Legal Affairs Alert on the New Zealand National Library
UPDATE 12/3/2021: The NZ National Library has announced that they will be reconsidering their plans for this archival deal “in […]
Contracts and Copyrights, Contracts Committee Alerts
Information Center
Information Center
In Memoriam: Kathleen Ann Goonan
Kathleen Ann Goonan (b.1952) died on January 28 after a lengthy battle with myelofibrosis. Goonan began publishing science fiction with the
Information Center, News, The SFWA Blog
Here are Eight Places That Accept Nonfiction Essays on SF/F Topics
by Margaret Kingsbury Writing articles for websites can turn into a nice side income and can even become a main
News, The SFWA Blog, Where to Submit Short Stories
Submission Tetris: An Analytic Approach
by Laurence Raphael Brothers Introduction Short fiction submissions can be challenging. There are many factors to juggle in deciding what
Contracts and Copyrights, News, The SFWA Blog
Copyright Registration Rule Change Allows Flat Fee Registration of Short Textual Works Published Online
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) is extremely pleased that the U.S. Copyright Office has issued a new
Information Center, The SFWA Blog
Writing ‘POC’ is Not Enough
Writing ‘POC’ is not enough. It doesn’t merit applause, or points for diversity. What does merit applause and accolades is acknowledging and depicting unreduced minorities—especially marginalized voices—in writing. We are not a monolith. Our stories are as complicated and intersectional as anyone else’s.
Information Center, The SFWA Blog
Not-so-still Life: Writing from an Inanimate Object’s Point of View
by Katherine Quevedo
Looking for unconventional, potentially striking ways to explore what it means to be human in your writing? It may seem counterintuitive, but personification—ascribing human qualities to inanimate objects—can open new avenues to plumb the depths of human experience.
Contracts and Copyrights, Information Center, News
Infringement Alert – “National Emergency Library”
Using the Coronavirus pandemic as an excuse, the Archive has created the “National Emergency Library” and removed virtually all controls from the digital copies so that they can be viewed and downloaded by an infinite number of readers.
Contracts and Copyrights, Information Center, News
Contracts Committee Alert on Reversion Clauses
When you have your first (or next) contract in front of you for a traditionally published book, you are likely thinking primarily about your advance and what rights you want to retain. But one of the most significant clauses, usually found somewhere toward the end of the contract, may be the most important for you in the long run: the reversion clause.
Information Center, The SFWA Blog
Making It Different – Pushing Genre Boundaries in Fantasy
by Martin Jenkins
One of the pleasures of genre is that it lets us identify a type of writing that we know we like. We’d feel short-changed if a crime novel didn’t feature a crime, after all, or if a romance didn’t put the travails of a relationship front and center. What we don’t want to see, however, is a mere repetition of genre tropes and clichés – it’s what is fresh and different in a work of fiction that keeps us turning the page while still being identifiably a genre work.
Information Center, News
SFWA Statement from the President on Goodreads
We have had some productive conversations with Goodreads and wanted to update you. As some of you may be aware, over the course of several weeks, trolls created dozens of false accounts as part of a harassment campaign against some writers. We reached out to Goodreads to ask for assistance in stopping those attacks and they were, thankfully, responsive. Goodreads was as committed to solving this as SFWA was. If readers lose their faith with the site because of false reviews, that’s a problem for all of us.
Contracts and Copyrights, The SFWA Blog
Negotiation Tips for Writers
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…