Submission Guidelines

The SFWA Blog is open to pitches for original nonfiction articles on topics that might be of interest to new and/or established writers of science fiction and fantasy. SFWA welcomes pitches from both members and nonmembers; Black, Indigenous, and other writers of color, as well as writers of other marginalized identities, are encouraged to submit article pitches. 

SFWA primarily serves SF/F writers working in both short and long form prose, games, and comics, so we’re interested in seeing topics relevant to that audience. Examples of topics we’re interested in include but aren’t limited to: the craft of writing, the business of writing and publishing, critical examinations of tropes in SF/F, social issues in SF/F, media tie-ins, writing across genres and formats, personal perspectives, writing for games, career transitions, writing comics, publishing with a small press, what to know about self-publishing, and managing multiple projects. Articles can take the form of an essay, reported piece, how-to, listicle, and Q&A.

Ideal article length is between 500-800 words. Pay upon acceptance is $0.08/word.

Rights: First English language rights in print and digital formats for a single issue. Exclusive rights for one month from publication.

Submissions should be sent via email to webeditor@sfwa.org with “PITCH: Topic/name of article – Author name” in the subject line. In your pitch, please include the following:

• proposed article topic
• article length
• date when you expect to be able to turn in the article
• a link to samples of your writing (such as blog posts or published articles) if you have any;

If you don’t have any writing samples, we still welcome your pitch!

Please do not send completed articles or samples of the article you’re pitching for consideration. These will be automatically rejected. No multiple submissions, please. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please indicate this in your accompanying email.

What we’d love to see is a pitch with a clear focus and point of view that communicates why this topic is relevant for SFWA’s audience. If you’d like some guidance on pitching an article, this Writer’s Digest piece has some good advice. 

Please do not send submissions for an article you have previously published elsewhere; if the article was published on your personal blog, that counts as having been previously published.

Allow up to two weeks for a response. After two weeks, please query at the above address.

Contracts will be issued for completed articles. Payment will be issued within 45 days of a completed and signed contract.