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THE INDIE FILES: How to Bring Your Indie Book to the Attention of a Librarian

by Kelly McClymer Do you dream of seeing your indie book in your local library catalog? You are not alone. Many a traditionally published author shares your dream. Here are a few hard facts: Libraries generally purchase hardback library editions (volumes that have had the spines reinforced to hold up for multiple reads). Shelf space […]

A Brief History of Persian Sci-Fi

By Kamiab Ghorbanpour For many years in Iran, and Persian pop culture in general, science-fiction books, movies, and TV shows were often ridiculed as “testicles-fiction” (تخمی “testicles” and تخیلی “fiction” have a similar stress). This wasn’t always the case, though. During the new wave of science fiction in the ’60s and ’70s, books and shows […]

SFWA Market Report – December 2022

Welcome to the December edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any market in the report below does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. The markets included on this list all pay at least $0.08/word in at least one length-category of fiction. New Markets The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable […]

Writing the Science Right

by Gideon P. Smith Getting the science right in SF can make the difference between writing cute stories and great science fiction. If you are a non-scientist writing SF and want to know how to do that, then this blog post is for you. Doing Background Research If science is critical to the overall plot, […]

SFWA Names Robin McKinley Its 39th Grand Master!

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is proud to announce that Robin McKinley has been named the 39th Damon Knight Grand Master for her contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy.  The SFWA Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award recognizes “lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy.” It is named after […]

In Memoriam: Harris

Harris (b.1964) died on November 17 following a stroke. They wrote under the pennames Anne Harris, Jessica Freely, and Pearl North. Harris began publishing science fiction in 1991 with the short story “Chango Is a Dog.” Their first novel, The Nature of Smoke, followed in 1996.  In 1998, Harris won the inaugural Spectrum Award for their […]

In Memoriam: Greg Bear

Author and former SFWA President Greg Bear (b.1951) died on November 19 following a stroke after complications during heart surgery. Bear’s first short story, “Destroyers,” appeared in 1967 in Famous Science Fiction and his first novel, Hegira, was published in 1979. Bear won the Nebula Award for his novella “Hardfought” and his novels Moving Mars and Darwin’s Radio. His stories […]

You’re Invited to an Indie Author Town Hall!

Join SFWA’s Independent Authors Committee at our town hall on November 10 at 4:00pm Pacific Time! We’ll be discussing how SFWA can be a voice for indie author advocacy with book retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo.  Independent authors’ relationships with our online vendors is essential to success! It may come […]