Archive for the ‘News’ Category

In Memoriam: Frederik Pohl

Polymath and former SFWA President Frederik Pohl (b.1919) died on September 2 after entering the hospital in repiratory distress earlier in the day. Pohl joined science fiction fandom in the 1930s and quickly became an integral part of the New York science fiction scene. He was denied entry to the first Worldcon in 1939 as part of the “Exclusion Act.” By that time, he had begun to publish, with his poem “Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna,” appearing in 1937 and his first story, the collaboration with C.M. Kornbluth “Before the Universe” in 1940 (as S.D. Gottesman, one of several pseudonyms Pohl used, either singularly or in collaboration).

Publisher Alert: Iconic Publishing / Jonquil Press / Red Lizard Press

Starting last February, I began hearing from Iconic authors reporting a variety of similar problems, including production delays, poor copy editing (books were printed full of errors), poor communication, and broken marketing promises. I’ve also seen several Iconic contracts, and they’re pretty bad, with a sweeping claim on subsidiary rights (even though there’s no evidence Iconic is capable of exploiting them), unacceptably vague reversion language, royalties paid on net profit, and a Right of First refusal clause that could be interpreted to require the authors to submit to the publisher any subsequent book they ever produced.

Brutarian Magazine Update

After reviewing the performance of Brutarian Magazine and corresponding with its publisher, SFWA’s board has voted to delist Brutarian as a qualifying market as of August 30, 2013, due to the magazine’s inconsistent publishing schedule over the past three years and questions about its ability to maintain a regular publication schedule in the near future.

Board Communication on Member Expulsion

The Board, after careful consideration of the existing Massachusetts By-Laws, our approved operations and procedures, and with the advice of our legal counsel and past presidents, has decided to expel a member of SFWA from the organization. This has not been an easy decision. It was very important from the outset that the Board should […]

Commemorative Stamps Petition

A letter from Chris M. Barkley to the science fiction and fantasy community:

Over a week ago, I started two online petition drives at Change.org and We the People, to gather support to establish a series of commemorative stamps honoring America’s finest artists, writers, editors and publishers of sf, fantasy and horror.

An Exit Interview with John Scalzi

This June, John Scalzi stepped down as SFWA President. He took office in 2010—twelve years after beginning his wildly successful blog, Whatever, and five years after he published his first novel.

SFWA member Carrie Cuinn ventured into Scalzi’s lair (aka, the Internet) and conducted the following interview.