by Megan Leigh
When it comes to equal representation in fiction, women have a long way to go. There simply aren’t enough female characters in books and that’s counting those that appear only as romantic interests, victims to be saved, or someone’s mother. Is it really so much to ask for an equal number and variety of well-written, three-dimensional female characters?
Two hundred years after Mary Shelley came up with the vision for the story that would become Frankenstein, Arizona State University (ASU) will launch a series of writing “dares” to inspire the public to imagine new stories about science, technology and the impact of creation.
Welcome to the Junec Market Report for SF/F.
Deadlines and Closures to Note:
Pro anthology Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation is open to submissions of fiction and poetry until June 4 and submissions of line art and coloring pages until June 30, 2016.
Info about the organization’s new member experience, game writer criteria, the state of SFWA finances, volunteer opportunities, Worldcon plans, the 2017 Nebulas, awards for anthologies, what they’re reading, and more.
by Setsu Uzumé
In announcing a new award at her Guest of Honor speech at Wiscon 40, Nalo Hopkinson asked, “What are we doing to foster joy and welcome to this community? What are we doing to cultivate its health and vibrancy? What are we doing to create an environment in which imperfect people (as all people are) can feel encouraged and supported to take the risk of a misstep, perhaps learn from it, and come back refocused and re-energized, eager to try again? “
by Aidan Doyle
Text expansion tools are a way to save time by using shortcuts for text you commonly type. For example, on my computer I type -em and it’s automatically replaced by my email address. When submitting short stories I have a standard cover letter template. I type -pubs and modify the template according to the market. If you’re an editor sending many similar emails, text expansion tools can save you a lot of time.
Welcome to the the first episode of the biweekly SFWA Chat Hour.
Today’s episode features Cat Rambo, M.C.A. Hogarth, and Kate Baker discussing the recent Nebula conference weekend, current SFWA efforts, and what’s coming in 2016.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announce the members of the jury for the 2016 Andre Norton Award.
by John Joseph Adams
Imagine you’re a reader who doesn’t know most of the authors in the anthology you just picked up, or you see someone talking on social media about a cool story they just read. Are you more likely to read—absent of all other meaningful context or data—a story called “Alien” or one called “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”?
by Cat Rambo, SFWA President
What was it like? Like getting to co-host at one of the most awesome weekend-long parties ever, but one with all sorts of interesting conversations full of stuff that was genuinely useful to my career interspersed at intervals.
