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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.
Alert: Screenplay Replay Contest
It’s right there in the logo of the Screenplay Replay Contest: the come-on.”Where Your Winning Script Gets a Publishing Deal.”
SFWA Spotlight on Pro Markets: Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons is a non-profit magazine of and about speculative fiction and related nonfiction. The magazine was founded in September 2000 by Mary Anne Mohanraj, who was Editor-in-Chief until 2003.
Raising the Curtain
These days, many authors focus more time on self-promotion through social media than on marketing their books. It’s not necessarily a bad idea, but with all the social media hype, it can be easy to forget about the fundamentals.
Alert: America’s Next Author Contest
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
On Thursday, I blogged about high entry fee awards schemes. Today, I’m going to discuss another potential awards trap: non-optimal entry rules.
Character Building Counts and Wise Bear Digital: Two More High-Entry Fee Book Awards
It’s Awards Week at Writer Beware! No, I’m not handing out prizes–I’m dispensing cautions. I’ve got two posts this week, both focusing on literary awards you may want to think twice about before entering.
Odyssey Writing Workshops Announces Winter 2013 Online Classes
This year, Odyssey is offering three different online courses covering some of the most critical issues for developing writers.
Video Pick of the Week: Death by Black Hole
Ever wonder what it might be like to fall into a black hole?
Guest Post: Dealing with the Dreaded Tax Audit
You stare at the stark, white envelope for several moments, afraid to touch it, like it’s radioactive. That look your mail carrier wore as she handed over the day’s mail (…there but for the Grace of God…) suddenly makes sense.
A…
Guest Post: Dear Agent — Write the Letter That Sells Your Book
Query letters. Except for the synopsis, there’s no more dreaded task a writer has to undertake.
How to boil an entire book down to a short pitch that not only provides an accurate snapshot of the work, but makes a literary…