Thank you for your letter regarding Random House and Hydra, and your interest in speaking with us.
Unfortunately, there is very little to discuss. SFWA has determined to its own satisfaction that Hydra does not meet our minimum standards for a qualifying market, as its contract does not offer an advance.
Following on my post last week about unattractive deal terms at Random House’s new digital-only imprint, Hydra, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has determined that Hydra will not be a qualifying market for SFWA membership.
SFWA has determined that works published by Random House’s electronic imprint Hydra can not be use as credentials for SFWA membership, and that Hydra is not an approved market. Hydra fails to pay authors an advance against royalties, as SFWA requires, and has contract terms that are onerous and unconscionable.
Meet Theo Hoover, disgruntled history repairman, who accidentally becomes Grand Oversee — humanity’s supreme leader — managing the terraforming of Sunnyside, mankind’s potential new home planet. At the worst possible time… the aliens are coming.
Debbie Urbanski is the author of the story collection Portalmania (S&S, May 2025) and the climate AI novel After World (S&S, 2023), which was a Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Engadget, Strange Horizons, & Booklist Best Book of the Year.
