Welcome, Nebula Finalists!

Being nominated for a Nebula  is a very exciting time, and it comes with extra attention from SFWA members, the SFF writing community, and sometimes the internet in general. Some of you may have been here before, and for others, this might be your first time. Wherever you are in your career, this is a great time to review your safety protocols for social media, unsolicited communication, and virtual or in-person events.

We want this to be a fantastic time for you! To that end, the Safety Committee has compiled the following resources on navigating the spotlight. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions at safety@sfwa.org.

Solicitations

Some authors receive solicitations after appearing on awards ballots. This is great, though by no means universal. If you are contacted by industry professionals, such as agents, editors, or publishers, please conduct the same due diligence you would when researching markets or agencies under ordinary circumstances. There are sometimes inexperienced or incompetent professionals who hover around events like these looking for clients, such as publishers with predatory contract terms, agents with poor business practices, or simply amateur projects that may never get off the ground. Before jumping into new opportunities, check resources such as  Writer Beware, the Absolute Write Water Cooler, and the comments sections on QueryTracker entries. You can also ask around any author circles you frequent, or email us with questions.

Potential for harassment

We occasionally find that bad actors and trolls like to use award ballots to stir up trouble. This can take the form of online harassment, impersonation of media or industry professionals, or direct communication with you via social media DMs, website contact forms, or private contact information found in data leaks. If you have had compromised accounts in the past (data stolen from retailers, social media sites, scraped information from private forums, etc), then it is possible your personal contact information is already on a list somewhere online. Consider updating your account passwords (see below for more detail), locking your DMs to people you follow, and blocking and reporting anyone who harasses you on social media.

Award ballots can bring out strong opinions! People may review your work more critically than you’ve experienced before; you may see reviewers ranking ballot works, or lamenting that their favorites did not make the finalist list. It’s perfectly all right to step away from these online spaces if you need to, and let the conversation play out. Productivity apps like Freedom or Forest can help you avoid the urge to engage with sites like Goodreads or Reddit. 

Securing your online accounts

Now is a good time to make sure your online accounts are secure. Enable two-factor authentication where possible. Use good password hygiene—unique, strong passwords that are different for each account, so that if one of your passwords has been leaked in a data breach, it cannot be used to log into any of your other accounts.

For more information about online safety, we have compiled resources here:

Personal Safety Online: This page includes general safety considerations for maintaining an online presence, plus information on doxing, harassment campaigns, and effective record-keeping for documenting harassment.

Attending conventions

If you haven’t been to writing conventions before, but wish to start now, it can be intimidating at first.

Before attending a convention, check out its harassment policy. This should be clearly available on the convention’s website. Make sure the policy has clearly delineated procedures for what constitutes harassment and how to report harassment. For the Nebula Conference, be sure to read over our Harassment and Moderation policies.

For in-person conventions, consider having a con buddy. If you have a trusted friend or acquaintance who is also attending the convention, ask them ahead of time if you can look out for each other and discuss what that entails for you.

For more information on attending events, we have compiled resources here:

Safety Considerations for In-Person Events: This page includes basic guidance for professional conduct, safety tips for attendees, what to do if harassment occurs, and effective bystander intervention.

Safety Considerations for Virtual Platforms: This page provides best practice recommendations for event planners and basic guidance for professional conduct during online events using platforms such as MS Teams, Zoom, etc.

Traveling to the US

SFWA recognizes that the political climate in the United States right now is both tense and uncertain. While we believe that travel to the Nebula Conference in Kansas City should be unremarkable for the vast majority of people, here are a few tips for international visitors to ease their travel journey.

• Always have your passport ready to hand. In an airport, be ready to produce your airline ticket/boarding pass; at a road border agency, be ready to produce your driver’s license.
• Give clear, concise, and consistent answers to where you are going, when asked. Emphasize that you are traveling for fun. Have the name of the conference and the hotel memorized.
• Do not argue, get out of your car unless asked to, or raise your voice. Border Patrol, TSA, and police alike are very sensitive to anything that may read as aggression. Remember, in a country where anyone could have a gun, law enforcement is trained to read many innocuous movements as potential precursors to deadly violence.
• Be prepared to have your belongings searched. This is a routine aspect of travel, including for US citizens. If there is a specific item that cannot be handled (for instance, sensitive film canisters), calmly notify the agent.
• Do not bring any non-prescription drugs, including alcohol, into the country. Marijuana is legal in some states, but not all, and is still illegal at the federal level.
• Do not travel with any weapons, including pocket knives and utility knives.
• If for some reason you are detained by law enforcement while in the US, do not say anything other than basic information (your name, for instance) before meeting with your lawyer.

Most of the time, these tips won’t be crucial. We provide these not with the intent to alarm, but rather to help make sure your travel experience is calm and problem-free.

Unfortunately, people who are not white, and people who have accents that do not read to law enforcement as “native” English, may be targeted for extra surveillance. This is not fair, and SFWA does not endorse these practices. Nonetheless, pragmatic realism demands that we warn our members who may fall into those categories to practice extra caution.

Congratulations once again on becoming a Nebula Award finalist! If you have any questions on the material we’ve shared with you here, don’t hesitate to email us at safety@sfwa.org, or contact your liaison at liaison@sfwa.org.