I have always thought that it’s a little strange that fantasy tends to concentrate on what’s really a very small slice of history (basically 13th or 14th century England) when there’s so much available to use as an archetype. So I was really excited about the idea of basing a fantasy world on something else, and when I started reading about Napoleon I thought, “Okay, this is it!”

I had this post ready to go on Friday, but it was pre-empted by news of Ann Crispin’s death. I was considering letting the blog sit silent for a week–but in light of the fools and trolls who are dreaming of Writer Beware’s demise, I’ve decided to carry on as usual. It’s what Ann would have wanted.

Author A. C. Crispin (b.1950) died on September 6 after a year-long battle with cancer.  Crispin began publishing in 1983 with the Star Trek novel Yesterday’s Son.   She continued writing media tie-in novels, including for the television show V and the films Star Wars, Alien, and The Pirates of the Caribbean.  In 1989, she published her first original novel, Starbridge, and co-wrote six sequels to it.  In 2005, […]

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 The Accessibility/Disability Committee leads SFWA discussion and action on matters of accessibility. 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 […]

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.