Planetside Full Archives

The SFWA Romance Steering Committee (RSC) formed in Fall 2021. We’re pleased to introduce this new committee, its purpose, and how it can serve our…

Herbert W. Franke (May 14, 1927–July 16, 2022) was an author, artist, and physicist born in Austria. Franke moved from Vienna to Munich after earning…

Eric Flint (February 6, 1947–July 17, 2022) was an author, editor, publisher, and a member of SFWA. He won the fourth quarter Writers of the…

by Jamie Lackey Everyone agrees that reviews are important for book sales and visibility, but getting reviews can be an uphill battle. Most casual readers…

by Chelsea Mueller There’s significant power in fighting and kissing scenes. When done well, they’re often reader favorites. Look at how readers talk about stories…

Welcome to the July edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any market in the report below does not indicate an official…

By Chesley Oxendine As a Native American—Lumbee Cheraw, specifically, and hailing from Robeson County, North Carolina—storytelling has always been important to me. I grew up…

By Anessa Kemna  Science fiction and fantasy should be the perfect places for disability representation. Writers make the rules in their worlds. But it’s difficult…

by Michael Edelson I’m old enough to remember widespread use of the term “vanity press,” and although that is thankfully a thing of the past,…

by R. K. Thorne Worldbuilding is a fun aspect of writing fantasy and science fiction. It is so tempting to get lost in drawing maps,…

by Gabriel Murray We tend to remember our first brushes with the imaginary vast: when we read our first children’s portal fantasy, were enchanted by…

Welcome to the June edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any market in the report below does not indicate an official…

by Wole Talabi Introduction Since 2016, I’ve maintained a database of published science fiction and fantasy (SFF)[1] works by African authors[2] for the African Speculative…

by R J Theodore An author promoting their upcoming release might feel like Sisyphus, because the effort to keep people aware of your book is…

Patricia A. McKillip (February 29, 1948–May 6, 2022) began publishing fantasy in 1973 with the novel The House on Parchment Street and the novella The…

by Jeffe Kennedy In interviews, I’m often asked how I ended up writing a blend of fantasy and romance. It’s become a more frequent question,…

As of May 11, 2022, the SFWA Independent Authors Committee is seeking novel submissions for our next fantasy StoryBundle to be released this fall. Submissions…

by Marie Brennan Recently, I’ve seen a number of online discussions about stories without conflict, especially stories from outside the Western narrative tradition. I’m not…

by Kim Fielding Until fairly recently, it was impractical for most self-published authors to produce audiobooks. Now, however, almost anyone can easily produce a high-quality…

By Lorraine Wilson Statistics are easy to quote, but difficult to connect to, don’t you think? It’s easy to say that 20% of people in…

by Claire Davon I blame my reading habits on Dragonflight. I’ve been a reader all my life, fueled by a wide collection of available books…

By Kathy Flann We think of humor as something that just … happens. Yet, as someone who writes both humor and fiction, I’ve learned that…

By Nicole Valentine Note: This blog post is not an endorsement by SFWA of the products discussed within it. If you’re anything like me, the…

Welcome to the April edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any market in the report below does not indicate an official…

By Renan Bernardo In the second century A.D., Lucian of Samosata wrote A True Story, a tale of space trips and alien life-forms. His first…

Bill Johnson (October 4, 1956–March 17, 2022) began publishing science fiction in 1977 with the story “Stormfall,” which appeared in Kate Wilhelm’s anthology Clarion SF….

by Sherrie Cronin While independent authors can find many expensive ways to promote their books, and a few free ones, SWFA offers an opportunity for…

By Eugen Bacon I read Maurice Broaddus’s “Black Joy and Afrofuturism for Young Readers,” which heartens us to be present, fully and joyfully, not just…

By Maria Haskins Writing flash fiction—commonly defined as a story of no more than 1,000 or 1,500 words—can seem daunting at first try. Or addictive…

by Alexia Chantel Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a new SFWA Blog series, Romancing Sci-Fi & Fantasy, from our Romance Committee! Expect…