Page updated/links checked: 12/11/23 Introduction The Scammer: Dishonest Agents The Schmagent: Amateur, Marginal, and Incompetent Agents Telling Questionable From Reputable **A Special Warning: Fake Literary Agency Scams** Agents Who Are Also Publishers Additional Cautions One Last, Very Important Thing Resources Introduction Do you need a literary agent in order to find a publisher? If you’re […]

by Vida Cruz Note: This article first appeared in The Bulletin #216 in October 2021. Quick: you hear of an injustice over the news. What do you do? Some of us march. Some of us donate to charities and NGOs and fundraising artists. And some of us write stories criticizing the injustice and the social […]

by Matthew Broberg-Moffitt Part 1 of this series focused on the importance of #OwnVoices stories and the representation of neurodiversity and the neurodiverse (ND) in modern media. Part 2 covers the business of traditional publishing and the unique challenges that the ND face when attempting to get a seat at the proverbial table.  For those […]

by Alice Speilburg Nearly every summer, I bring on an intern for the agency, and each week we cover a different publishing topic, focusing on traditional publishing paths in the US. When we get to author payment structures—advances and royalties—I start with a theoretical explanation. An advance is intended to cover an author’s expenses while […]

by Navarre Bartz   If you pick up a book or movie about Artificial Intelligence (AI), there’s a good chance you’ll find a story where robots or AI have subjugated humanity. The Terminator, the robots in The Matrix, and the Borg all strike fear into our hearts because they lack humanity. The cold, calculating logic […]

Congratulations on making the sale! The SFWA Board of Directors periodically makes changes to the membership qualification criteria. Please review the latest membership qualification criteria here. Once you have read the rules, you will need to gather your supporting documents to complete your application. Because the publication process varies widely among professional authors, SFWA will […]

by J. Scott Coatsworth This article continues J. Scott Coatsworth’s interviews and compilation of information examining how SF/F magazines are faring during the COVID-19 crisis. Amazing Stories, Analog, Asimov’s, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, Escape Artists, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fireside Magazine, Fiyah Lit Mag, and Strange Horizons responded to Coatsworth’s inquiries. Most of these responses […]

by Hunter Liguore

When it comes to writing, especially the novel, we can never give up! We’re essentially running our own ‘ultra-marathon.’ Looking at a runner who will traverse 100 miles over 30 hours, we must see the significant amount of training that went into this. Considering the above scenario, this ultra-runner must’ve spent at least half to a full year of deliberate planning/training just for this one race.

by J Lloren Quill

How much money does an author make selling a book?

It should be a simple question with a straightforward answer, but it’s not. With technology at our side, we now have the data to answer this simple question in about 1.2 million different ways.

If you’re an author or publisher, price promotions are a powerful way to reach new readers and sell books.

How powerful? In 2015, price promotions on BookBub alone drove sales of over 20 million ebooks — and over 200 of the books with promotions featured on BookBub made it to The New York Times bestseller list.

In this post, we’ll explain how science fiction and fantasy authors and publishers can tap into some of that power and use price promotions to accomplish multiple book marketing goals.