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The SFWA Blog
Quick Updates for 2012-09-25
Member News for Beth Cato, Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner, and Athena Andreadis.
Guest Post: The Habit of Starting
The biggest reason people fail at creating and sticking to new habits is that they don’t keep doing it.
That seems obvious: if you don’t keep doing a habit, it won’t really become a habit. So what’s the solution to this…
Cat Rambo: Near and Far
I’ve found that editing other writers’ work often forces me to articulate my philosophy of writing, which helps me then turn around and apply it to my own. When you’re telling people to avoid adverbs, for instance, it’s worthwhile to…
Guest Post: Does Online Writers Workshopping Slow a Writer’s Growth?
When I first decided to take up writing as a serious pursuit, I figured the best way to get started was to ask a writer for advice. My lucky break was that Connie Willis happened to be in town to…
SFWA Website Repaired
Sunday morning, Google Webmaster Tools detected a malicious iframe added to the SFWA.org website. Google flagged the site as insecure and displays a message warning visitors before allowing them to access the site.
Guest Post: Procrastination
I’ve been meaning to complete this piece for months but, well, you know how it goes: first there was that story that needed something I just couldn’t put my finger on, so I put it aside for a moment and…
Odyssey Writing Workshop Rocks WorldCon 2012
with the Tom Bombadil Rap
When I first heard that many nonprofit organizations were holding flashmobs to raise awareness of their activities, I realized this would be a great idea for Odyssey. I also had an idea of what we might do: the Tom Bombadil…
Quick Updates for 2012-09-12
Member News for Samantha Henderson and Jennifer Brozek.
WSFA Announces Finalists for the 2012 Small Press Awards
The Washington Science Fiction Association has announced the finalists for the 2012 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction:
Writer Beware is on Vacation
Actually, I’m on staycation, but I’ll be cutting way back on the Web stuff for the next two weeks. I’ll be back the week of September 24.
Guest Blog Post Writers Be-Wary: Electronic Distribution and Control of Creative Material
Today: another guest blog post of relevance to freelance writers. This one covers content aggregators, and the pitfalls that may be lurking in their Terms of Use.
Guest Post: Advice on Writing Mentors
One of the things that sometimes comes up when talking to new writers is the question, “How do I acquire mentor?” There’s a glazed and desperate look in the eyes of each querier, and sometimes a bit of professional…
Guest Blog Post: 7 Freelance Writing Scams and How to Fight Them
If you’re a freelance writer, you’re probably under constant pressure to get the next paying gig and to keep the money flowing. This can override your caution and leave you vulnerable to scammers. I know, because I’ve been there myself.
2012 Hugo Award Winners Announced
Based on 1,922 ballots received, the second highest total ever, the 2012 Hugo Awards go to…
Fake Jared And His Friends: Author Solutions’ Misleading PR Strategies
In my recent blog post on Pearson’s acquisition of self-publishing giant Author Solutions Inc., I posed several questions that I hope Pearson will consider as it integrates ASI with Penguin Group. One of these was whether ASI will start being…
Vanity, Vanity: Turning The Label Around
A prominent literary agent recently told me that unless an author receives a hefty advance of $100,000 or more most publishers will do virtually no promotion, leaving it to authors to create and exploit their own platforms via social media…
In Memoriam: Josepha Sherman
Author Josepha Sherman (b.1946) died on August 23 following a year of deteriorating health. Sherman began publishing in 1986 with a “Find Your Fate” adventure book and the novel Golden Girl and the Crystal of Doom.
Spec-Fic and Podcasting: Earbuds vs. Books, Part 2
So what might be the value of podcasting for new and established speculative fiction writers? Is it about exposure? Self-publishing? Monetizing the work? Creativity for its own sake?
Spec-Fic and Podcasting: Earbuds vs. Books, Part 1
The emergence of the iPod has revolutionized the way our culture consumes media; music, videos, apps, and even literature, specifically in the form of audio fiction. Both long and short form audio fiction have thousands of avid listeners who take…
Guest Post: How to Write a Sentence
How does a sudden attack that puts a sword in your belly play from the inside? If you’d seen the blade properly would it be in your belly? Didn’t you see it properly a little too late, when it was…
LendInk, Author Activism, and the Need for Critical Thinking
If you’ve been living under a social media rock and haven’t heard of the LendInk incident, here’s a brief rundown.
LendInk was a website that facilitated Kindle ebook lending, matching would-be ebook borrowers with ebook owners. All of this was perfectly…
In Memoriam: Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison (March 12, 1925-August 15, 2012) passed away early today. Best known for the film Soylent Green, Harry was also a SFWA Grand Master, a pioneer of genre, and a colorful personality. He will be greatly missed.
Guest Post: Dreaming Well: Does the Future of Publishing Need More Imagination?
I feel passionately that some of the information we are getting is increasingly wrong and motivated by selfishness and, yes, to some degree, a form of hyperbolic illogic. We are so hung up on predicting the next big thing, on getting in…
Guest Blog Post: The Red Flags of Writing Contests
FundsforWriters.com has listed contests for thirteen years, and we’ve reached a point where many sponsors send us contests. If the entry fee is over five percent of the first prize, I scrutinize the contest harder. If it’s over ten percent,…