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Nonviolence and the Hero’s Duel

by Gabriel Ertsgaard   From Hector and Achilles to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, the heroic duel is a fiction staple. However, my special interest (and the topic of my unfinished book) is how to tell stories of nonviolent heroism. How do we tell gripping stories without the charge of heroic violence? Is it even […]

Author Advances: An Update for Your Expectations

by Alice Speilburg Nearly every summer, I bring on an intern for the agency, and each week we cover a different publishing topic, focusing on traditional publishing paths in the US. When we get to author payment structures—advances and royalties—I start with a theoretical explanation. An advance is intended to cover an author’s expenses while […]

Final Hours of SFWA Silent Auction

May 17, 2021 — Monday, May 17, at Noon PST, will bring a close to The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., (SFWA) 2021 Silent Auction. Final bids may be placed at bitly.com/sfwaauction. The auction opened on May 10. In the past week, over 1,100 bids have been placed, with at least $9,500 raised for […]

SFWA to Host Silent Auction

SFWA is launching an online auction to support its expanding membership base of over 2,000 members, advocacy efforts for all writers, and initiatives to better serve marginalized communities within the larger speculative fiction writing world. This silent auction will open May 10, 2021, at 12:00pm Pacific Time and close May 17, 2021, at 12:00pm Pacific […]

Spec-Fic-Fu: How to Make Aliens and Robots Fight Better

by Andrew Hoe   Human martial arts styles are biased: they’re specifically designed to fight other humans. Of course, watching Neo trade Kung Fu blows with Agent Smith is awesome, but perhaps our focus on human fighting systems in sci-fi affects our imagining of alien/robot bodies. Put simply, it makes composing fight scenes easier. By […]

What Communities Can Do

by Aigner Loren Wilson Like many writers, when I first started out writing speculative fiction, I felt lost when it came to who to talk to or where to “hang out” with the other cool kids. I knew there were speculative fiction communities out there, ones that were even open and welcoming to little ol’ […]

2021 Nebula Conference Online Programming Preview

The Nebula Programming Committee has prepared a preview of the programming for the 2021 Nebula Conference Online. Though these items are neither comprehensive nor final, they represent the well-rounded, professional experience we’re aiming to deliver. If you’re inspired to contribute more panel ideas or recommend panelists, including yourself, to weigh in on these topics or […]

On Grants

by Gillian Polack   It’s suddenly harder to make a living as a writer. It was never easy. Setsu Uzumé recently wrote on the possibility of obtaining grants from regional or local governments. This article will walk you through some of the steps to get a local or regional government grant. I am Australian, so […]