by the SFWA Publications Crew

In recent years, The SFWA Blog has undergone many changes and refinements to serve its community better. Where we once had a single editor, we’re now a team that reviews pitches collectively and looks for ways to bring more voices into the conversation. This past year was an especially exciting time for us because we were able to launch more open calls and elevate the excellent work of committees such as History, Indie, and Game Writing: volunteer-run initiatives here at SFWA that advocate for writers in different fields of the SFF industry.

The SFWA Blog is a free-to-read service—no membership necessary!—and our mission in 2025 is to continue growing conversations of value to professional and professionalizing writers in SFF.

Going forward, we’re partnering with more SFWA advocacy groups to bring their expertise to The Blog, and we’re developing conversations we began this year through our open calls. On our Highlights page, you can currently explore articles in our “Writing from History,” “Writing by Other Means,” and “Perspectives in Translation” conversations, along with limited series like “Playtesting Game Narratives” and long-term committee offerings from History, Indie, Romance, and Safety. We’ll be growing our list to include special topics, like articles about action-writing and worldbuilding, and seeking more roundtable and interview opportunities.

More details are available on our Submission Guidelines page for these open calls:

• Lessons Learned
• Perspectives in Translation
• Volunteer Networks: The Heart of SFF
• Writing by Other Means
• Writing from History

What Do We Want at The SFWA Blog?

Despite the range of highlights you can read to get a sense of the publication and the thorough guidelines available to would-be Blog writers, many still struggle at the pitch stage.

If you’re considering submitting an article pitch to The Blog, we’d love to read it! Here are some tips to help you create a successful pitch:

1. We love work that addresses writers at all stages of their careers, but we most often receive pitches that address an audience of complete novices. We would love to see more pitches that go past a basic introduction to a topic and more work that addresses the needs of a mid-career writer/creator in SFF.
2. We love work that explores lesser-known experiences. Although every topic can do with a refresher piece occasionally, we have a range of creators in SFF who rarely get a platform to discuss what makes their niche special. Let’s change that together.
3. We prioritize work that doesn’t simply promote a single author, organization, or professional service. (And that includes self-promotion: the best self-promotion, for us, is an author who demonstrates their talent for writing through their mastery of other article topics.) We’re more interested in exploring a concept holistically, so give us collective histories or technical discussions that include a wider range of product options.
4. We love work that uplifts rather than tearing down. Sometimes, well-meaning writers will pitch us articles that focus on how [X] text got [Y] representation wrong. These don’t tend to make it past the pitch phase. The author’s heart is in the right place, but stronger pitches will center work that gets [Y] representation right. This is also important because writers from [Y] demographic sometimes simply don’t know about the wonderful work already being done by other members of their demographic.
5. Relatedly, we love it when writers don’t feel that they have to carry a whole demographic on their own. Everyone has a distinct and wonderful voice. No group is a hivemind, so please pitch us work based on your experience in [Y] demographic rather than feeling pressured to represent The One True Experience for the whole.
6. Although we avoid blatant self-promotion, we welcome your singular, first-person experiences—so please feel free to use personal anecdotes to frame the professional core of your piece. Conversely, though, you do not have to include any personal details if you don’t want to. It’s only in pitches discussing technical topics (e.g., scientific subfields, medical know-how, or martial arts) that relevant experience in either the pitch or author’s bio will help us evaluate the submission.
7. Lastly, we love work that challenges our expectations. This doesn’t mean being controversial for the sake of controversy, but we sometimes see pitches that advocate for methodologies we disagree with—and then we ask ourselves if there’s a body of writers who might benefit from the perspective all the same. No two writers are alike, and having a team of editors allows us to signal-boost a range of perspectives. So don’t ever feel like you have to submit something based on the professional preferences of our editors! Write with a demonstrated level of authority about your point of view instead.

The Nitty Gritty of Your Submission

The SFWA Blog editorial team meets monthly to consider your submissions. While we discourage flooding our inbox with too many pitches, if you’ve sent one and haven’t heard back yet, feel free to send another along in the same window if inspiration strikes again.

In your pitch, give us a clear sense of what the article will cover so we can better evaluate your proposal. If you want to approach a subject from many different angles, please let us know. If you want to bring multiple authors/works into discussion, please list them in the pitch. If you think of structuring your article as an argument, give us a sense of the steps that get you to your conclusion.

If you get a rejection from us, please know that there are many possible reasons for a declined pitch, and you’ll find the most common listed in that email. Read them carefully, consider which ones might explain your situation, and then please feel free to submit anew.

This was a terrific year for getting more open calls and committee series off the ground, but we’re just getting started at The SFWA Blog. There’s always so much more to say and do for this weekly conversation among professional and professionalizing writers in SFF.

We hope you’ll engage with us next year by reading The SFWA Blog, commenting on or sharing articles, and submitting your own pitches. We on the editorial team very much look forward to the work that lies ahead. Join us!