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Foxhole Pizza and Interstellar Quail: Cooking the Books with Joe and Gay Haldeman
In The Forever War, I had fun writing about cooking under primitive conditions. It’s easy to write about because you don’t have to explain things so much. People understand cooking over a fire. When you start to…
Happy Holidays!
Writer Beware is taking time off for the holidays. Unless there’s some especially major publishing news, look for us to be back after January 1.
I’ll still be answering emails. To contact me: beware [at] sfwa.org.
We wish all our readers…
2012 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master
Awarded to Gene Wolfe
SFWA has named Gene Wolfe as the 2012 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for his contributions to the literature of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Guest Blog Post: International Writing Scams and How to Protect Yourself
Today’s guest blog post, from journalist Mridu Khullar Relph, explores the world of writing schemes and scams from an international perspective–something that’s increasingly an issue for Western writers looking to find work overseas.
Video Pick: The Overview Effect
Some astronauts and cosmonauts have reported a cognitive shift in awareness during spaceflight–often while viewing the Earth from orbit or from the lunar surface. It has come to be known as The Overview Effect.
Book Promotion Giveaways: What Works?
As authors increasingly explore way to promote their work, one question that occurs when launching a book concerns giveaways, things like bookmarks, pens, postcards, or sometimes more complex or costly items, used to promote the book.
The Albee Agency: Book Publicity Faked
When I’m researching a website, I always vet the testimonials, because they can be, you know, fake. The very first Albee testimonial I checked caused warning bells to ring.
SFWA Pacific Northwest Reading Series for 2013
We have now nailed down the dates and hosts and some of the readers for all the SFWA Pacific Northwest Reading Series events in 2013, so mark your calendars:
Guest Post: Monster In the Laundry Basket —
Part III: What is Literary Success?
When my first novel came out – in 2000 – by all weights and measures, I had “made it” as a mid-list fiction writer. I’d secured a two book deal (the second: a collection of short stories, the most…
The Norton Jury on the Norton Award: Why It’s Important for All SFWA Members
Although the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult* Science Fiction and Fantasy relies on nominations from SFWA members just as the Nebula Awards do, the Norton also employs a jury of qualified volunteer SFWA members to help round out the…
Norton Award Blog Tour
Have you heard of the Andre Norton Award? Ever wonder how the books are nominated? What books qualify? Who picks the winners? Or maybe you’ve just been curious to learn more about young adult (YA) fiction or middle grade…
Guest Post: The Monster in the Laundry Basket: Part Two
Here, I’d like to list out my last five of ten truths about professional jealousy (as I see it), which concern how you can deal with the green-eyed monster when it will not simply be slayed.
Archway Publishing: Simon & Schuster Adds a Self-Publishing Division
Well, it’s happened again. Another traditional publisher has added a pay-to-play “division.”
Yesterday, venerable trade publisher (and one of the Big 5) Simon & Schuster announced the launch of Archway Publishing, a self-publishing services provider.
Guest Post: The Monster in the Laundry Basket: Professional Jealousy in the Open–Part One
I knew I’d found a keeper when my boyfriend-at-the-time barely flinched the first time he saw one of our fights, word-for-word, in print. “You writers,” he said. “You air your dirty laundry. That’s how it is.”
Guest Post: The Chimerical Kitchen: Cooking the Books with Elizabeth Bear
Bear, the award-winning science fiction and fantasy author and purveyor of the delicious salt caramels currently gracing my desk, knows that food and cooking are key to worldbuilding. In many of her 23 novels, you’ll find reference to, if not…
Guest Post: The #1 Rule of Everything
There’s a tendency for writers to obsess over rules. If you’re reading my blog series “Chasing the First Sale,” you know I’m the chiefest of sinners; it’s packed full of rules, and there’s a good reason for that: rules are…
Publishers Hate Authors? Really?
Levin’s article is exactly what its title suggests: a screed on how, no matter how things might seem to the hopeful author or the uninformed observer, publishers just really despise authors. I mean, REALLY despise them. Why? Well, according to…
SFWA Middle Grade and Young Adult Writers Membership Now Open
SFWA Middle Grade and Young Adult Writers is a special interest group supporting SFWA’s middle grade and young adult author members. Formed in June 2012, the group is currently in the midst of a six-month trial period.
In Memoriam: Kevin O’Donnell, Jr.
Devoted husband and faithful friend. As the author of ten published novels and over seventy published short stories and articles, Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. won literary awards and had a devoted following of readers. He chaired SFWA’s Nebula Award Committee, ran…
Guest Blog Post: Mustering the Courage to Turn Down a Publishing Contract
I’ve seen a slew of bad publishing contracts lately, which makes this guest blog post by author Kfir Luzatto especially resonant for me. Turning down a publishing offer when you have one in hand is one of the toughest decisions…
Ten Classic Hard Science Fiction Novels featuring Physics and Astronomy
As a professor of astronomy, which is considered a “hard science,” I worry that the classification “hard SF” is off-putting to many readers. It makes it sound like any story labeled as such will be hard to understand,…
Authors Guild Statement on Penguin-Random House Merger
The following statement was sent by the Authors Guild to its members on Sunday. The Guild labels the proposed merger between Penguin and Random House (which would create the world’s largest publisher) “unsettling,” and urges “close scrutiny from antitrust officials…
Guest Post: Common Myths about Science
Experiments have a protocol. They are actually prepared. You just don’t show up with your new shiny equipment and start fiddling with it in the thick of the action. Otherwise, the likelihood is that it won’t work, or worse, that…
2012 World Fantasy Award Winners Announced
The World Fantasy Awards are presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in the fantasy field.