By Karawynn Long Note: This post does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and advice is intended for general informational purposes only. You’ve written a piece of short fiction, submitted it, and gotten that thrilling acceptance letter. Congratulations! But wait—you aren’t finished yet. As a rule, the boilerplate […]
By AJ Cunder As writers, we’ve all been there: Submittable, Moksha, a proprietary submission system, or even just a submission email. The cover letter’s been written, the story uploaded, and we’re waiting to hit that mysterious Submit button, wondering what happens after our work is sent into cyberspace. When I first started slush reading for […]
by Nilah Magruder Note: This article first appeared in The Bulletin #216 in October 2021. I am a cartoonist. I draw. I write. I draw and write simultaneously. Much of my work these days is in graphic novels. It has fed me and kept a roof over my head for the past few years, but […]
by Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Note: This article first appeared in The Bulletin #216 in October 2021. An editor does more than ensure that grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure are correct. Our job is to help writers craft stories that do more than occupy space on the page. We advocate for writers and partner with them to […]
by Sabrina Vourvoulias First, a quick quiz: Did you read the headline, and automatically compile a mental checklist of the authors and staffers from underserved communities you’ve published or hired? Congrats, but … you were gauging diversity. Did you read the headline and start enumerating the kind of outreach you’ve done to ensure underserved […]
by Benjamin C. Kinney Rejection letters are an inescapable part of the writing life, especially for authors of short fiction. The internet is full of advice to build persistence in the face of rejection – which is good advice, but it’s only one side of the coin. It takes two to reject, after all. […]
by Matthew Broberg-Moffitt Part 1 of this series focused on the importance of #OwnVoices stories and the representation of neurodiversity and the neurodiverse (ND) in modern media. Part 2 covers the business of traditional publishing and the unique challenges that the ND face when attempting to get a seat at the proverbial table. For those […]
by Alice Speilburg Nearly every summer, I bring on an intern for the agency, and each week we cover a different publishing topic, focusing on traditional publishing paths in the US. When we get to author payment structures—advances and royalties—I start with a theoretical explanation. An advance is intended to cover an author’s expenses while […]
by Karintha Parker (This article originally appeared in The SFWA Bulletin #215.) Like so many others connected to this [small-yet-all-consuming] publishing industry, books were my first love. Legend has it that a tiny version of me set eyes on my first library and yelped “oh, Mommy, all these books are for me?!”, convinced that somehow […]
by Evan Winter (This article originally appeared in The SFWA Bulletin #215.) Not long ago, I was asked where traditional publishing spaces are failing self-published writers, and I think I may have an answer: everywhere. This is because traditional publishing spaces aren’t structured in form or objectives to value the needs of self-published writers and […]
Seven fantasy short stories that take the reader to the Kingdom of Imlay, a coastal realm still full of magic and mythical creatures great and small. Original and poignant, these tales will challenge the intellect and enlarge the imagination.
Debbie Urbanski is the author of the story collection Portalmania (S&S, May 2025) and the climate AI novel After World (S&S, 2023), which was a Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Engadget, Strange Horizons, & Booklist Best Book of the Year.
