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by Roxana Arama, Lead Editor

For nearly 30 years, The SFWA Blog has been an essential resource for speculative fiction creators. Our editorial team is excited to begin a new chapter on July 1, 2025, reintroducing our publication with a new name that better reflects who we are and where we’re headed.

Planetside: The Online Magazine of SFWA

Three Decades of Insight

The first post on what is now called The SFWA Blog was published in January 1996. It took a few years for The Blog to find its stride and consistently deliver the content our readers have come to expect, but by the mid-2000s, SFF writers were using this space to provide up-to-date insight into their craft and the publishing industry at large.

While the word blog brings to mind the beginnings of our online magazine as a forward-looking platform embracing the new technologies of its day, it now sounds a bit dated. The blog format implies a more casual tone compared to the well-researched and polished articles we publish. The word magazine better describes our content and also honors the dedicated authors who contribute to our publication.

Over the years, our magazine has featured thousands of articles, covering everything from worldbuilding best practices and industry news to emerging trends and craft discussions. Experienced authors generously provided guidance and perspective to aspiring writers through our pages. Many new voices who rose through The SFWA Blog went on to become household names in the literary world. Under its new name, our magazine will empower writers to connect with the larger creative community—just as it always has—by sharing diverse knowledge, exchanging ideas, and encouraging collaboration.

Why Planetside?

According to the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, the word planetside entered the English lexicon in the 1950s through the works of Andre Norton and Damon Knight, two speculative fiction authors who hold a special place in the SFWA community for their lasting influence. We even have two Nebula awards named in their honor: the Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction, and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. Their legacy is one reason why planetside resonates deeply with us, because it reflects both our roots and our ongoing mission to elevate speculative storytelling.

Though planetside might initially sound like a science fiction term, we invite you to see it as an anchor we provide to our community of creators. While you venture out there, into your worlds of fantasy, game writing, horror, YA, romantasy, poetry, sci-fi, comics, middle-grade, and other genre-bending story forms, we’ll be down here, writing our planetside dispatches that provide you with everything you need to make your adventure as amazing as possible. Think of us as your Planetside Crew (more on that below), which equips you with the essential information and insight you need while you’re exploring the boundless worlds of your creation.

We’d also like to better communicate the sense of wonder and discovery we encounter every time we bring a new article to our readership. As such, with its new logo, Planetside: The Online Magazine of SFWA strives to represent SFWA’s mission to inform, inspire, support, and advocate for creators of speculative fiction worldwide.

Our Contribution to SFWA Publications

Planetside is part of SFWA Publications, which offers a number of publishing services. These include the New Release Newsletter, which helps SFWA members promote their upcoming titles; Singularity, which offers monthly industry news to members; and the NetGalley Partnership Program, which helps authors connect with reviewers and offers priority placement for members. (And we have more to be announced soon!)

But Planetside is special among the SFWA Publications projects because the magazine is for everyone working in SFF: SFWA members or otherwise, professional and professionalizing writers alike. We’re here for the full journey of industry creators. We also strive to bring a wide range of voices, opinions, and perspectives from across the planet to our readers. And that commitment carries through our editorial approach.

Our Editorial Process

The Planetside Crew is the volunteer team that reviews pitches and then edits the submissions for our online magazine. I joined this wonderful group of editors three years ago and have since had the privilege of collaborating with many talented authors on their articles. I’ve also become familiar with the toolkit SFWA Publications uses to maintain its ever-growing platform. As Lead Editor of Planetside, I now manage the magazine’s publishing pipeline and our monthly editorial meetings.

We work as a team on submissions, which expands our ability to reflect the full spectrum of industry know-how. Once a month, we carefully review pitches, evaluating their strengths and considering their role within the broader scope of SFWA Publications. We also follow a set of internal standards that guide us in selecting ideas that are particularly valuable to our readers. We then partner with each author over a few editorial rounds to elevate their article’s argument and focus on clarity, always keeping our audience in mind.

Building Planetside Together

In that spirit, we encourage you to explore SFWA’s many volunteer opportunities—including the Planetside Crew—and consider lending your talents to support our writing and creative community. You can also learn more about writing for our magazine from “What Should I Pitch to Planetside?” and our Submissions Guidelines, complete with open calls to get you started. And if you enjoy our articles, please help us spread the word to your community or on your social media.

As the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association celebrates 60 years of championing speculative fiction and its creators, we at SFWA Publications are thinking about what another 60 years might depend on. We hope that the new name of our online magazine will inspire you to be part of this next chapter, as we continue to provide industry perspectives to SFF writers at every stage of their careers.

I’d like to close with a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far. To every writer who trusted us, every reader who joined us on this journey, our generous volunteers, and all those who contributed to shaping what we’ve become: thank you. Your support, creativity, and dedication have carried us forward, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

The post Introducing Planetside: The Online Magazine of SFWA appeared first on SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association.

by Brian U. Garrison

A poem doesn’t need an award to have impact. But the process of celebrating builds community, excitement, and audience. With the Hugo and Nebula Awards preparing space in their victory gardens for poetry, new gateways are opening for poems to be declared “The Best.”

Not that there’s one ideal path in poems or awards. Without diversity, every poet would just keep writing the same line. Readers, like the eagle stuck eating Prometheus’s liver again and again, would receive no variety. In the words of Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) Grand Master David C. Kopaska-Merkel, “Vive la diversité.” In poems. In readers. In awards. Let there be multitudes.

Find art that is filling.

                 The beautiful.

                             The meaningful.

                                     The impactful.

Poetry fills the world fuller every day. Let’s celebrate!

The Expanding Universe

Momentum has been building for short writing: flash, drabbles, poetry, and more. Awards provide gravity, and like spacecraft slingshotting Jupiter, gravity provides acceleration. I feel the excitement orbiting speculative poetry as I talk to poets and see poetry-curious writers sharpen their quills. The poetry world is spinning faster than Rumpelstiltskin turns straw to gold. May it be unstoppable. More excitement means more poems! More readers!

Each poem written is a skein of yarn. Each reader is woven into the universe’s deep magic. Interconnection among writers, readers, or any group of people builds cohesion. We won’t agree. And yes, declaring one “best” poem is inherently exclusive. But if we enter the journey accepting fuzzy boundaries, picking a winner is one way to see the fabric that binds us.

Watching threads become networks—watching poetry spread—readers are reminded that some poets are even alive. Poems have been written this decade. This year. Today! Annual awards are a reminder that your syllabus, to-be-read pile, and conversations can include more than just a bunch of dead white guys.

F. J. Bergmann, SFPA’s newest Grand Master, mentioned an article she once read asking speculative novelists how poetry influenced their writing. As writers gushed about their love of poetry, Bergmann was not impressed. “Every one of them cited the out-of-date warhorses they’d been assigned to read in high school or college intro to lit classes,” she said. Sure, there are a lot of excellent poems from long ago, but the proliferation of speculative poetry awards can help you find shiny new poems that are more precious than mithril. (Or to avoid the dead-white-guy reference: soul-guarding poems more potent than kenet, the dragon-fire-protective ointment imagined by Robin McKinley).

Miguel O. Mitchell, Dwarf Stars Editor (2023, 2025), similarly advocates for readers to explore a wide range of poetry: short and long poems, poems by writers known and unknown. Mitchell hopes readers will “discover gems from the less famous [writers].” In poetry lists, you may recognize names from past Nebula or Hugo ballots such as Amal El-Mohtar, Beth Cato, Theodora Goss, and Jane Yolen. You should definitely read their poetry, and as you admire words by familiar writers, take a peek at nearby poems too. Many journals publish online and are free to read. Open as browser tabs impulsively! Read for awards, and sometimes just for the love of words.

Awards in Abundance

How do we celebrate excellent speculative poetry? “The work of SFPA has always been to model some of the many possible ways…but we’re by no means the only arbiters of taste,” says Bryan Thao Worra, SFPA President from 2016 to 2022 and first Lao American member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA). Awards typically focus on one poem, a book/chapbook, or a writer. SFPA has been presenting the Rhysling Award since 1978 and has been adding to its bouquet of awards.

SFPA’s Rhysling Award goes to an individual poem in two categories: short and long. Since adding the Grand Master Award in 1999, the group has named twelve worthy poets. The Dwarf Stars Award has been praising very short poems since 2006. Books and chapbooks have been earning the Elgin Award since 2013. Most recently, the Lifetime Service Award was established in 2023. SFPA has been cultivating excitement and awards for decades.

Others have picked up on the excitement. The HWA was an early adopter, adding Best Poetry Collection to their Bram Stoker selections in 2000. They have also published an annual Poetry Showcase since 2014, providing a celebration without an associated award.

From the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) at Seattle Worldcon 2025, one Best Poem will win a Hugo Award. Seattle chose to add the special category, but the category will go away unless the bylaws are amended (fortunately, there is an initiative to add that amendment). Worldcon 2025 also named WSFS’s first Poet Laureate, Brandon O’Brien. I hope other conventions follow the lead!

Starting in 2026, SFWA will bestow a Nebula Award to one Best Poem each year. I look forward to seeing the suggested reading list and first year of finalists.

When I asked multi-award-winning New Zealand writer Lee Murray for her thoughts, she emphasized, “Different awards address different aspects of poetry.” The awards discussed here are still rather US-centric. Murray pointed out that regional awards, small communities, and connecting with non-spec writing communities all expand the influence of speculative poetry.

Group Decisions

Will the voting groups agree? Hugo and Nebula voters pick the same novel a little under half the time. There’s less convergence as word count shrinks. Novellas, novelettes, and short stories are each less likely to win both awards.

Count of Shared Hugo and Nebula Wins by Decade and Category

With poetry’s abundant candidates, I suspect nominations and votes will root far and wide. Thao Worra agrees that one poem is unlikely to win everything, “and that’s good for the field,” he says.

If the Hugos do not adopt poetry long term, then the awards from SFPA and SFWA will be the top tastemakers for individual speculative poems written in English. It will be interesting to see how the distinct-yet-overlapping communities agree and disagree on “The Best.”

Looking Forward

What else can I say other than “I hope you participate”?

Poetry is brevity, gravity, and line breaks. It is the good kind of dangerous. It can shatter your world and open new universes—parallel, perpendicular, and oblique.

Read.

Celebrate.

Vote!

Explore more articles from SPECULATIVE POETICS

Brian U. Garrison (he/him) writes poetry for children, adults, and grand adults. He has been a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) since 2012 and was elected President in 2025. He joined SFWA in 2023. His work on the Rhysling Awards includes co-editing the anthology (2022, 2024), leading the effort to add a jury process, and shepherding volunteers. He is a program volunteer with Seattle Worldcon 2025 but is not part of the awards team. Brian’s chapbooks include New Yesterdays New Tomorrows (self-published) and Micropoetry for Microplanets (Space Cowboy Books). He lives under a tall, leafy tree in Portland, Oregon. More at www.bugthewriter.com.

The post Awards in Speculative Poetry: Ways (and Reasons) to Celebrate Excellent Writing appeared first on SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association.

by the SFWA Publications Crew and Adria Bailton

Editor’s note: This article is part of the SFWA Presents: Get to Know… series, which includes informational pieces about SFWA programs, committees, and initiatives, and also interviews with the SFWA volunteers who work to support their fellow writers in the industry.

The NetGalley Partnership Program is a form of author advocacy here at SFWA. It can be challenging (and expensive!) to promote one’s work as a hybrid, indie, or small-press creator. To offer more writers a chance to connect their latest releases with reviewers, SFWA partnered with NetGalley to create a lower-cost option. We chatted with Adria Bailton, SFWA’s NetGalley Coordinator, to learn more.

Let’s start with the easy and essential question: What is NetGalley, exactly, and what’s new about our partnership program with them? Why should authors consider review programs such as NetGalley?

NetGalley is an online program with members who have some hand in promoting or acquiring books. It began in 2008 and has grown to include several types of book-trade professionals. Prior to NetGalley, ARCs or Advanced Reader Copies were only available in print through specific services. NetGalley began distributing ebook ARCs to its members.

NetGalley has six member categories:

• Book Trade Professional, who works in the publishing industry;
• Bookseller, who works at a bookstore and buys/recommends books;
• Educator, who works in a school and adopts books for classroom use;
• Media/Journalist, who works in media and specifically promotes authors and reviews books;
• Librarian, who works in public/private libraries and buys/recommends books;
• Reviewer, who reviews books and promotes authors on book review websites, consumer websites (e.g., Goodreads), or social media platforms (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, YouTube).

Traditionally, this service was limited to large publishers, but through SFWA, self-published and small-press authors can access the power of NetGalley with its 605,000 active members.

NetGalley Community Breakdown. Source: 2025 NetGalley.com Community Update | NetGalley

Authors should consider using a review program like NetGalley in the lead-up to their book launch to garner preorders and stocking for bookstores and libraries, and also for promotion with articles written by journalists in media outlets and the word-of-mouth reviewer. Buzz about your book will help extend your own author reach and can increase sales and contribute to a successful launch. Many traditional publishers use NetGalley extensively for these purposes, and through SFWA’s program, indie authors have the same opportunity.

There is an option to list directly with NetGalley, which requires a six-month listing of a single title for $550. With SFWA, an author may list for a single month for $80, with the option to list for multiple months. SFWA NetGalley accepts both ebooks and audiobooks for listing.

As a creator yourself, what brought you into this SFWA volunteer role? How has your past experience in the industry shaped the work you do here?

When I started in the NetGalley role, my writing publications were all short stories through magazines and a couple on my own blog. However, I have been an Educator member of NetGalley since 2019, though I participated in other programs for ARCs in the prior decades. I already knew the ins and outs of NetGalley from the member side.

There was a moment of good timing where the NetGalley position opened while I was looking for volunteer positions within SFWA that I had qualifications for. I love to uplift fellow writers through my own efforts, and volunteering in the SFWA NetGalley coordinator role allows me to help other writers with their book promotions. 

What’s the process for a NetGalley placement? Could you walk us through what a typical one-month listing involves? 

From the author’s perspective, filling out the SFWA NetGalley participation form is Step 1. The author will need a 13-digit ISBN that matches their hardcover, paperback, ebook, or audiobook. Whether the author lists a print or an ebook, NetGalley members know they are receiving an ebook galley. The person listing the book will use the author’s name and a contact email address, book title, subtitle, publisher and imprint (if any), narrators for audiobook, suggested retail price of the book format (hardcover, paperback, ebook, or audiobook), date published, description of the book (book blurb or back cover copy), two or three genre categories from the NetGalley options in a dropdown menu, a marketing plan (not required), advanced praise (not required), an author bio and website, and any other social media they wish to list.

The book lister will need to select a date for the listing to start. All listings start on the first of the month and last the duration of the month selected. Books may be listed for one month or two consecutive months. Multiple-month listings are not guaranteed as they’re on a first-come-first-serve basis, with new titles getting priority.

For all books, an .epub or a .pdf file and a 500-pixel or greater .jpg or .png file of the cover must be submitted. For audiobooks, the .epub or .pdf file will be ignored by the SFWA NetGalley team, and the lister will need to send their audiobook files per emailed instructions upon acceptance into the SFWA NetGalley program.

The lister will also need to choose a Digital Rights Management (DRM) of “yes – NetGalley reviewers cannot share, print, or keep the book beyond 55 days” or “no – NetGalley reviewers can permanently share, print, or keep the book.” For yes, the book will disappear from their device, and if members have not read the book yet, it won’t be reviewed.

SFWA members have priority listing. Membership in SFWA is not required as long as we have space in our program.

Always feel free to email netgalley@sfwa.org with any questions prior to Step 1.

Step 2 will come with a confirmation email of acceptance, rejection, or waitlist for the month of listing.

Step 3 happens the day the book goes live. I use the information from the form and the files to list the book on NetGalley. The lister will receive an email about their listing going up, with links to the NetGalley page and a widget they can share with trusted people to read the book through the NetGalley service. The widget gives direct access without screening, so authors should only send it to readers they trust. Payment is due at that time.

During the month, authors should promote their NetGalley listing to their audience to build interest and requests. NetGalley acts as a funnel. The more impressions a book has, the more requests it receives. Overall, there’s a 38% feedback rate based on approvals.

At the end of the month, the lister will receive a series of reports about the activity of their book during its time listed on the website: 

• Feedback Report: a spreadsheet-based report that includes consolidated information about the reviews submitted for the title. 
• Snapshot: includes all statistics in consolidated information about the activity and opinions submitted for this title.
• Detailed Activity Report: information about the book’s activity, including when an individual member requested the title, the approval/decline date, how the member gained access, information about how the member accessed the content files, and whether they submitted feedback via NetGalley.
• Opinions Report: individual responses for the Yes/No questions that members can answer.
• Word Cloud Report: includes all the words that appear in the word cloud for this title, and the number of times each word appears across all reviews for this title.

I encourage authors to check back to get additional reports after another month or two. Reviews start to show up within a week to two months, depending on the title, first impressions (cover and blurb), and reviewer time. We still get reviews coming in for many months after a listing. 

Each title will have a dedicated NetGalley page that lives forever, and authors should keep that link as a part of their marketing.

Additionally, if an author wants to extend their listing for another month, an email reply to the report stating such is the best way to communicate that. No need to fill out the form. A confirmation email will be sent if there’s space in the program.

NetGalley bills itself as a service not only for books that are about to be released but for titles that have been out for a while. In your experience, do post-release titles actually attract reviewer attention? Or are reviewers mostly interested in ARCs?

Post-release titles do get attention! Some reviewers and publishing professionals are only interested in ARCs, but plenty of media and reviewers are looking for new-to-them books and authors, and are happy to read, review, and promote a book that is already published. The interest level in the book relies more on a good cover, description, and promotion of the NetGalley title. 

In these cases, the reviews and access from NetGalley can bolster a book’s word-of-mouth and sales. This can be helpful, too, if a blog tour or similar marketing push is arranged months after the book release and an author wants to generate buzz around their book. Pairing a NetGalley listing with the release of a new edition (new cover or an additional format) is another effective way to get your book noticed.

What’s the best way to prepare for participating in the NetGalley Partnership Program? How long before a book launch should authors contact the program? And what happens if one month’s program slots are full? 

For best results from a NetGalley listing for a new book’s release, using the SFWA NetGalley program one to three months prior to the release will get the most benefit. The SFWA NetGalley program accepts listing requests up to three months in advance. For example, an August listing can be requested as early as May, a December listing can be requested in September, listings being on the first of the month. It’s best to request a listing ahead of time rather than during the month the author wants their book to be on NetGalley, but we do list books the month-of if there is space available.

When the form is filled out, the person listing the book will receive an email of acceptance, waitlist, or no room. Books are prioritized for SFWA members and new listings. Final decisions for waitlisted books happen a few days before the new month begins. When all the slots are filled for a month, the option for listing in the next available month is given. We work with the author to find a solution that works for both SFWA NetGalley Program and the author.

On the first of the month, the author will receive an email with a link to their NetGalley page, which stays live for the rest of time or until NetGalley is no longer on the internet, and is a resource to direct to even after the listing is closed. They will also receive a widget to invite trusted reviewers to download the book. Being prepared with an ARC campaign by sending newsletters and posting on various social media will get the most requests. As mentioned before, there is a conversion rate of about 38% of requests that turn into a review—this accounts for requests that are denied.

What are some elements of the NetGalley Partnership Program that come up as common questions or concerns among authors, and what are some possible uses for this service that many might be overlooking?

The most common question is an unfamiliarity with how NetGalley works. The fact that there are six types of NetGalley members who are using it for multiple purposes, perhaps ordering a book for a library or bookstore, educational materials, along with reviews, surprises some of our NetGalley program enrollees. 

Some authors may not be interested in the reviews; they simply want librarians to read the book for library selection. This can be limited by selecting only “Librarians” on the form. But, overall, most authors are looking for something to generate buzz about their books. By listing with NetGalley, promoting the NetGalley listing in several places, buzz will be generated. Using the permanent NetGalley link for promotion, along with a Goodreads link, can also be beneficial to garner reader interest.

And…the big question: Since we’re talking about reviews, we also have to brace for the possibility of negative press. How do you lessen the chances of a bad fit for our authors, and what are some useful data points authors can take from the experience, even if reader reception wasn’t great?

Unfortunately, we can’t control what reviews we get. There will always be a reader the book wasn’t for. Because NetGalley rewards high feedback percentage, even a DNF (did not finish) book will be rated on NetGalley. SFWA has a good chunk of validated NetGalley members across all six categories. These validated members have credentials to prove to NetGalley they work in the field they are validated in. Additionally, any member who is not validated by NetGalley must request the books listed in the SFWA NetGalley program.

The program coordinator checks each request and looks for a high feedback ratio (over 70%), recent feedback, or a reason the most recent review is older, and an updated bio. Additionally, she checks the links to the other websites where reviews are posted to see when those were most recently updated and if they cover more than the most popular current books. It’s important that at least one of the author-selected genres for the book appear in the list of genres the NetGalley member is interested in. If any of those look outdated or do not match, they will be declined.

The SFWA NetGalley Program Coordinator reads every review that comes through. When there is something egregious in the review (for example, rating a book low and giving a scathing review about a book format issue that is supposed to be reported through NetGalley’s form and not through a review) or if the review is clearly biased, it will be flagged for removal from the NetGalley site and the reviewer themself will be flagged with the details of why. That reviewer may not be approved for future books.

I also appreciate when authors read their reviews and let me know through netgalley@sfwa.org that a review appeared to be for a different book or a misrepresentation of the book that the author will know, but the NetGalley Coordinator who has not read the book may not. Those reviews will also be flagged for removal from NetGalley, and the member flagged with details for future approval/decline use.

Thank you, Adria Bailton and NetGalley staff, for keeping this line of author advocacy open to SFF creators!

For more information, please visit the NetGalley Partnership Program application page.

All authors with upcoming releases, whether or not you’re a SFWA member, you’re welcome to apply. The experienced volunteers who operate this SFWA program will do their best to find you a spot, to set your book up with the right readers, and to deliver campaign reports from NetGalley that can be used to improve other parts of your book promo work.

And to all authors on the publishing trail, we’re always rooting for your success here at SFWA.

Explore more articles from SFWA Presents: Get to Know…

Adria Bailton (she/they) imagines entire worlds and universes to share while spending her days studying atoms, the smallest unit of matter. More of their stories where she strives to create characters that reflect their own bisexuality, neurodiversity, and disability appear in Worlds of Possibility, The Colored Lens, and Constelación, among others. Her debut YA science fiction novel, Worlds Divide, is available from Balance of Seven Press in April 2026. She creates from the US PNW, on the traditional territory of several Indigenous nations, including the Stillaguamish, Suquamish, and Duwamish. Find them at www.adriabailton.com.

The post SFWA Presents: Get to Know…Our NetGalley Partnership Program appeared first on SFWA.

by Madeleine Holly-Rosing

Though crowdfunding may seem intimidating to the first-timer, it is a viable alternative to direct sales, increasing your fanbase and sharing something unique to the world: your story. In this article, I will highlight some key elements of a successful campaign. 

What is crowdfunding? In short, it’s presenting your creative project to the world and asking for monetary help to produce said project. Possible asks include funds to produce your book cover, pay for editing, and add a deluxe foil cover version with sprayed pattern edges. Those who “pledge” or “back” your project select a “reward” to receive when you have completed the project. (Note: I do not use the term “invest” as it concerns equity-based crowdfunding, which I will not cover here.)

Choosing Your Platform

Crowdfunding platforms have sprouted up like weeds over the past decade, and I won’t list all of them here; however, Unbound and Publishizer specialize in authors, and I know many who like Indiegogo and Crowdfunder. I have been successful with Kickstarter and have remained with them for the following reasons:

• The largest and most successful platform.
• A dedicated community of backers.
• Informative guides for creators.
• Easy-to-use post-campaign surveys.
• Optional Pledge Manager for post-campaign fulfillment.

Whatever platform you choose, make sure it has the features that matter the most to you.

Social Media

Whether you like it or not, you must have some sort of social media presence. However, being productive on every social media site can be overwhelming. I suggest having an account on at least two and focusing your growth on those. I have not paid for advertising yet on any of them and primarily use organic algorithms, but that is becoming problematic. I’ve had dwindling returns on all platforms over the past three years, especially X. But being a creator means putting yourself out there.

Newsletter Email Lists

If you don’t already have a newsletter email list, it’s time to start. Email lists are a critical component of running a successful campaign. Before you launch, you should be confident that you will have enough people on your list to fund at least 35% of your campaign in the first three days. Without that, making your funding goal will be much harder.

If you’re starting from scratch, there are various ways to build your email list:

1. Have a table at a local library/festival/convention and put a signup sheet on your table. 
2. Post requests on social media for people to sign up for your newsletter. Offer a free story as an incentive.
3. Join viral email builders. The cost varies.
4. Add opt-ins at checkout on your webstore/website.

Working with Other Creators

Other creators running a campaign are not your competitors; they are your colleagues. You know the saying, “A rising tide raises all ships?” That’s how it works in crowdfunding.

Cross-promoting with other creators will bring in potential backers who otherwise may not have seen your campaign. It’s a pretty simple concept. Whenever you post an update, you mention the other creator’s campaign. I normally include the copy, an image from their campaign, and the link. I rarely post more than two at a time for greater impact. 

I also follow other creators on social media and Kickstarter, especially those in my genre and medium. Make friends and be helpful. It will go a long way.

Creating Your Homepage

A crowdfunding homepage is a description of your project and an introduction to who you are. Think of it as a grant proposal. Here is a breakdown of what you need to include:

1. What is your story in one sentence?
2. What is your call to action? 
3. Tell us a little about yourself and expand on the project. 
4. Tell us about your characters and your story.
5. Why this story?
6. Reward tiers.
7. Biographies of you and your team, if you have one.
8. Testimonials and any awards.
9. Stretch goals.
10. Risks and challenges.

Remember, a Kickstarter homepage needs to have a balance of text and images.

Video

Keep it simple. Introduce yourself, then tell us about your project. You can record on your phone, though I recommend including a short, animated section describing your story. It should be no more than three minutes long.

Funding Goal

Your funding goal should include not only the cost of what the purpose of the campaign is, but also the costs of production, shipping, Kickstarter fees (5%), and Stripe fees (3-5%). When starting, I’d suggest a simple project with a low funding goal (below $1,500) to familiarize yourself with the platform and how everything works.

Pre-Launch

Pre-launch is the most important part of your campaign, other than your project. A campaign can be a second full-time job, which means you need to psychologically prepare for it and mind your mental and physical health. Prep food ahead of time, refill your meds, exercise, and get plenty of sleep.

At least two months before you launch, schedule interviews with podcasters, draft press releases, reach out to other creators to cross-promote, produce your video, prep your homepage, organize your email list(s), and prep your Kickstarter Launch page. This handy tool allows you to promote before you launch.

The Campaign

During your campaign, announce the launch through your email list and social media. Post updates whenever anything significant happens (e.g., halfway there, a new reward tier, an interview), usually twice a week. Email press releases to relevant sites. And when you get a pledge, message the backer saying thank you.

Case Studies

Be sure to study campaigns that are similar to yours. Examine their video, how they organize their page and rewards, and updates.

I strongly recommend diving deeper into the how-tos and backing a few campaigns before you launch. Knowing what you like and don’t like about how someone else runs a campaign will teach you a lot.

Check out the examples below and any others you run across for ideas and inspiration. 

Under $2000

• Before Crown and Kingdom – http://kck.st/3Q3MJGa
• Revenge is a Dish Best Served Twice – http://kck.st/3W6X8Ew
• A Petrified Heart – http://kck.st/3WAKvBN
• Plague of Demons – http://kck.st/42FfYGM

Over $2000

• Bastion: Deluxe Hardcover Edition – http://kck.st/4hoJrZS
• Honeysuckles & Snapdragons – http://kck.st/4hn83CB
• Grimnir Chronicles – http://kck.st/4hKXtF1

Though crowdfunding can be scary, don’t let it keep you from giving it a try. It’s a marvelous opportunity to reach new fans, generate social proof, and add loyal advocates.

Explore more articles from THE COMICS PANEL

Madeleine Holly-Rosing is the writer/creator of the steampunk supernatural graphic novel, prose, and audio drama series, Boston Metaphysical Society. Winner of the Sloan Fellowship for screenwriting, and the Gold Aurora and Bronze Telly for a PSA produced by Women In Film, she has also won numerous awards while completing the UCLA MFA Program in Screenwriting. Originally self-published, Source Point Press re-published the first six issues, the trade paperback of Boston Metaphysical Society and picked up the four sequels. She has run fifteen successful crowdfunding campaigns, guest lectured at UCLA Professional Programs, Dreamworks Animation, and Scriptwriter’s Network, as well as published the book Kickstarter for the Independent Creator.

The first novel in the series, Boston Metaphysical Society: A Storm of Secrets, was awarded a Silver Medal in the SciFi/Fantasy category as well as The Write Companion Award for Best Overall TOP PICK – Adult, Children’s and Young Adult categories in the 2019 Feathered Quill Book Awards.

Madeleine is currently producing the next series in the Boston Metaphysical Society saga, writing a series for Joe Benitez’s, Lady Mechanika, and her new graphic novel series, Morgana Pendragon.

The post Why Crowdfund? appeared first on SFWA.

Welcome to the June edition of the SFWA Market Report.

Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those markets included on this list pay at least $0.08/word USD in at least one category of fiction. This compilation is not exhaustive of all publication opportunities that pay our recommended minimum professional rate. Additionally, SFWA adheres to our DEI Policy when making selections for this report. We strongly encourage writers to closely review all contracts and consult our resources on best contract practices.

Markets Currently Open for Submissions

100-Foot Crow (Recently Opened)
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
Anomaly (Recently Opened)
Asimov Press
Asimov’s Science Fiction
Baffling Magazine (Recently Opened)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Clarkesworld Magazine
Crepuscular Magazine
Factor Four Magazine
Flame Tree Fiction Newsletter
Haven Spec Magazine (Recently Opened)
Infinite Worlds
It Was Paradise
Nature: Futures
Orion’s Belt
Plott Hound Magazine (Recently Opened)
Protocolized
PseudoPod
Reckoning
Samovar
Skull X Bones
Small Wonders
Strange Horizons (Recently Opened)
Taco Bell Quarterly
The Cosmic Background
The Daily Tomorrow
The Deadlands
Torch Literary Arts
Uncharted Magazine
Utopia Science Fiction

Markets Recently Closed for Submissions

Book Worms
Cast of Wonders
Escape Pod
Podcastle Flash Fiction Contest (Permanent)
The Fabulist
Three-Lobed Burning Eye
Tractor Beam
Wrath Month (Permanent)

Upcoming Market Changes

100-Foot Crow‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Anomaly‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Anomaly‘s Submission Window begins and ends soon.
Apex Monthly Flash Fiction Contest‘s Submission Window begins and ends soon.
Apex Monthly Flash Fiction Contest‘s Submission Window begins soon.
Baffling Magazine‘s Submission window ends soon.
Cast of Wonders‘s Flash Fiction Submission Window begins soon.
Diabolical Plots‘s Submission Window begins soon.
Flash Fiction Online (FFO) (Originals)‘s Submission window begins soon.
Haven Spec Magazine‘s Submission window ends soon.
Haven Spec Magazine‘s Limited demographic submission window: authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups begins soon.
It Was Paradise permanently closes soon.
Mysterion‘s Submission Window begins soon.
Plott Hound Magazine‘s Submission window ends soon.
PodCastle‘s Submission window begins soon.
Skull X Bones permanently closes soon.
Solarpunk Magazine‘s Submission window begins soon.
The Deadlands‘s Submission Window ends soon.
The Fabulist‘s Flash Fiction submission window begins and ends soon.
The Orange & Bee‘s Submission Window begins soon.

The SFWA Market Report is compiled by David Steffen, editor of Diabolical Plots and The Long List Anthology series, and administrator and co-founder of the Submission Grinder.  Diabolical Plots will open for fiction submissions on July 7th! You can support Diabolical Plots and the Submission Grinder on PayPal or Patreon or by buying books or merch.

The post SFWA Market Report For June appeared first on SFWA.

by Russell Nohelty

I’ve been working in both book publishing and comic publishing for close to 15 years at this point through my work as publisher of Wannabe Press and editor of the Cthulhu is Hard to Spell comics anthology series. While there is some overlap in marketing strategies between them, they’re remarkably different to market and sell. 

You would think they’re basically the same, right? After all, they are both made from paper, printed with ink, and bound together to be read sequentially. And yet, they are different enough that if you don’t know the idiosyncrasies and particulars of how to market comics, it can completely destroy your launch, leaving you to wonder how your sure-fire novel became a dud when translated into a comic. Here are a few of the main differences.

Art

Each page of a comic is filled with art, which can all be used in marketing. Every one of them is a chance to find a new audience for your books, so they need to feel cohesive with both the genre and the theme. Comics creators can market their work on the strength of both the art and the writing, creating more dynamic appeal.

This means that the artist is as important to selling the book as the writer. While prose readers are mostly drawn to genre, comics people follow artists, which tells them more about the book’s tone than anything else. At Wannabe Press, and in the comics industry in general, we market the heck out of our artists and put a lot of thought into pairing the right artist with the right project to hit the right audience.

Focus on Print

Comics are mainly bought in print, compared to the more than half of traditional books, which are sold digitally. Digital book sales revolutionized the publishing industry but never funneled to comics. There are some great platforms like GlobalComix and Webtoon that specialize in digital formats, but generally comics readers prefer to buy physical comics. This is one reason why comics embraced Kickstarter early on, since printing and shipping books is a lot more expensive than sending a digital file. 

When marketing comics, take time to talk about the size of the book and the paper quality. With comics, the paper quality and final size change the way a comic is read and whether it feels satisfying and high-value to the audience. 

The Market

Comics sell in completely different channels than novels. While graphic novels may be sold in bookstores, single comic issues almost never are, unless it’s as part of a collection. Instead, comics are sold into the direct market. This doesn’t mean direct-to-consumer but rather means comic stores, who for decades were the main buyers of comics. Unfortunately, these distributors require more product than most creators can push out, which locks off this distribution channel to them. 

That doesn’t mean traditional retailers work for comics either, as bookstores and libraries are generally only interested in stocking graphic novels or collected trades, not single-issue comics, and even then mostly for the YA and Middle Grade markets where they already have broad acceptance. 

These tough market conditions are another reason why comics was one of the first, and most successful, industries to embrace crowdfunding. There is a thriving comic market on Kickstarter, and creators who don’t take advantage do so to their detriment. 

Another major sales channel for comics is conventions. Most comic creators have a presence in at least one convention a year, which isn’t true for almost any prose writer I know. Conventions such as San Diego, New York, and Emerald City bring together tons of comic fans together, and many comic creators make a full-time living working “the circuit.” 

One interesting bit about selling comics and books together is that comics readers tend to be a lot more engaged at your table than book readers, who prefer to stand silently reading a book before deciding whether to buy it. This generally allows you to sell comics more aggressively and with more interaction than books. 

Buyers Who Are Less Price-Sensitive

Comic buyers are less price-sensitive than book buyers. It’s expensive to hire good artists, not to mention printing books, which means we can’t afford to price books like the book market. Instead, the comics industry largely focuses on the collectability of their work and sells it for a higher price than most books can manage. It’s very common for a single 24-page comic to be priced $10–$20, depending on the cover. 

Of course, this presents a whole different problem. Since comics are traditionally quite a bit more expensive than books, there are not that many comic readers compared to book readers. That’s why we do things like variant covers for our books, which means hiring better-known artists to create extra covers. It’s not uncommon for a book to have 5–10 different covers with different price points.

These distinctions are not trivial, and taking them into account is often the difference between success and failure in the comics market. Meanwhile, if you already work in comics and are sliding into the book market, make note that how book authors interact with their fans is a lot different than what you were used to in the past. The end goal might be the same (getting a book into your readers’ hands), but the methods and strategies are wildly different.

Explore more articles from THE COMICS PANEL

Russell Nohelty (www.russellnohelty.com) is a USA Today bestselling fantasy and non-fiction author who has written dozens of novels and graphic novels including The Godsverse Chronicles, The Obsidian Spindle Saga, and Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter. He is the publisher of Wannabe Press, co-host of the Kickstart Your Book Sales and Six Figure Author Experiment podcasts, and cofounder of the Writer MBA conference and The Future of Publishing Mastermind. He also co-created the Author Ecosystem archetype system to help authors embrace their natural tendencies to find success. You can find most of his writing at theauthorstack.com. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and dogs.

The post Book Marketing: Comics vs. Novels appeared first on SFWA.

'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...' - Keith Laumer, 1965. (SF in the News)

'Each a television eye and a sonic stunner...' - Larry Niven, 1972. (SF in the News)

'This man was standing on two corrugated-soled titanium footplates...'- Fritz Leiber, 1968. (SF in the News)

I'd like a friendly robot to help me at airports. Especially the bag-carrying part. (SF in the News)

'Every AI ever built has an electromagnetic shotgun wired to its forehead' - William Gibson, 1984. (SF in the News)

'This must be a golden planet—this little asteroid.' - Garrett P. Serviss, 1898. (SF in the News)

And who has the largest DNA database on its citizens? USA. (SF in the News)

'Toothbud transplants...' - William Gibson, 1984. (SF in the News)

'I was only trying to do what I thought best....' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1968. (SF in the News)

Absolutely amazing development - now blind people can read the web! (SF in the News)

'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'- Neal Stephenson, 1992. (SF in the News)

'The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...' - Frederik Pohl, 1954. (SF in the News)

The computer will see you now. (SF in the News)

'He emerged and flagged down a robot taxi...'- Philip K. Dick, 1955, (SF in the News)