by Roxana Arama, Lead Editor

For nearly 30 years, The SFWA Blog has been an essential resource for speculative fiction creators. Our editorial team is excited to begin a new chapter on July 1, 2025, reintroducing our publication with a new name that better reflects who we are and where we’re headed.

Planetside: The Online Magazine of SFWA

Three Decades of Insight

The first post on what is now called The SFWA Blog was published in January 1996. It took a few years for The Blog to find its stride and consistently deliver the content our readers have come to expect, but by the mid-2000s, SFF writers were using this space to provide up-to-date insight into their craft and the publishing industry at large.

While the word blog brings to mind the beginnings of our online magazine as a forward-looking platform embracing the new technologies of its day, it now sounds a bit dated. The blog format implies a more casual tone compared to the well-researched and polished articles we publish. The word magazine better describes our content and also honors the dedicated authors who contribute to our publication.

Over the years, our magazine has featured thousands of articles, covering everything from worldbuilding best practices and industry news to emerging trends and craft discussions. Experienced authors generously provided guidance and perspective to aspiring writers through our pages. Many new voices who rose through The SFWA Blog went on to become household names in the literary world. Under its new name, our magazine will empower writers to connect with the larger creative community—just as it always has—by sharing diverse knowledge, exchanging ideas, and encouraging collaboration.

Why Planetside?

According to the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, the word planetside entered the English lexicon in the 1950s through the works of Andre Norton and Damon Knight, two speculative fiction authors who hold a special place in the SFWA community for their lasting influence. We even have two Nebula awards named in their honor: the Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction, and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. Their legacy is one reason why planetside resonates deeply with us, because it reflects both our roots and our ongoing mission to elevate speculative storytelling.

Though planetside might initially sound like a science fiction term, we invite you to see it as an anchor we provide to our community of creators. While you venture out there, into your worlds of fantasy, game writing, horror, YA, romantasy, poetry, sci-fi, comics, middle-grade, and other genre-bending story forms, we’ll be down here, writing our planetside dispatches that provide you with everything you need to make your adventure as amazing as possible. Think of us as your Planetside Crew (more on that below), which equips you with the essential information and insight you need while you’re exploring the boundless worlds of your creation.

We’d also like to better communicate the sense of wonder and discovery we encounter every time we bring a new article to our readership. As such, with its new logo, Planetside: The Online Magazine of SFWA strives to represent SFWA’s mission to inform, inspire, support, and advocate for creators of speculative fiction worldwide.

Our Contribution to SFWA Publications

Planetside is part of SFWA Publications, which offers a number of publishing services. These include the New Release Newsletter, which helps SFWA members promote their upcoming titles; Singularity, which offers monthly industry news to members; and the NetGalley Partnership Program, which helps authors connect with reviewers and offers priority placement for members. (And we have more to be announced soon!)

But Planetside is special among the SFWA Publications projects because the magazine is for everyone working in SFF: SFWA members or otherwise, professional and professionalizing writers alike. We’re here for the full journey of industry creators. We also strive to bring a wide range of voices, opinions, and perspectives from across the planet to our readers. And that commitment carries through our editorial approach.

Our Editorial Process

The Planetside Crew is the volunteer team that reviews pitches and then edits the submissions for our online magazine. I joined this wonderful group of editors three years ago and have since had the privilege of collaborating with many talented authors on their articles. I’ve also become familiar with the toolkit SFWA Publications uses to maintain its ever-growing platform. As Lead Editor of Planetside, I now manage the magazine’s publishing pipeline and our monthly editorial meetings.

We work as a team on submissions, which expands our ability to reflect the full spectrum of industry know-how. Once a month, we carefully review pitches, evaluating their strengths and considering their role within the broader scope of SFWA Publications. We also follow a set of internal standards that guide us in selecting ideas that are particularly valuable to our readers. We then partner with each author over a few editorial rounds to elevate their article’s argument and focus on clarity, always keeping our audience in mind.

Building Planetside Together

In that spirit, we encourage you to explore SFWA’s many volunteer opportunities—including the Planetside Crew—and consider lending your talents to support our writing and creative community. You can also learn more about writing for our magazine from “What Should I Pitch to Planetside?” and our Submissions Guidelines, complete with open calls to get you started. And if you enjoy our articles, please help us spread the word to your community or on your social media.

As the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association celebrates 60 years of championing speculative fiction and its creators, we at SFWA Publications are thinking about what another 60 years might depend on. We hope that the new name of our online magazine will inspire you to be part of this next chapter, as we continue to provide industry perspectives to SFF writers at every stage of their careers.

I’d like to close with a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far. To every writer who trusted us, every reader who joined us on this journey, our generous volunteers, and all those who contributed to shaping what we’ve become: thank you. Your support, creativity, and dedication have carried us forward, and we couldn’t have done it without you.