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).

Early in their careers, writers sometimes sign away valuable rights under less than favorable terms. This article discusses the important right of termination under US copyright law, which allows writers to reclaim such rights in their works and to try to make a better deal.

Last October, I started getting inquiries about a publisher called “All Classic Books.” I hadn’t heard anything about it, though its rather odd website (a sort of online journal format, with content mill-style essays) along with the lack of concrete information about its staff and its apparent lack of publishing history (according to Amazon, just four books published, all of which appear to be public domain titles) did give me serious pause.

The 2013 Andre Norton Award committee has been chosen, and will begin accepting books for consideration.

Accessibility/Disability Committee Under Construction. Comics Committee The Comics Committee oversees the process of formally welcoming comics writers into the SFWA membership. The committee will provide resources for existing SFWA members to learn more about the art and business of comics writing and foster closer connection between the prose and comics SFF communities. Contracts Committee The Contracts […]

Is book publicity necessary? In my mind: yes. Do you need a publicist? It depends! I’ve long felt that authors are small business owners; what publicity means to an author is going to vary widely depending upon the resources available.

Over the past few weeks I’ve gotten a number of questions and alerts about author-unfriendly Terms and Conditions at Autharium, a new epublishing startup. So I thought I’d check into it myself.

Here is an example of the sort of solicitation PublishAmerica authors receive daily (if not more often).

Yesterday afternoon, I had a cordial conversation with Allison Dobson, Director of Digital Imprints at Random House, about the the recent controversy over deal terms at Hydra, Alibi, Loveswept, and Flirt.

To free the U.S. from its crushing debt, a group of rogue American generals are planning a ruthless attack on China. FBI Agent Erica Blake tries to stop it.