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In Memoriam: Tom Purdom
Tom Purdom (19 April 1936 – 14 January 2024), was a science fiction writer, a charter member of SFWA, and held two roles within the organization. He served as the Vice President from 1971-1972 and was the first SFWA Eastern…
THE INDIE FILES: Productivity That Fits You
by Marie Andreas New year, new you, new stories! And, as always, new ways to increase your productivity. Every January, writers look at ways to increase their output. Whether you’re a casual writer or one making a living at it—we…
The LGBTQ+ Speculative Experience: Part 4
(Kind of like the Star Trek Experience—lots of diversity that some accept, some fight, and others never see) by Elle Ire Concluding Mission Our exploration of the experiences of various members within the LGBTQ+ spec-fic community concludes by examining…
How Writing Challenges Made Me a Better Writer
By Rachel Craft I’ve recently gotten hooked on writing “challenges,” multi-round contests that give participants a creative prompt and a tight deadline to write a short story. Sometimes it’s a week, sometimes it’s as little as 24 hours. If that…
Sharing the Spotlight: 6 Tips for Collaborative Storytelling
By Hildy Silverman Sharing story creation and developmental duties with a writing partner might seem daunting, given that we authors tend to invest a certain amount of ego (to put it mildly) into our work. Writing alone, we can be…
THE INDIE FILES: 5 Ways to Sell Your Books Directly
Is Using Direct Sales the Right New Channel for Your Books? by Kelly McClymer Direct sales are a hot topic for indie authors right now and will only get hotter in 2024. The two main reasons are: Readers spoiled by…
Choose Your Own Dr. Scientist Adventure
by Jason P. Burnham Did you know that the human body has fewer human cells than it does microorganisms? Fortuitously, Dr. Scientist knew that—and they will be your teacher on this journey to incorporate microbiomes into your fiction. How can…
Cooperative Publishing: Writers Taking Charge of Their Publishing Careers
By Diana Pharaoh Francis Writers can have great success when indie publishing, but many feel underqualified or underprepared to handle all the dimensions of self-publishing. I did. While there are numerous specialists available to help you navigate the journey, they…
Overcoming the Rejection Machine: Why a Positivity Read Should Be Part of Your Publishing Journey
By Shawn Proctor Whether you enroll in a writing workshop or writer’s group, there is a premium placed on critique as the main path to improving your craft. Peer writers working on the same elements of character, plot, voice, and…
THE INDIE FILES: Measuring Your Success as an Author
by Steven Radecki During the more than a decade that I have been involved in indie publishing, I have worked with more than three hundred authors. One thing I have discovered is that, just as publishing is not a one-size-fits-all…
Art Direction on a Budget
by Austin Conrad Editorial note: This is the first in a two-part series from Austin Conrad on acquiring illustrations for tabletop games. Part 1 will focus on working directly with an artist, and Part 2 will present additional options, such…
Making the Most of Your Con Budget
by Cat Rambo Writers are often told that they must go to conventions and conferences in order to network and move their careers forward. It’s good advice, but only if you approach your con experiences with some smart planning. You’ll…
SFWA Comments on AI to US Copyright Office
On October 30, the SFWA Board and the SFWA Legal Affairs Committee sent the following letter to the US Copyright Office in response to their August 2023 Notice of Inquiry regarding copyright law and policy issues in artificial intelligence, which…
SFWA Market Report – November 2023
Welcome to the November edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those markets included on this list pay at least $0.08/word USD in at least…
An Approach for Shifting the Setting in an Alternate Retelling
By J.D. Harlock Four years ago, I started writing speculative fiction professionally to modest success. I owe my entire career in the field to the inspiration I drew from Middle Eastern history, mythology, and literature. My personal favorites from my…
SAFETY DISPATCH: How to Establish and Use a Pen Name
by the SFWA Safety Committee Have you ever considered writing under a pen name? Some authors use pseudonyms to separate works under different genres, reboot their careers after a dry spell, or replace the names of multiple authors on the…
THE INDIE FILES: Wide For the Win 2 – Retail Promotions
by John Wilker In my previous post on going Wide for the Win, I gave an overview of an author’s options when self-publishing wide, which means offering your books beyond Amazon. In this article, we’ll delve into how you can…
Designing Your Fictional Spaceship
by Jeremy Zentner Spaceships have been iconic in science fiction ever since Jules Verne wrote From the Earth to the Moon. There are many features for writers to consider when designing their craft, including microgravity, faster-than-light (FTL) capabilities, journey time,…
SFWA Market Report – October 2023
Welcome to the October edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those markets included on this list pay at least $0.08/word USD in at…
The LGBTQ+ Speculative Experience: Part 3
(Kind of like the Star Trek Experience—lots of diversity that some accept, some fight, and others never see) by Elle Ire Continuing Mission Our exploration of the experiences of various members within the LGBTQ+ spec fic community continues in Part…
THE INDIE FILES: Making Use of Genre and Categories
by Anthony W. Eichenlaub Genre: A marketing construct. Its only purpose is to get books into the hands of people who will enjoy them. There are other definitions, of course. People debate endlessly about the essential nature of cyberpunk or…
Anatomy of a Tabletop Adventure
By Austin Conrad Writing in the genre of tabletop games has a lot of similarities to fiction writing when it comes to character, plot, and setting. However, the needs of interactive fiction require the adventure game writer to adapt how…
SFWA Market Report – September 2023
Welcome to the September edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those included on this list pay at least $0.08/word USD in at least one…
Work-for-Hire in Short Fiction: An Overview
By Rachael K. Jones Work-for-hire writing jobs are common in novel-length work, especially in the world of tie-in fiction, but rarer in short fiction. If you’re primarily a short fiction author, you might be caught off-guard if approached with this…