Page updated/links checked: 12/11/23 Introduction The Scammer: Dishonest Agents The Schmagent: Amateur, Marginal, and Incompetent Agents Telling Questionable From Reputable **A Special Warning: Fake Literary Agency Scams** Agents Who Are Also Publishers Additional Cautions One Last, Very Important Thing Resources Introduction Do you need a literary agent in order to find a publisher? If you’re […]

By Sascha Stronach Note: This article first appeared in The Bulletin #216 in October 2021. Publishing (verb): the act of smashing your head against a wall until you see daylight. Publishing From Outside America (verb): as above, at long range. In the aftermath of CoNZealand, the 78th Worldcon, there was a palpable feeling of betrayal […]

by Yilin Wang Note: This article first appeared in The Bulletin #216 in October 2021. When I tell other writers who are not familiar with Sinophone literature that I am writing short stories and a novel that play with the wuxia fiction genre in English, I am often met with one or more of the […]

by K. S. Villoso Note: This article first appeared in The Bulletin #216 in October 2021. Reading is a privilege. To have the means to obtain books, to see yourself in the material you consume, to pick truths that most accurately reflect how you view the world and your place in it are easily taken […]

By Maurice Broaddus Note: This article first appeared in The Bulletin #216 in October 2021. The ongoing conversation about writing stories more through the lens of Black joy rather than Black trauma and what it means both historically and culturally is perfectly encapsulated by how Black middle school students move through the world. I know […]

By Ashley Deng I won’t beat around it too much: The context for this essay is our current, global healthcare crisis. Let’s just say that our sci-fi trope of a massive-scale health crisis that can be Fixed With Science has happened to us in the real world. We were all eagerly awaiting the coveted cure–The […]

by Sean R. Robinson   There comes a point in every writer’s life when they stare at the page and realize the story is getting the better of them. An evil voice whispers that maybe they’re not good enough. They realize that in order to tell the story, they need to become a better writer.  […]

The Bulletin #216 is now available for download for SFWA members and participants of the 2021 Nebula Conference Online. Cover: “La Cantarita” by John Picacio This issue is special in more ways than one. Not only does it cover Winter/Spring 2021 and the 56th Nebula Awards®, it’s also the final issue edited by Michi Trota, […]

by Sabrina Vourvoulias   First, a quick quiz: Did you read the headline, and automatically compile a mental checklist of the authors and staffers from underserved communities you’ve published or hired?  Congrats, but … you were gauging diversity.  Did you read the headline and start enumerating the kind of outreach you’ve done to ensure underserved […]

by Benjamin C. Kinney   Rejection letters are an inescapable part of the writing life, especially for authors of short fiction. The internet is full of advice to build persistence in the face of rejection – which is good advice, but it’s only one side of the coin. It takes two to reject, after all. […]