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The SFWA Blog
Introduction: New Writer Beware Committee Member Michael Capobianco
My name is Michael Capobianco. Some of you may know who I am. I was President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for thee terms, 1996, 1997, and 2007.
2013 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award: Samuel R. Delany
SFWA has named Samuel R. Delany, Jr. (1942–) as the 2013 DAMON KNIGHT GRAND MEMORIAL GRAND MASTER for his contributions to the literature of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
2013 Endeavor Award Winner
Seattle writer Laurie Frankel won the fifteenth Endeavour Award for her novel Goodbye For Now (Doubleday.) The Award, by Florida artist Ashley Harper, comes with an honorarium of $1,000.00.
All Classic Books: The Scam Continues
If you’ve read my two previous posts about All Classic Books, you already know this story. If you haven’t, here’s the gist.
SFWA Raises Qualification Standard Payment Rates for Short Fiction
On July 1, 2014, SFWA’s rate for qualifying short fiction will rise from five cents per word to six cents per word.
Don’t Fall For Vanity Radio
Writers, don’t fall for this offer from Global Talk Radio that’s currently doing the spam circuit.
Lit Fic Mags for Spec Fic Writers 101:
Five Things You have To Know
by Caren Gussoff I’ve sat in a lot of panels — and eavesdropped on a bunch of conversations — lately, in which genre writers have asked, debated, and/or mused about crossing over from SFF magazines and journals into straight-up literary…
Horror Writers Association Adds Its Support to Writer Beware
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
If you’re a regular visitor here, you may have noticed a change in our masthead.
I’m delighted to announce that the Horror Writers Association has joined the Mystery Writers of America in providing add…
Baltimore Science Fiction Society Presents: Dangerous Voices Variety Hour
The Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) is pleased to announce a new quarterly event: the Dangerous Voices Variety Hour, kicking off on Saturday, December 7th from 5 PM– 7 PM at 3310 E. Baltimore St. in Highlandtown.
Masterpiece: A Reality Show For Authors (Plus a Short, Sad, History of Similar Shows That Failed)
Literary feuds are entertaining: famous and not-so-famous authors holding grudges, slinging insults, or sabotaging one another with bad reviews (both anonymous and not).
But what about author feuding in real time? Can the spectacle of writers racing one another to finish…
Awards Profiteering: The Book Festival Empire of JM Northern Media
If you’re a writer, I’ll bet you’ve been spammed by JM Northern Media.
Don’t recognize the name? Maybe these will ring a bell. The Los Angeles Book Festival. The Hollywood Book Festival. The Paris Book Festival. The Beach Book Festival. The…
Nebula Nominations Open
Nominations are now open for the 2013 Nebula Awards. The nominations are open to Active, Lifetime Active, and Associate members. Voting closes February 15.
Reposting a Classic: Turkey City Lexicon – A Primer for SF Workshops
This manual is intended to focus on the special needs of the science fiction workshop. Having an accurate and descriptive critical term for a common SF problem makes it easier to recognize and discuss. This guide is intended to save…
Solicitation Alert: Bloggingbooks
Have you recently been solicited by a company called Bloggingbooks that wants to publish your blog in book form?
2 Moon Press–Update
Last summer, I wrote about a police investigation of Michigan-based pay-to-play publisher 2 Moon Press, which closed its doors in May amid competing claims of wrongdoing by its former and current owners.
Tools for Writers: Rafflecopter
A long-standing practice in book promotion is giveaways, particularly since book giveaways may help drum up reviews as well. You can conduct such giveaways in a simple fashion, asking people to leave a comment on a blog post or…
Going Out of Business, Nigerian Spam-Scam Style
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
Back in August, I blogged about the latest effort by Cheryl Lee Nunn, owner of vanity publisher American Book Publishing Inc., to expand her author-fleecing efforts with a network of new publishers, bogus…
Odyssey Writing Workshops Online Courses Announced
All Odyssey Online courses involve live online class meetings, so students can ask questions and participate in the class. Each course is designed to provide intensive focus on a particular aspect of fiction writing and challenging homework assignments to help…
Changes to Nebula Award Rules
In an ongoing effort to ensure the Nebula Awards are administered to promote the best in SF literature, and to be transparent and manageable, the SFWA Board has voted to make a small change to item 12.3 and add an…
Reader Communities: LibraryThing
LibraryThing, which was the first social book site, allowed users to enter their own books in order to catalog their library. People signed up immediately.
Guest Post: Having a Purpose
I experience writing not as something I’ve chosen, but as something that has chosen me. I have work I need to do, and that work is writing, and my life is in that work.
Canadian Prix Aurora Award Winners Announced
Congratulations to winners of the Canadian Prix Aurora Awards, 2013
Thoughts on the Great Erotica Panic of 2013
If you’re a self-published erotica author, you’re probably aware of the crazy events of the past few days, including the wholesale deletion of erotica ebooks and the shutdown of entire retail operations. If you’re not, here’s how things went down.
Early Termination Fees in Publishing Contracts: A Cautionary Tale
A few years ago, I blogged about early termination fees, a.k.a. kill fees, in publishing contracts, and why they are not a good thing.