by Dan Brotzel
Many writers find it difficult to talk about money, especially if it means asking for more and potentially risking turning down an offer of publication. But writing is a business as well as a passion, and the more cash you can secure for it, the more time you’ll be able to devote to your craft. Here are a few pointers on how to approach the dark art of negotiation…
by Amelia Wiens
One of the best parts of science fiction and fantasy is the worldbuilding. A key part of creating interesting worlds is creating diverse cultures that vary in some way from our own norms. That being said, it can be so hard to get out of our own culture’s point of view and redefine elements that we unconsciously take for granted.
by Hunter Liguore
What do you fear when you sit down to write? Fear can be the debilitating emotion that prevents us from getting into the chair in the first place. It’s the force that makes lengthy excuses for why we can’t write. Next to procrastination, fear can cause us to abandon projects, call it quits, or worse, abandon the writing completely.
by Wendy Nikel
According to Forbes and other market researchers, audiobook sales are currently experiencing a major boom. With Science Fiction & Fantasy being the third-most-popular genre for this format, I decided a few months ago that I was going to try my hand at getting my books – a time travel novella series originally published in 2018-2019 by World Weaver Press – into this market. Here’s how it went.
by Setsu Uzumé
From Kickstarter to ko-fi to patreon, the search for funding can be a huge challenge. I recently attended a lecture provided by the St. Louis chapter of the Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts on the subject of applying for grants. Some of the most basic hurdles include finding grants that might be a good fit for your work, and how to prepare your materials in a way to make it easy for the folks reading your submission.
by Eva Scalzo
There are things you want to be sure you’re asking beginning on that first call, when you’re trying to see if an agent will be a good fit for you
by Ian Muneshwar
We’ve all been there. The dreaded-but-anticipated moment when your beta readers return your manuscript draft, and you sift through their comments in search of their praise, reactions, and criticisms.
by Alex Woolf
No one enjoys being rejected. Writers, who are often a touch more sensitive than the average bear, may feel the sting even more acutely. Which is unfortunate, as the daily work of the writer involves rejection on an almost continuous basis.
News from Writing the Other:
Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford, administrators of Writing the Other online classes, are pleased to announce that their scholarship program, launched in 2016, is now retitled the Vonda N. McIntyre Sentient Squid Scholarship. This name change, in honor of the award-winning and beloved science fiction and fantasy novelist who passed away in April of this year, comes about not only because Vonda was a friend and mentor to both Shawl and Bradford, but also because without her there would be no scholarship fund.
by Alice Speilburg
At the pre-publication stage, as you’re drafting queries and sending off sample pages, an editor at a publishing house and a literary agent seem to serve the same purpose: to legitimize your claim as a professional author, and to set you on the path to publication.
Jane Yolen brings you passionate treasures and delirious transformations. This bewitching assemblage, with an original introduction from Brandon Sanderson, is an ideal read for anyone who appreciates witty compelling, and classic romantic fantasy.
David Hopkins is a fantasy novelist with an interest in Shakespeare, medieval history, fairy tales, and myth. He has written op-eds for the Dallas Morning News and Chicago Tribune, graphic novels in a variety of genres, and even a few D&D adventures.
