The short story market is rapidly changing, and SFWA has been working on a new tool to analyze paying markets. Join us to test out the Short Story Matrix. We will discuss what writers should look for in professional markets—from payment to legalese.

Second person fiction is often considered “artsy” and “difficult,” but it can also produce uniquely powerful, affecting stories. Authors Rachel Swirsky (“If You Were Dinosaur, My Love”; “A Memory of Wind”) and P H Lee (“The V*mpire”; “Your Own Undoing”), plus perhaps a mystery guest, will discuss a variety approaches to writing fiction in the second-person, including but not limited to you-and-I, ultra-close interiority, and reader-as-character. They’ll cover the effects on reader experience, benefits and obstacles in the writing process, and how to elevate your second-person story game.

Join former marketing executive and full-time author Laura Greenwood as she presents a variety of proven strategies to market your books without PPC advertising. Whether through content marketing, newsletters, or social media, there are many ways to get your book in front of the right readers and sell, sell, sell without relying on Facebook or Amazon ads. Impossible you say? Laura will show you it’s not!

Writers of all types have so much in common: the love of a precise word, a complex rhythm, an agonizingly well-turned phrase. Where do poetry and prose overlap, and how do they differ—most importantly, what can these writers learn from each other?

As scientific breakthroughs and social shifts redefine what’s possible, today’s speculative writers are reimagining how we craft stories and futures that feel both visionary and grounded, generating bold new ideas while honoring the legacies of those who came before. This panel explores some of the most urgent questions at the heart of modern sci-fi: When does getting the science right enhance a story, and when does it weigh it down? What legal or ethical issues should sci-fi writers consider today? And how can the genre help us prepare for, or even shape, the world ahead?

Join 41st Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Nicola Griffith, in conversation with the one who knows her best, wife and fellow writer Kelley Eskridge, for a 90-minute love letter to SFF and the wild ride of a career that’s still evolving. Come listen, laugh, and AMA—in person or online—about the importance of figuring out who you are and what you want, how to get there, and the joy of finding your people.

Follow the Poetry and Prose panel with a social meetup for poets in the Griffith Suite! All are welcome.

Urban Fantasy is the best genre ever! What are you even talking about? Space Opera forever! Pfft. You’re both wrong. Romance holds the largest share of the publishing market for a reason! Whatever. Epic Fantasy all the—STOP! We all have our personal preferences, both as readers and as writers. But what if instead of genre knockouts we explored genre mashups? This panel will explore the rich and vibrant spaces between genres and effective strategies for creating subgenre mashups that are greater than simply the sum of their parts.

The core of any game is interaction design: how the players interact with the game to cause change. Indie game developers push the envelope, challenging expectations around mechanics and narrative choices to offer players a richer, deeper engagement with the text. In this panel, game developers discuss innovative approaches to player choice and agency, how those approaches affect narrative, and how broadening the possibilities of interaction can have real-world impacts.

So often, we can feel alone on our publishing journeys. How do we make friends? Where do we find help and support? Let’s talk about beginnings: How and where do we find our people, especially when we may be battling distances, introversion, and/or imposter syndrome? What are the best ways to reach out to and work with each other?

When you look into the future of your author career, what do you see? Do you see glistening highways paved with NYT#1 tags and dollar signs? Or do you see fans clamoring for the next book? Or do you see nothing, or worse than nothing? Plot twist. Each author has an individual pathway to a sustainable author career, and in this workshop, Becca Syme, author success coach and alignment expert, will illustrate different pathways to an author career for life, and the action steps to keep yourself in the game. No matter what’s coming.

Perseverance. That’s the name of the game in publishing. The odds of “going viral” are akin to winning the lottery, and it often feels like agents and publishers only know the word “no.” Not to mention the options—so many options! Do I self-publish or query? What does writing to market even mean? Will changing genres mid-career be a game changer or a game over? Decision fatigue is real, but one thing is certain—if you want to “make it,” never give up, never surrender. It’s time to discuss perseverance in publishing and how to keep going when everything’s telling you to stop.

Urban Fantasy is the best genre ever! What are you even talking about? Space Opera forever! Pfft. You’re both wrong. Romance holds the largest share of the publishing market for a reason! Whatever. Epic Fantasy all the—STOP! We all have our personal preferences, both as readers and as writers. But what if instead of genre knockouts we explored genre mashups? This panel will explore the rich and vibrant spaces between genres and effective strategies for creating subgenre mashups that are greater than simply the sum of their parts.

So, you’ve finished that story you’ve been working on for ages and… now what? What is the difference between revision and editing? What are the differences between developmental, line, and copy editing? How do you know when you’re done? How and when should you work with an editor, either on a short story in a magazine or anthology or on a book-length work? This panel aims to answer these questions and more!

Writing for poetry or short story? Or are novelettes or novellas your passion? Join us to discuss the changing magazine market for these SFF forms. How do we stay up to date, strengthen our submissions, and support small publishers in shifting times?

This panel is for everyone who’s ever wanted to cuddle up to the sharp teeth and the tentacles, or take solace in the whispering dark. There is no horror without comfort. What warmth can we find amid the nightmares; how is it evolving, and what does it mean?

A Writing Date is basically productivity through peer pressure and honestly, any co-working is welcome.

A Writing Date is basically productivity through peer pressure and honestly, any co-working is welcome.