RESOURCES

Fandom and More

Speculative-fiction fans have, since the early days (see First Fandom), gotten together to share thoughts and opinions about what's going on in the genre - often quite passionately. Naturally, the internet has facilitated this conversation in powerful ways. Here is just a sampling of popular fan-related sites.

• Ansible is David Langford's popular and long-running British fanzine, published since 1979.
• Audio interviews with science-fiction authors. A great way to hear interviews with your favorite authors, and a great resource for researchers.
• The Fandom Directory, a great source for all things SF-fannish.
• Google's extensive list of science fiction sites.
• i09 is an SFnal multimedia extravaganza!
• Ik Wil Het Startpagina: Science Fiction, a portal site in Holland with a thorough collection of SF links.
• LabLit.com - "The culture of science in fiction & fact." Great stuff!
• The Russian Science Fiction & Fantasy Web site, the largest and the most rapidly growing Russian SF-related Web site on the Internet.
• Science Fiction Research Association, SFRA's Web site.
• Science Fiction Writers of America, SFWA's Web site.
• SF Lovers, a huge compendium of valuable and useful info on SF, SF authors, and so on.
• The Speculative Literature Foundation, which "promotes literary quality in speculative fiction by encouraging promising new writers, assisting established writers, facilitating the work of quality magazines and small presses in the genre, and developing a greater public appreciation of speculative fiction."
• The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle is an interactive, media-rich experience that combines SFnal artifacts and information in an immersive museum. Recommended!
• Tales of Future Past, a great source for SF history and images.
• Wikipedia is the original open-source online encyclopedia about everything, and of course they have a thorough entry on SF.

Great Author Blogs

Most speculative-fiction authors blog at least occasionally, so there's no way to list them all here. However, the blogs listed below are destinations for thousands - or, in some cases, tens of thousands - of regular readers, full of interesting content by fine authors who serve their readers every single day.

• Mike Brotherton.
• Craphound, by Cory Doctorow.
• Neil Gaiman's Journal.
• Making Light, by Teresa and Patrick Neilson Hayden.
• Jay Lake.
• Justine Larbelestier.
• The Way the Future Blogs (excerpted in the May/June 2010 WLT print magazine), by Frederik Pohl.
• Whatever, by John Scalzi.
• SFWA's blog.
• Charlie's Diary, by Charles Stross.

SF Artists

Here is a small sampling of some of the most popular spec-fic artists; click the links to see some gorgeous galleries.

• Neil Blevins
• Alan M. Clark
• Bob Eggleton
• Donato Giancola
• Debbie Hughes
• Ron Miller
• John Picacio
• Frank Wu

Magazines

In addition to print, much speculative fiction is published on the Web - perhaps the majority. The number of original anthologies is also growing quickly; these are published by most large and small presses, with some small presses dedicated only to unique anthologies. Here's an abbreviated list of online SF magazines, with links to sources that list them all.

• The full list of the genre magazines published on the SFWA website. A fantastic place to find them all.
• Albedo One, Ireland's only SF magazine.
• Abyss & Apex.
• Analog Science Fiction and Fact.
Astounding's heir. Hard SF, essays, and more.
• Asimov's Science Fiction.
• Clarkesworld Magazine.
• The Infinite Matrix. Fiction, essays, and editorials - good stuff!
• Interzone. Long-lived British SF magazine.
• The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. One of the cornerstone genre magazines that's been around since 1949.
• Ray Gun Revival. Publishes Golden-Age style space opera.
• Sci Fiction. Ceased publishing new fiction; however, the archives are still available.
• The Science Fact & Science Fiction Concatenation
, the e-version of the Concatenation publication distributed at the UK national SF convention and European SF convention.
• Strange Horizons.
Fiction, poetry, reviews, and much more.
• StarShipSofa, "The Audio Science Fiction Magazine," published as a series of podcasts.
• Tor.com, the website of Tor Books includes a fine online magazine.
• Webzines, editor Ellen Datlow's list of online SF magazines, regularly updated.
  

Review Magazines

Speculative fiction has been a field for serious study since the 1950s - earlier for some, still not recognized by others. Here are a few that live online; others, such as Extrapolation, still only exist in print.

• Anima Solaris, a Japanese science fiction magazine.
• Best SF, a website that "aims to assist those seeking the best in short science fiction, in both printed form and on the web." Has a big "Best SF Gateway" that links to the best SF available online, plus lots of short-SF reviews.
• Bookview, the review site of William Tienken.
• Internet Book List, a book-listing and -reviewing project where readers can enter and respond to information about every published book. Its purpose is to provide a comprehensive and easily accessible database of books, because its creator "considers the Book to be humanity's greatest creation." Includes discussion forums, ratings, and much more.
• The Internet Review of Science Fiction: the first serious online SF journal remains one of the best. Founded in 2004.
• Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, founded in 1989, this is the interdisciplinary publication of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts.
• Locus Online, website of Locus magazine. SF news, reviews, and resources.
• Foundation: the international review of science fiction, published by the Science Fiction Foundation.
• The New York Review of Science Fiction, published by Dragon Press since 1988. Covers SF as a whole but draws its name from being housed in New York City and sponsoring local SF events.
• Science Fiction Weekly, a helpful link for current information in the world of SF.
• Science Fiction Chronicle, website of SF Chronicle magazine. SF news, reviews, and resources.
• SF Site, self-described "home page for science fiction and fantasy." SF news, reviews, and resources.
• SFRA Review, founded in 1970, is the publication of the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), the oldest professional SF scholarly organization. Published out of the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire.
• SFWA Bulletin, published by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), the worldwide professional organization for speculative-fiction writers, editors, and others in the field.
• SFRevu, a monthly fan/webzine which features reviews of books, films, and other media, interviews with top authors and notable newcomers, and columns with the latest releases in books, DVDs, comics, and upcoming films. SFRevu covers SF/F from around the world.
• Speculative Fiction Review is a publisher and bookseller hoping to promote new SF authors by offering free and low-cost downloads. Includes reviews and a discussion forum.
• SpecFicWorld.com, an online resource guide for speculative fiction fans and writers. Market lists, news, writer's resources, and lots of fee-based eBook and eMagazine downloads.
• Tangent Online, the first and only short SF review magazine, now with long reviews, as well.
• Torque Control, the blog of the editorial staff of Vector, the critical journal of the British Science Fiction Association.

Writing Workshops

Writers seeking to improve their craft in the genres used to have only a few choices, as many university programs did not appreciate speculative fiction - or, in some cases, even consider it a valid form of literature. In response, professional writers created private workshops to help writers develop. Thankfully, spec-fic's days of living in the ghetto are past, but the intensive, non-degree workshops are still a healthy concern. Here are a few of the best, plus some links to markets for your work.

• Alpha, the Workshop for Young Writers.
• Clarion Writers' Workshop at UC-San Diego, perhaps the world's best-known speculative-fiction writing workshop. Six weeks of immersion.
• Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle, Washington, also six weeks.
• Critters, a well-known online workshop with lots of great information for writers.
• CSSF writing workshops for short and novel-length speculative fiction. Each is an intensive two-week program.
• Odyssey, a fantasy-writing workshop.
• Viable Paradise is a one-week residential workshop in writing and selling commercial science fiction and fantasy.
• The Market List, a great resource for finding markets for your genre work.
• Ralan.com, another excellent SF/F/H writing market site.

Major Awards

Fan, professional, and scholarly organizations the world around give many awards for speculative fiction each year. Here are a few of the top awards in the field.

• Science Fiction Awards Watch, a site that lists all of the SF awards with links to everything.
• Andre Norton Award for young adult fiction.
• Arthur C. Clarke Award - the UK's top prize for speculative fiction.
• Bram Stoker Awards - given by the Horror Writers' Association.
• Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing.
• Hugo Award - many categories; selected by WorldCon attendees.
• International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts awards.
• James Tiptree, Jr. Award for science fiction that explores gender.
• John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel of the year.
• John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award.
• Locus Awards - many categories; selected by Locus magazine readers.
• Nebula Awards - many categories; selected by SFWA members.
• Philip K. Dick Award for the distinguished original science fiction published in paperback.
• Science Fiction Research Association awards for SF scholarship.
• Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF of the year.

Christopher McKitterick is an author, editor, technical writer, teacher, amateur astronomer, and backyard engineer. Chris' short work has appeared in a variety of magazines, anthologies, and journals. He teaches writing at the University of Kansas and is Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction. He recently finished a far-future novel, Empire Ship, and his first novel, Transcendence, will appear in 2010 from Hadley Rille Books. For more, check out his website and blog.