Archive for the ‘The SFWA Blog’ Category

In Memoriam: Laurel Amberdine

Laurel Amberdine (1970–21 January 2025) was a writer, interviewer, and genre editor. She worked for Locus Magazine for ten years, and was an assistant editor for Lightspeed magazine. Amberdine was known for her kind and thoughtful interviews, yet she also loved to write, both prose and poetry. Her short fiction story, “Airship Hope” was published […]

SFWA Market Report For January

Welcome to the January edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those markets included on this list pay at least $0.08/word USD in at least one category of fiction. This compilation is not exhaustive of all publication opportunities that pay […]

Characterization and Worldbuilding Through Fight Scenes

by Corrine A. Kumar Fight scenes aren’t just about fighting. While writing technically accurate and action-packed fight scenes is important, if we don’t keep the focus on our characters and our worlds, readers will just skim past them. Fight scenes are a powerful opportunity to show the reader who your character is, where they come […]

Enriching Your Worldbuilding with Economics

by Albert Zhang Science fiction is often much more concerned about the physical than the organizational reality of a setting (and that’s understandable). But a good fundamental economic story can facilitate plot development and lend realism to a setting. To that end, I hope to share some tips for incorporating economic events into your own […]

What Should I Pitch to Planetside?

by SFWA’s Planetside Crew In recent years, Planetside: The Online Magazine of SFWA has undergone many changes and refinements to serve its community better. Where we once had a single editor, we’re now a team that reviews pitches collectively and looks for ways to bring more voices into the conversation. This past year was an especially […]

The Professional Editor/Writer Relationship

by Ira Nayman Early in my short-story writing career, I received a delightful email from an anthology editor who had accepted one of my works. “The hard part is over,” she wrote. “Your story has been accepted. Compared to this, editing will be easy.” What did this editor mean? If a magazine gets 200 submissions […]

History in Speculative Fiction: Repeat, Rhyme, or Echo?

by Aaron H. Arm Editor’s note: This piece is part of a rolling series, Writing from History, in which creators share professional insights related to the work of using historical elements in fictional prose. There’s an adage that people like to bring up when discussing current events: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”* […]

SFWA Market Report For December

Welcome to the December edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those markets included on this list pay at least $0.08/word USD in at least one category of fiction. This compilation is not exhaustive of all publication opportunities that pay […]

Translation for Video Games: An Interview with Kristin Osani

Editor’s note: This piece is part of the series Perspectives in Translation, where creators discuss the many facets and challenges of translating fiction. The terms “source language” and “target language” will be used throughout this series. Translation is always a challenging process and can become even more complicated when audiovisual materials are involved. Here, SFWA […]