Planetside Full Archives
Planetside: The Online Magazine of SFWA
No post found!
The SFWA Blog
Quick Updates for 2012-02-01
Resources and Member News for Stephanie Draven, Elizabeth Bear, Tony Pi, Eugie Foster, D. Walters Grintalis, and J. F. Lewis.
A Small Meditation on Art, Commerce and Impermanence
I’m going to touch on something that I’ve discussed briefly before but which I think is worth reheating into its own post. Here are the best selling books in the US from 1912, which is (for those of you for…
Report to SFWA members regarding Dorchester Publishing
Dear SFWA members: As many of you are aware, on December 10, 2010, the board of SFWA voted unanimously to place Dorchester Publishing Co, inc, on probation following an inquiry after we became aware of several instances in which Dorchester…
Guest Post: So You Have a Writer Friend…Don’t Panic
One of the first published novelists I got to know told me that it was really awkward to be friends with a writer whose stuff you don’t like.
Guest Post: One Author’s First Month in KDP Select
Last December, I blogged about Amazon’s KDP Select program, which allows KDP authors to participate in Amazon’s Kindle Owners’ Lending Library and be paid per borrow from a fund established by Amazon.
Two weeks ago, Amazon issued a press release chart…
Delmont-Ross Writing Contest: The Saga of a Fake Literary Competition
A little while back, I stumbled on a news story about Mitchell Gross, a Georgia man who was recently indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly luring a woman into investing…
Guest Post: Things I Know?
Buying into a personal mythology of hierarchical status can harm your career. It’s one thing to expect respect for your work and experience. It’s quite another to expect demonstrations of your status or to make pronouncements like “I will not…
The Fine Print of iBooks Author
Yesterday, with great fanfare, Apple rolled out two new applications: iBooks 2, with new features aimed at students; and iBooks Author, which allows individuals to create iPad-optimized ebooks.
Guest Post: Long Sentences
We do need, not more, but a deeper relationship with what we have. Not knowledge, or not just knowledge, but understanding. That’s what writers give us.
Digital Rights Showdown: HarperCollins v. Open Road
One of the effects of the phenomenal growth of ebooks over the past few years has been to bring new value to the backlist–both for publishers who hold the contracts for backlist books, and authors who want the freedom to…
SFWA Names Connie Willis Recipient of the 2011 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
SFWA is proud to announce author Connie Willis as the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for her contributions to the literature of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Guest Post: Trailers and Tribulations
With the rapid rise of eBooks, the membrane between the printed word and the digital world is getting thinner every day.
Guest Post: 25 Reasons Readers Will
Keep Reading Your Story
A good story should always be raising questions — not asking them directly, but instead forcing the reader to ask them. “Wait, what’s that weird symbol they keep seeing on the walls? What was that sound? Something’s up with that…
Quick Updates for 2012-01-12
Member News for Matthew Johnson, Allan Cole, and Ferrett Steinmetz.
BookStoreMarketing.net: Beware Spam PR Services
Recently I’ve gotten a number of questions about BookStoreMarketing.net, a service that promises to promote authors’ books to bookstores via a printed catalog, a promotional email, or both.
Guest Post: Book Publicity: Working with Bookstores
If you do set up an event at a store, it may sound obvious, but an author promoting their event on their own Facebook and twitter helps out a lot. We have our own ways to publicize an event to…
Guest Post: Debut Author Lessons–How to deal with self-promotion and award season
Let’s talk about self-promotion and how it feels icky.
Yes, self-promotion is awkward to do the first time. Yes, it is very easy to do badly. But–it is incredibly important to your career. Someone asked, “Isn’t it enough to write a…
2011: A Writer Beware Retrospective
As we begin the new year (Writer Beware’s fourteenth!), here’s a look back at some of Writer Beware’s most notable posts and warnings from 2011.
Happy Holidays From Writer Beware
Because even watchdogs have to rest sometimes, the Writer Beware blog will be taking a break over the holiday season.
Nebula Awards Interview: Jack McDevitt
The research is simple. I pick up phone and call a physicist. Or whomever. I don’t trust myself to do my own research because I don’t have the background. I should mention that, across thirty years, I’ve made countless calls,…
Guest Post: RamboCon – Proposed Sessions for an Imaginary Spec-Fic Convention
Some panel ideas, which any convention organizer is welcome to grab.
Publisher Alert: Arvo Basim Yayin of Turkey
A couple of weeks ago, I began hearing from self-published and small press authors who’d been approached over the summer by a Turkish publisher called Arvo Basim Yayin.
D Publishing: Dymocks’ New Self-Pub Service
Like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, Dymocks is a major book vendor. Unlike Amazon and Barnes and Noble, it doesn’t have its own ereading device–so D Publishing does not resemble the free, direct-to-device self-pub services offered by Amazon and B&N.
Quick Updates for 2011-12-16
Member News for Ian Creasey, Paul Cook, Ed Greenwood, Robert Lowell Russell, Eric James Stone, David D. Levine, Eugie Foster, Ferrett Steinmetz, Karen Azinger, Brit Mandelo, Jay Lake, Jim C. Hines, Jody Lynn Nye, Laura Resnick, Jennifer Brozek, and Nancy…