3,200 was astronomical, but her agency was far from the only one that followed such practices. Still, you’ve got to admire the spin.
Who ever heard of a literary agency that also published books?? Sure, you can find the under-the-table deals; but The Robins Agency is talking about above-board, in-your-face, quality work that lists on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, complete with cover designs, ISBN numbers, copyrights AND royalties to the writer.
Who ever heard of a literary agency that also published books? Well, actually, anyone who has ever seen Writer Beware’s Alert on Writers’ Literary Agency, a.k.a. AEG Publishing Group, a.k.a. Strategic Book Group–currently being sued by the Florida Attorney General’s office for unfair and deceptive business practices.
Let’s talk about investment. How much are you willing to spend to get your work from where it is, to being sold? We understand that money’s tight right now; because we are looking for a few good works, we’re willing to cut our prices to find the best work out there.
Remember I told you we shook up the industry? Here’s how. Instead of sending you bills to cover expenses at the end of each month when you are under the impression that the agency works on commission, we charge a flat rate. We don’t call on Thursdays and tell you that if you want us to represent you on our trip the next day that it’s going to cost you $500. That’s not the way we work.
Um, that’s not the way reputable literary agencies work, either. But never mind, we’re spinning like a top here in our effort to make our predatory business practices look appealing.
Our base rate, a one year retainer was $3,250; for this promotion only we are dropping it to $2,500.
IF your work needs editing, our standard rate WAS $6 per 250-word page for a limited time, we’re dropping it to $4.50 per 250-word page.
If you want to take advantage of our e-book publishing offer, it will be going up to $950 on Feb. 1; but for this mailing, we’re charging only $750. Remember this includes cover art, inside layout, ISBN, copyright, and submitted to Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, and possibly a few others to seize every available opportunity for your work.
I’ve thrown around a lot of numbers, let’s put them all together. Let’s say you have a 300 page manuscript (that’s 75,000 words); what do the numbers look like?
Editing services: $1,350 (a savings of: $450)
Agency retainer: $2,500 (a savings of $750) – it’s like getting the publishing FREE!!
E-book publishing: $ 750 (a savings of $200)Grand total: $4,600 (a total savings of: $1,400!!)
Gosh golly, what a deal!
So why would you want to pay a track recordless “literary agent” $4,600 for representation and epublishing, when reputable agents charge no fees at all and you can epublish for free on the Kindle? BECAUSE YOU CAN MAKE SO MUCH MONEY, STUPID!
Now, I understand that you may be sitting there thinking that there’s no that you’re going to spend $4,600 to take a chance on your book. So, let me ask you, how hard would it be to sell 1,000 books?? According to the news reports over 12 MILLION e-books were sold last year. Hmm. What if your book only sold 2,000 copies?? At roughly $4.95 per book, you just DOUBLED your investment.
Doesn’t look quite so scary now does it? And that’s ONLY if all we sold were the e-book copies. What would happen if while your e-book was selling, and other publishers were considering buying it for print? Would THAT be a bad thing? We didn’t think so either.
Depends on how you define “bad.”
There you have it. And, writers, you’d better hurry–’cause Cris Robins only has room for fifteen lucky new clients, and prices go up on February 1.
Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 3 Comments »