By J.D. Harlock Introduction The “belly dancer” is one of the most prevalent tropes western media has of Middle Easterners, and it’s often used as a cheap source of fan service in Middle Eastern and Arabesque settings. However, not only is this an insensitive portrayal of a revered traditional dance, but the inaccurate dress has […]
Welcome to the March edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those included on this list pay at least $0.08/word in at least one category of fiction. This compilation is not exhaustive of all publication opportunities that pay our recommended […]
by Emma Johanna Puranen It seems like everyone’s listening to things these days. Between the larger podcast boom and the rise of the audiobook, it can be easy to overlook the small but thriving world of science fiction audio drama. Audio drama, which evolved from the radio play, is a storytelling medium in which the […]
A.J. Cunder As an editor, I’m tempted to say there’s a certain magic when it comes to submissions that catch my eye in the slush pile: an ethereal feeling when the story just clicks, an almost intangible quality to the author’s wordsmithing. But of course, to reduce an editor’s decision to magic (even in the […]
by Anthony W. Eichenlaub Your time has value. That’s it. That’s the lesson. If you’re looking to save a few minutes, you can skip the rest of this article and just keep that one thought in mind. Your minutes have worth, and how you spend them is as important as how you spend your money. […]
by the SFWA Safety Committee Numerous user-friendly options exist for authors to set up and manage their own websites, from single, static pages to actively updated blogs. They can be built with templates or custom designed, self-hosted, or placed on a managed hosting service. Regardless of format or complexity, an author website is a perennially […]
Welcome to the February edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those included on this list pay at least $0.08/word in at least one category of fiction. This compilation is not exhaustive of all publication opportunities that pay our recommended […]
by M.K. Hutchins Soft magic has been with us since humans had stories: it’s in our fairytales, our folklore, and continues to be popular today, appearing in everything from Studio Ghibli films to the writings of Terry Pratchett, to Axie Oh’s The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea. Soft magic usually gets defined by what […]
By J. D. Harlock For a world to feel lived in, characters should receive the same attention as the lore, with characterization and worldbuilding intertwining, each influencing the other. This is as true for main characters as it is for supporting casts. When we think of classics like Discworld or One Piece, often our memories […]
by Colin Alexander Almost by definition, writers love to write. We also tend to fall in love with our words. What we put on the page paints the exact picture of the idea we have in our minds, and all of our readers will see the same. It could not be done any better. This […]
The Drunken Dragon is a satire of epic fantasies told from the dragon Draco’s perspective. If Groucho Marx had done GOT from a dragon’s perspective, it might have turned out like this.
Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam is the author of the novel Grim Root and the collection Where You Linger. Her short fiction has appeared in over 90 publications and has been nominated twice for the Nebula Award. By day, she writes for a mobile game.
