by Nisi Shawl, Somto Ihezue, and Zhui Ning Chang We’re in this together. That’s what publishing has taught me over the course of decades. That’s what this project, Publishing Taught Me, continues to teach me and all my friends. You, too. All my friends; all my relations. Publishing is a community endeavor. If we analogize […]
by Emily Jiang AN INTRODUCTION OF SORTS: To Boldly Go Where I Have Never Gone Before “We often fear what we do not understand. Our best defense is knowledge.” –Tuvok Over 15 years ago, when I enrolled in an MFA program for Creative Writing, I had no idea what social justice was. Around that time, […]
by Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas Introduction – In Which I Rant a Little First, let me get this off my chest; I don’t believe that reading slush can make anyone a better writer. I say this because anytime a magazine opens applications to add first readers to its team, several folk come out encouraging emerging writers […]
by Kanishk Tantia This essay is the fifth of eight in the Publishing Taught Me: A SFWA Anthology Project. The first story I ever wrote was unabashedly my own: written with unfiltered childlike enthusiasm, completed within a single draft and, to my eyes, perfect upon completion. Two donkeys killed each other because one was purple […]
by Erika Hardison This essay is the fourth of eight in the Publishing Taught Me: A SFWA Anthology Project. Ever since Black YA Fantasy author L.L. McKinney set Twitter (now known as X) ablaze with her hashtag #PublishingPaidMe in 2021, the traditional publishing industry has been scrambling to give the appearance that they are truly […]
by Diana M. Pho This essay is the third of eight in the Publishing Taught Me: A SFWA Anthology Project. Introduction The role of an editor in book publishing is shrouded in mystery. Perhaps it’s because our job faces dualistic scrutiny by writers. Editors are creative guides but also gatekeepers preventing you from getting published. […]
We are pleased to announce that our online anthology Publishing Taught Me now has a full roster of contributors! In addition to currently published essays by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and James Beamon (which are available here–https://www.sfwa.org/sfwa-publications/publishing-taught-me-a-sfwa-anthology-project/), we have essays upcoming from Diana Pho, Erika Hardison, Kanishk Tantia, Nelly Garcia-Rosas, Yoon Ha Lee, and Emily Jiang. Their essays […]
by James Beamon This essay is the second of eight in the Publishing Taught Me: A SFWA Anthology Project. I take my humor seriously. You have to, as a humorist, and even more as an editor looking for funny stories. The bulk of my editing experience has been scrutinizing speculative short fiction for the Unidentified […]
By Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki This essay is the first of eight in the Publishing Taught Me: A SFWA Anthology Project So, does the writer’s identity matter? The short answer is, well, yes. But the question people mean to ask when they ask if the writer’s identity matters is: should the writer’s identity matter? Whether […]
Publishing Taught Me, the SFWA online anthology project supported by a grant from the NEA, is seeking pitches for four essays to be included in the anthology. We are looking for contributions addressing the experiences of BIPOC authors, editors, and other science fiction, fantasy, and horror publishing industry participants, so firsthand knowledge of them will […]
From the multi award-nominated author of SHIGIDI, a stunning new collection of stories that investigate the rapidly changing role of technology and belief in our lives as we search for meaning, knowledge & justice; converging to our future selves.
R. Gary Raham writes science fact and science fiction. Raham’s writing has been known to make a reader laugh and think simultaneously with no known deleterious effects.
