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The SFWA Blog
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 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…
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…
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…
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,”…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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:…
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…
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…
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…