The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (SFWA) has recently revised our requirements for Full and Associate membership in the organization. SFWA looks forward to welcoming speculative fiction creators for whom these new guidelines will allow them to join their peers as members in promoting, advancing, and supporting the science fiction and fantasy genres and creators.

The revisions are the result of a bylaws change this past winter, as voted by SFWA members, and the new requirements went into effect in March. The goal of these changes is to allow the SFWA Board to set requirements based on current industry standards, to simplify the guidelines to make them more inclusive, and to recognize the diversifying income streams of speculative fiction creators. 

The SFWA Board has set the following requirements for Full and Associate Members:

A candidate shall be eligible for Full Membership if:

• Their catalog of paid work in science fiction, fantasy, or related genres equals or exceeds an industry standard set by the Board. ($1000 USD)

• For co-authored works or team projects, the candidate’s share must equal or exceed an industry standard set by the Board. ($1000 USD)

• Proof of earnings will be guaranteed by affidavit.

A candidate shall be eligible for Associate Membership if:

• Their catalog of paid work in science fiction, fantasy, or related genres equals or exceeds $100 USD.

• For co-authored works or team projects, the candidate’s share must equal or exceed $100 USD.

• Proof of earnings will be guaranteed by affidavit.

Works claimed for membership must be in the English language. The earnings can come from any combination of categories that SFWA recognizes as eligible to join the organization, including traditional, indie, work-for-hire, and self-publishing creators who work with prose, games, comics, graphic novels, screenwriting, and other forms of speculative fiction storytelling.

There are no changes to membership requirements for Affliate, Senior, and Lifetime SFWA members at this time. The complete membership requirements and application, along with FAQs, can be found here at the SFWA website: https://www.sfwa.org/about/join-us/sfwa-membership-requirements/

President Jeffe Kennedy remarks, “It’s truly a privilege to be the president of SFWA when we are finally able to realize the culmination of long years of effort to update our requirements for membership! Our new system embraces the myriad mediums and career paths of our genre creators today and in the future. I’m excited to welcome every new member who can now join us, thanks to the work of past administrations and the willingness of our members to look to the future of SFF publishing.”

SFWA invites all eligible science fiction and fantasy creators to apply!