The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has announced the nominees for the 2012 Nebula Awards. The Nebula Awards have been one of the most prestigious science fiction awards since they were first awarded in 1966, with the nominees and winners being voted on by the author’s peers–kind of like the sci-fi equivalent of the Screen Actors Guild Awards. In other words, it means your fellow writers think you’re awesome. 

I’m THRILLED for my friend Aliette de Bodard for her TWO Nebula nominations this year. I’m also thrilled for friends Leah Bobet and Alethea Kontis for their nominations for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book, awarded alongside the Nebulas. Awesome writers, all. 

Ah, and I knew them when…

Here’s a complete list of the nominees. Awards will be presented at SFWA’s 48th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend, to be held May 16-19, 2013 at the San Jose Hilton in San Jose CA. At the same event, Gene Wolfe will be the honored with the 2012 Damon Knight Grand Master Award for his lifetime contributions and achievements in the field.

Novel 
Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW; Gollancz ’13)
Ironskin, Tina Connolly (Tor)
The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
Glamour in Glass, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Novella 
On a Red Station, Drifting, Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, Nancy Kress (Tachyon)
“The Stars Do Not Lie”, Jay Lake (Asimov’s 10-11/12)
“All the Flavors”, Ken Liu (GigaNotoSaurus 2/1/12)
“Katabasis”, Robert Reed (F&SF 11-12/12)
“Barry’s Tale”, Lawrence M. Schoen (Buffalito Buffet)

Novelette 
“The Pyre of New Day”, Catherine Asaro (The Mammoth Books of SF Wars)
“Close Encounters”, Andy Duncan (The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories)
“The Waves”, Ken Liu (Asimov’s 12/12)
“The Finite Canvas”, Brit Mandelo (Tor.com 12/5/12)
“Swift, Brutal Retaliation”, Meghan McCarron (Tor.com 1/4/12)
“Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia”, Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 8/22/12)
“Fade to White”, Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 8/12)

Short Story 
“Robot”, Helena Bell (Clarkesworld 9/12)
“Immersion”, Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld 6/12)
“Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes”, Tom Crosshill (Clarkesworld 4/12)
“Nanny’s Day”, Leah Cypess (Asimov’s 3/12)
“Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream”, Maria Dahvana Headley (Lightspeed 7/12)
“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species”, Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/12)
“Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain”, Cat Rambo (Near + Far)

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
The Avengers 
Beasts of the Southern Wild 
The Cabin in the Woods 
The Hunger Games 
John Carter 
Looper

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book 
Iron Hearted Violet, Kelly Barnhill (Little, Brown)
Black Heart, Holly Black (S&S/McElderry; Gollancz)
Above, Leah Bobet (Levine)
The Diviners, Libba Bray (Little, Brown; Atom)
Vessel, Sarah Beth Durst (S&S/McElderry)
Seraphina, Rachel Hartman (Random House; Doubleday UK)
Enchanted, Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
Every Day, David Levithan (Alice A. Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Summer of the Mariposas, Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Tu Books)
Railsea, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan)
 Fair Coin, E.C. Myers (Pyr)
Above World, Jenn Reese (Candlewick)

I’ve long wondered whether novellas or novelettes would see a resurgence with the advent of everyday e-book readers: after all, an author could write a story that is 20,000 or 40,000 words long and potentially sell it for the same amount as a ‘traditional’ 100,000 word novel (the length of your average paperback…back when they still had paperbacks–remember them?) So that author could, theoretically, write three to five times as many stories in the same time it would take to write a single novel and, perhaps, triple or quintuple his or her income from writing. It’s an idea that has merit.

What I didn’t expect (but probably should have) was the renewed interest in the short story itself, and in collections of them, particularly from individual authors.

So, an interesting article in The New York Times late last week about the growing sales trend for short stories and short story collections. Find it here.

One of my writerly New Years resolutions for 2013 was to get my published short stories up for sale online (individually and in collection form) and this certainly has renewed my enthusiasm to do so! Keep watching this space for more details!

– S.

For those of you who will be considering works for the Hugos comes a great idea for getting to know those eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology!

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is an award given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous calendar years. It is named for the famed John W. Campbell, Jr., editor for 34 years of the leading “Golden Age” science fiction magazine, Astounding Science Fiction (later renamed Analog). The award is presented annually at WorldCon alongside the Hugos–though it is not itself a Hugo.

 In the words of the STUPEFYING STORIES blog (where you can download the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology for FREE):

Now, for the first time in the award’s 40-year history, the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology provides a much-needed and long-overdue guide to the newly emerging talents eligible for this year’s award. Containing 80 complete short stories by 43 different authors, as well as additional information about another 58 potential candidates, the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology is your guide to the newest science fiction and fantasy writers who are helping to define the future of the genre. 

Ingenious! I wish this had been an option back when I was an eligible new author! Of course, ebooks were still a distant dream at that point… As the blog says, this ebook is only available for a limited time (presumably until the nomination deadline of March 10, 2013) so get it before its gone!

– S.

I’m thrilled to let you all know that a narrated audio version (not really long enough for an audiobook, so I guess an audioshort?) of my story “A Time for Raven” is now available at StarShipSofa. For those of you unfamiliar with StarShipSofa, it is The Audio Science Fiction Magazine and is one of the top SF podcasts going. Great SF stories each week, and all completely free! Many thanks to Tony C Smith, captain of the Sofa, for selecting my story and for generally running such a great podcast.    

You can find “A Time for Raven” here, wonderfully narrated by Scott Couchman.

As I’ve said before, I know you’re not supposed to have favorites amongst your children, but “A Time for Raven” is a story that in particular means a lot to me. Here’s what other people have thought of it:

“…a truly wonderful, touching ending to this great story.” – SFRevu.com

 “The fictional tale…is highly appropriate to the actual legend…” – LOCUS Magazine Online

“It is poetically written, at times almost prayerful.” – Fantasy Literature

“Stephen Kotowych writes the mythic into the realism of life in modern day, proving that myths never die; they linger on well into the future.”  – SF Site

I hope you enjoy it, too.

– S.

For anyone attending Fan Expo in Toronto this Saturday, be sure to stop by the Animism panel at 2pm in room 709 to hear James Alan Gardner and me talk about writing fiction, and specifically about writing media tie-in flash fiction for the upcoming cartoon series Animism, premiering Fall 2012.

Find out more about the Animism flash fiction contest (open August 25 thru October 31, 2012) at their site here.

– S.

Word just in tonight from When Words Collide in Calgary that Suzanne Church, a member of The Stop-Watch Gang, has just won the 2012 Aurora Award in the Best English Short Story category for her story “The Needle’ Eye”!

More details to follow, but this makes Suzanne the fifth nominee and first winner of the Aurora from the SWG.

Congrats Suzanne! Well done!

– S.

Dave Wolverton (aka David Farland) is a New York Times best-selling author, a Writers of the Future judge (and former Grand Prize winner), and an all-around great guy. When I won the Grand Prize in 2007, Dave was kind enough to sit with me for nearly an hour while he waited for a shuttle to the airport and answer (at length, bless him) my one burning question: “How do I not squander this?”

With the recent and untimely passing of KD Wentworth, the Writers of the Future preliminary judge (more on that soon), Dave Wolverton has been named the new preliminary judge for WOTF.

Having just completed judging for the first quarter of this year’s contest, and deep in the process of judging the second quarter, Dave has offered what he calls “Ten Reasons Why I’ll Quickly Reject Your Story”–a guide to what to avoid if you don’t want to get turfed from the WOTF before you’re even seriously considered.

As you know if you follow my blog, the Writers of the Future contest has been very, very good to me. And I know lots of people who enter the contest read this blog (there’s a reason my WOTF week recap is the most popular group of pages on the site). So if you’re still eligible for the contest and want to up your odds of winning READ AND TAKE TO HEART EVERYTHING DAVE TELLS YOU. He’s the first gatekeeper–you’d be wise to follow his advice (which is also just plain good writing advice, aside from the WOTF contest).

Dave sent this out today as part of his Kick in the Pants newsletter. Dave (and his newsletter) are a FONT of good advice, and if you want to improve your craft as a writer you owe it to yourself to sign up for this COMPLETELY FREE newsletter. I know–free? Shocking. This is the kind of advice people pay good money for.

Like I said: all-around great guy.

– S.

So it turns out that (at least according to this little gizmo) I read 43% faster than the average reader…which is pathetic. Because I’m a SUPER SLOW READER, and that means that a lot of you out there should really be ashamed of yourselves…

Here–have a go and see how you compare:

Source: Staples eReader Department

So I don’t know quite where its been all my life, but I’ve recently discovered the website io9, and I highly recommend it for all things geek and chic.

One of the most interesting articles I’ve seen there recently is a list of the most successful self-published sci-fi and fantasy authors.

You’ll note that for most of these books we’re not talking New York Times Bestseller kind of numbers: most of the figures–though impressive and in the hundreds of thousands–are cumulative. When you breakdown the individual sales of these authors books they could probably be realistically considered mid-list authors or lower. But considering they’re doing this on their own and without the infrastructure of a traditional publisher its nothing to sneeze at. Likewise, when you consider the much higher royalty rate that they would be making off these copies than what they would make from a traditional publishing contract’s share of e-book sales then they might even be coming out even with a lot of mid-list authors with traditional books.  

And why would people choose to self-publish, despite the statistically likely chances of limited (or zero) success?

You can see Cory Doctorow’s photo of the (terrifying) Tor slush pile here. If you scroll down you’ll see an exchange between a commenter and Teresa Nielsen Hayden, one of the editors at Tor. She’s quite right that most self-published authors will never sell many copies of their books, and rarely beyond their circle of friends and family (kind of like selling only to those in attendance at your book launch, which tend to be friends and family anyway). If you want a real, physical book that’s widely available at bookstores then you need a traditional publisher and the sales force and distribution system that go along with a traditional publisher.

And that’s what I want, more than almost anything–a traditional publishing deal.

And yet.

And yet if you listen to most successful authors it seems to take, on average, about ten years of trying to become an overnight success and get a book publishing deal. That’s usually a lot of novels written, rewritten, and then abandoned and shoved in a bottom drawer (or trunk), never to be seen again.

So it brings me some comfort to know that if it takes me ten years to succeed–and I feel like I’m committed to that marathon, if that’s what it takes–then at least in that time, should no agent or editor be interested in novel after novel that I write until I write The One that gets me representation or a book deal, then I can at least be posting my developmental novels in the meantime in hopes of perhaps building some kind of following–a built-in audience that will anxiously rush out and buy (or more likely order from Amazon) my first ‘real’ novel from a traditional publisher once its available.

Or I can hope that lightning strikes and I become the next Amanda Hocking. You know–one of the two.

My friend (and an excellent writer) Michael Andre McPherson has a great blog about his online self-publishing efforts that you should all check out–Beyond the Slush Pile. He’s out there in the brave new world, plying his wares, and his insights are always interesting. Check out ‘Beyond the Slush Pile’ here.

– S.