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The SFWA Blog
Sunburst Award Winners Announced
The Sunburst Award Committee is pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic in the Adult and Young Adult categories.
Support SFWA & Play Some Great Games
Don’t miss your chance to pick up amazing DRM-free, cross platform games while supporting Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America in Humble Indie Bundle 15! The current Humble Indie Bundle expires at 11AM Pacific Time on Tuesday, October 13. The last Humble…
Grievance Committee Alert: Contract Safeguards Under Siege
There is a recent tendency of some publishers to change their contracts in manners that are decidedly unfavorable to authors. We have had and are having particular issues with indemnity clauses. Griefcom urges all of you to compare any offered…
Copper Cylinder Award Winners Announced
The Sunburst Award Society is pleased to announce the winners of the fourth annual Copper Cylinder Award.
Humor as a Plot Adhesive
As fiction writers, we talk a lot about humor. We talk about what’s funny. We talk about what isn’t. We talk about appropriate moments for humor, the types of audience best suited to it, and the consequences of attempted humor…
Canopus Award Finalists Announced
The finalists in the inaugural Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Writing have been selected. The Canopus Award is an annual writing prize recognizing the finest fiction and non-fiction works that contribute to the excitement, knowledge, and understanding of interstellar…
How Do You Ask for a Blurb?
How do you ask for a blurb without making a nuisance of yourself? You do your research. Many professional authors have “blurb and review” policies in place on their websites, mostly out of self-defense.
Call for Submissions to the Journal of Science Fiction
The Museum of Science Fiction, the world’s first comprehensive science fiction museum, will publish an academic journal of science fiction using the University of Maryland’s journal management system.
Seven Days on Skokholm: Part Five
by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
I need to know if a Greater Black-Backed Gull could and would eat a Welsh faerie if the opportunity presented itself.
Seven Days on Skokholm: Part Four
by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
The ground in front of me slopes down. There is a red painted stone marking the end of the path, which makes me laugh, because of course I’m not going to stumble down to the cliff edge, …
SFWA Releases a New Model Magazine Contract
As part of its mission to serve professional genre writers, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America is pleased to announce that their Contracts Committee has released an updated Model Magazine Contract.
2015 Le Guin Feminist Science Fiction Fellowship Open to Applicants
The deadline for the 2015-16 Le Guin Feminist Science Fiction Fellowship has been extended to 5 pm, Thursday, October 1, 2015.
Seven Days on Skokholm: Part Three
by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
“Also, just keep writing, even when it seems stupid. You’ll need to use up a whole lot of words to get to the good ones.”
Seven Days on Skokholm: Part Two
Skokholm, Richard tells us, is a honeycomb of burrows. The rabbits, the puffins, the storm petrels and the manx shearwaters all make their own burrows and to be honest, it’s a bit of a nightmare, the island riddled with holes.
Seven Days on Skokholm
by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
If I had a week with nothing to do, I would write amazing words. I would write a book. I would write a million words and then dream the story while I slept under the stars and…
How Do You Say “SFWA”?
https://youtu.be/bA2zROWqTR4
Out-of-this-World Auction At Worldcon
Become a fantastic character, take away something beautiful and unique, or get killed (fictively) by your favorite author at the Charity Auction hosted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) at this year’s Worldcon on Sunday, August…
Canopus Award Judges Announced
100YSS is currently accepting submissions for original works and nominations for previously published works July 25 through August 31, 2015. The Public is invited to nominate previously published works.
Joining the Club
Unidentified Funny Objects, my anthology series, was partly born out of frustration. It was 2012, and I had been actively writing and submitting short stories for about three years. Things were going rather well: I’d made some professional sales, joined…
UFO Anthology Now a SFWA Qualifying Market
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America is pleased to announce that Unidentified Funny Objects, edited and published by Alex Shvartsman, is the first anthology series to join the SFWA list of Qualifying Professional Markets.
Canopus Award Established
100 Year Starship has established the Canopus Award, an annual writing prize recognizing the finest fiction and non-fiction works that contribute to the excitement, knowledge, and understanding of interstellar space exploration and travel.
That Paper Dragon
by Jaym Gates and Joie Brown
Last week we discussed some of the basics we use to stay organized, but this week we’re delving into some of the grittier details—client information, multiple deadlines, business cards.
The Organizational Beast
by Jaym Gates and Joie Brown
The life of a freelancer isn’t all champagne and breakfast in bed. To make a living out of the bits and pieces of available contracting work requires a lot of juggling, steady nerves, and an…
Marketing Books as an Indie Author
When you’re an independent author, almost every job falls to you as the publisher of your work. There is no Marketing Department, no Public Relations, no Distribution. As a self-published author, all of those jobs fall in my lap.