Archive for the ‘SFWA Blog’ Category

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 Market Report – November 2022

Welcome to the November 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 Apex Monthly Flash Fiction Contest (Upcoming) Book Worms […]

Spec-Fic-Fu 2: Weapons!

by Andrew K Hoe In our previous post, we examined how battling robots and aliens utilize armaments. Today, we’ll detail human arsenals further to illustrate the options for how imaginary warriors could fight. And since sci-fi armaments like lightsabers are heavily influenced by our earthly swords, we’ll expand our discussion to include fantasy fiction. SINGLE: (baton, […]

The Ecology of Worldbuilding

by J. Dianne Dotson Worldbuilding takes many forms in genre fiction. Whether a story takes place on another planet, in a mystical land, or in a hellscape of horror, adding touches of realism enhances the world for its inhabitants. Using ecology is one way to achieve that realism.  What Is Ecology? Ecology is the science […]