by Karintha Parker (This article originally appeared in The SFWA Bulletin #215.)   Like so many others connected to this [small-yet-all-consuming] publishing industry, books were my first love. Legend has it that a tiny version of me set eyes on my first library and yelped “oh, Mommy, all these books are for me?!”, convinced that somehow […]

Phyllis Eisenstein (b.1946) died on December 7. Eisenstein’s novels included Sorcerer’s Son, In the Red Lord’s Reach, and Shadow of Earth. Eisenstein published two volumes in the Tales of Alaric the Minstrel series and two volumes of the Book of Elementals trilogy. She also published two stand-alone novels.  Many of her early short stories were published in collaboration with […]

by Tochi Onyebuchi (This article originally appeared in The SFWA Bulletin #215.) What about the serial killers? What about the rapists? asks the skeptic in the face of the prison abolitionist. What about the violent crime and the predators? The real Bad People. You would just let them roam the streets? The questions are rarely […]

For updates on #DisneyMustPay and the writers who have and have not had their missing royalties and/or statements resolved with Disney, please visit the #DisneyMustPay Task Force’s website, WritersMustBePaid.org. (note added 24 May 2021) A message from SFWA’s President, Mary Robinette Kowal: Last year, a member came to SFWA’s Grievance Committee with a problem, which […]

A message from SFWA’s President, Mary Robinette Kowal: Last year, a member came to SFWA’s Grievance Committee with a problem, which on the surface sounds simple and resolvable. He had written novels and was not being paid the royalties that were specified in his contract. The Grievance Committee is designed to resolve contract disputes like […]

Note: This list is provided for general informational purposes, and the inclusion of any particular tool or option is not an endorsement by SFWA. This list is provided as a convenience for authors interested in contracting out tasks related to their Legacy Kit and ongoing management of their intellectual property. If you know of additional […]

This page lists the documents you, your family, your executor, or your personal representative will need in an emergency, should it be one as good as a Netflix deal or as bad as your agent forgetting to tell you about a Netflix deal. Chances are you won’t need all of them, but we thought it […]

Anti-Copyright Notice/Copyright Waiver: Anti-copyright notices and copyright waivers are written statements attached to a poem, song, story, or other intellectual property by the piece’s creator and copyright holder. These statements typically encourage free distribution of the piece and renounce or waive all copyright claims. This immediately places the work in the public domain. Favored by […]

An Introduction to the Legacy Kit The SFWA Legacy Kit does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available in this guide are for general informational purposes only. We know what you’re thinking. As soon as you saw that scary word—legacy—your brain turned left at Albuquerque and […]

Legal instruments like wills, trusts, and partnership agreements carry the force of law; that is, they legally obligate your executors, attorneys-in-fact, trustees, and partners to carry out your wishes, but they may not tell your loved ones and beneficiaries everything they need to know to do that. They can’t convey the location of important documents, […]