Archive for the ‘The SFWA Blog’ Category

One Way Not to Get Published

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

Taking a cue from Janet Reid, who over the weekend posted a truly amazingly bad agent pitch letter (yes, I do know who the agent is, and no, this person does not have any sales), I thought I’d start the wee…

Guest Post: Fairy Tales Reimagined

Even as picture books based on folk and fairy tales are on the wane, the world of children’s books is seeing a rise in fairy tale retellings for middle grade and young adult readers. In fact, this corner of the fantasy market seems to be experiencing a golden age, to the delight of die-hard fairy tale fans like me.

Nebula Awards Interview: Rachel Swirsky by Larry Nolen

Rachel Swirsky was nominated for her novelette “A Memory of Wind”. Instead of asking that tired question of why you became a writer, I’m curious if there were ever any moments in your writing career where you were tempted to set it aside for a while and do something else?  If so, what kept you […]

Odyssey Writing Workshop Announces
Its 16th Summer Session

Since its founding in 1996, Odyssey has become one of the most respected workshops in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror writing community. Odyssey is for developing writers whose work is approaching publication quality and for published writers who want to improve their work. The six-week workshop combines advanced lectures, exercises, extensive writing, and in-depth feedback on student manuscripts.

The 2011 Indie Publishing Contest

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

I’ve been getting questions about a brand-new writers’ contest: the 2011 Indie Publishing Contest, sponsored by (among others) the San Francisco Writers Conference.
Write, Win AND Publish!

New ‘Indie Pub…

Amazon.com now offering BookScan to Authors

Amazon.com is now offering BookScan information to authors enrolled in their Author Central program. For authors, previously one had to subscribe to BookScan or to get their sales numbers through their agents or publishers. Amazon says: We’re happy to announce that – for the first time ever – authors can see weekly sales trends of […]

Guest Post–Information Wants to Be Free

The truth of “information wants to be free” is obvious to anyone who works in informatics. But it’s ignored time and again. It’s ignored by record companies trying to prevent music downloads, by startups trying to enforce embargoes on tech news, by the US government trying to share secrets with thousands of people and yet somehow not by the world at large.

Guest Post–An Interstitial Moment: Metaphor

I want to talk for just an Interstitial Moment about metaphor, and these thoughts come to you compliments of Faerie Con where hundreds of folk, some quite young, some middle aged, and some old enough to know better have been dressing for days in rather suggestive costumes–bustiers, codpieces, artfully placed flowers and leaves, painting themselves green or gold or other landscape colors.