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Hezbollah has obtained an atomic bomb and a would-be martyr eager to deliver it — and that’s the good news.
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 December, 2010
Quick Updates for 2010-12-17
Friday, December 17th, 2010
- SFWA member @MFJ72's story "The Dragon's Lesson" is up at Kasma Science Fiction http://bit.ly/gbCmp1 #
- SFWA member @daviddlevine's story "Written on the Wind" (from sff.net anthology Beyond the Last Star) will be podcast on Escape Pod. #
- @SFDiplomat @ian_sales What do you mean that SFWA doesn't recognise critics? Critics can definitely be members. #
- The Arthur C. Clarke Award is facing financial difficulties. http://t.co/P99Lb3Q via @io9 #
- @SFDiplomat Correct. #
- @SFDiplomat Incorrect. Affliates get most of same benefits as our other members minus voting, plus they pay less. #
- @SFDiplomat No. It says you get a magazine, a directory, and access to the forums. Also — unlisted — promo opportunities. #
Tags: twitter
Posted in Excluded Categories | Comments Off
Key Conditions for Suspense: Table of Contents
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
- Key PROBLEM conditions for reader suspense
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Key CHARACTER conditions for reader suspense
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Key PLOT conditions for reader suspense
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o Part 10 – Clarity, the first principle of plot
o Part 11 – Make the problem hard to solve with disadvantages
o Part 12 – Make the problem hard to solve with conflicts
o Part 13 – Make the problem hard to solve with growing troubles & surprise
o Part 14 – Put your plot together with the story cycle
o Part 15 – Story cycle action and trouble
o Part 16 – The story cycle’s dynamo (and a little Hitchcock)
- Key STRUCTURE conditions for reader suspense
- SFWA member @jenniferbrozek has a new 'Dice & Deadlines' column out about multi-authored projects – http://bit.ly/i4QaXg #
- SFWA member Tony Pi‘s story “The Gold Silkworm”, is up at Fantasy Magazine.
- A Spanish reprint of SFWA member Eugie Foster‘s “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” in November Issue of Cuasar.
- Happy book release day to SFWA member Jon Armstrong and YARN. Read Chapter 1 on his site.
- At inkpunks.com today, SFWA members Blake Charlton and Wendy Wagner talk about improving your spelling against all odds.
- Welcome to SFWA’s newest Associate member Sigrid Ellis. Read her qualifying story “No Return Address” at Strange Horizons.
- Welcome to SFWA’s newest Active member Ben Loory, author of STORIES FOR NIGHTTIME AND SOME FOR THE DAY (Penguin, 2011).
- After talks with publisher, SFWA has placed Dorchester Publishing on probation from 12/10/10 – 12/10/11. Details here.
- Information about SFF.NET’s hosting and routing woes is on their twitter feed: @sffnet.
- After talks with publisher, SFWA has placed Dorchester Publishing on probation from 12/10/10 – 12/10/11. Details: http://is.gd/iGIrv #
- Welcome to SFWA's newest associate member Sigrid Ellis (@sigridellis) Read her qualifying story "No Return Address." http://is.gd/iGZcX #
- SFWA member Tony Pi's story "The Gold Silkworm", is up at Fantasy Magazine. http://is.gd/iHcaj #
- @kirabug Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It's the organization for professional SF & F writers, like @sigridellis #
- @WannabeWriter06 Likewise wondering why we were not following you. Also fixed. #
- SFWA member Keffy R. M. Kehrli‘s story “Advertising at the End of the World” is this week’s Escape Pod episode.
- Welcome to SFWA’s newest Active member Rhiannon Held, author of SILVER (Tor, 2012).
- Norilana Books offers the parody NORTHANGER ABBEY AND DRAGONS by Jane Austen and SFWA member Vera Nazarian.
- SFWA member Sir Terry Pratchett writes about learning he has Alzheimer’s here.
- Odyssey Writing Workshop announces its 16th Summer Session here.
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o Part 17 – Structure is problem solving, not voodoo
o Part 18 – The 3 phases of problem solving for suspense
o Part 19 – Use patterns, not formulas
o Part 20 – Patterns for Presentation Elements 1-3
o Part 21 – Patterns for Presentation Elements 4-5
o Part 22 – Patterns for Struggle Element 1
o Part 23 – Patterns for Struggle Element 2
o Part 24 – Patterns for Struggle Elements 3 – 5
o Part 25 – Patterns for Struggle Elements 6 & 7
o Part 26 – Patterns for Resolution Elements 1-3
o Part 27 – Patterns for Resolution Element 4 -6 & The Series Wrap Up
Tags: John D. Brown
Posted in Advice for New Writers, Information Center, The Craft of Writing, Tips for Beginners, Writing Technique | Comments Off
Tidbits
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer BewareQuery Letter Mistakes
Following on the theme of my previous post, here's a fascinating survey on the common mistakes that writers make in their query letters.
Blogger JM contacted one hundred literary agents with the following question: What is the single biggest mistake writers make when querying you? More than 50 responded. Here are the problems mentioned most frequently:
(more...)
Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 1 Comment »
Quick Updates for 2010-12-16
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Tags: twitter
Posted in Excluded Categories | Comments Off
Quick Updates for 2010-12-15
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
Member News
Industry News
Tags: Ben Loory, Blake Charlton, Eugie Foster, Jon Armstrong, Sigrid Ellis, Tony Pi, twitter, Wendy Wagner
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | Comments Off
Guest Post: Write What You Know… or Don’t Know…
Or Want to Know… Know What I Mean?
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
by Jeremy L. C. Jones
A week or so ago, I asked a bunch of writers to share some of the best advice they’ve received and how they’ve used it. At the same time I asked them to share some of the worst, the weirdest, or the least helpful advice they’ve encountered over the years.
I got a range of responses, as you can imagine.
“Write What You Know,” however, appeared more often than any other piece of “worst” advice. It’s the sort of advice that has been around long enough to pick up some baggage. Folks arguing for it tend to cite a need for authenticity and folks arguing against it tend to point toward the limitations of what a single person knows.
Below, a writer of fantasy, a writer of historical fiction, and a writer of anthropological science fiction each discuss whether writers ought to “write what you know” or “write what you don’t know” or somewhere in between…. That is to say, these three writers talk about how they’ve navigated the advice: “Write What You Know.”
(more…)
Tags: Booklife, Jeremy L. C. Jones
Posted in Advice for New Writers, Information Center, SFWA Blog, Tips for Beginners | 2 Comments »
Quick Updates for 2010-12-14
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
Tags: twitter
Posted in Excluded Categories | Comments Off
Note to members regarding Dorchester Publishing Co.
Monday, December 13th, 2010
Dear SFWA members:
As many of you are aware, over the last year, Dorchester Publishing Co, inc, which publishes books by several SFWA members, has been undergoing a number of changes to its business and in how it publishes its authors. The board of SFWA has been following the developments as they’ve occurred, and had asked members with Dorchester contracts to make us aware of if there were any improprieties involving payment or regarding their rights.
In the course of this inquiry, we became aware of several instances in which Dorchester acted against the contractual and legal interest of authors, specifically by not paying royalties when contractually specified, or distributing books in a medium for which it had not legally secured rights.
Dorchester does not dispute these events, and when it became aware of our inquiry, it contacted SFWA to offer us information and background to help answer our questions.
We feel this cooperation has been a positive first step by Dorchester and we look forward to its continuing efforts to rebuild their brand and their business, and to do well by our members and other writers with whom it works. That said, we cannot overlook the troubles the company has had, which have adversely affected our members.
Thus, by vote of the board, Dorchester Publishing is on probation as a qualified Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America market for a period of one year, December 10, 2010 – December 10, 2011. (more…)
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | 2 Comments »
One Way Not to Get Published
Monday, December 13th, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer BewareTaking a cue from Janet Reid, who over the weekend posted a truly amazingly bad agent pitch letter (yes, I do know who the agent is, and no, this person does not have any sales), I thought I'd start the week off by posting the spam I received this morning from an aspiring author (sent via a DIY email marketing service). Greetings!Writers--don't do this. I mean, for a start, I'm not an agent or publisher, so there's no reason for me to be receiving any kind of "get me published" request. Just a small amount of research (as opposed to snagging my email address from somewhere and doing no further checking) would have made that clear. For another, if I were an agent or publisher, I wouldn't give five seconds of consideration to a mass-mail pitch, even if it were much more informative and better written than this one. (Not to mention, being a cautious Web user, I'm not going to click on a link in a spam email.)
Hello, my name is [name redacted]. I am the author of [title redacted] (now available nationwide). I am also an unsigned (hungry) artist, and very creative. I have two more books I need to finish, and I'm looking for any opportunity that anyone of power and influence may offer.
I'll like to invite you to my website [link redacted].
Author [name redacted]
[email address redacted]
Alternatively, this author may not be seeking an agent or a publisher at all, but a patron. Um....yeah. I don't think I need to say any more about that.
Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 1 Comment »
Quick Updates for 2010-12-13
Monday, December 13th, 2010
Member News
Industry News
Tags: keffy r.m. kehrli, Rhiannon Held, Sir Terry Pratchett, twitter, Vera Nazarian
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | Comments Off