Jennifer Brozek | January 2018

SFWA and its Community

Last night, I went to the SFWA Reading to see my friends Josh Vogt, Greg Bear, and Tod McCoy read. I realized something: I’d missed my SFWA community. These are people I only see at conventions and SFWA events. I’d been so busy with my own stuff lately, and needed some distance from the organization after I stepped down as a Director-At-Large, that I’d pulled away too much. That was the wrong approach, but I suppose it was one I needed at the time.

It’s hard to express just how good it feels to be in a room full of like-minded people who all understand why losing one of the greats like Ursula K. Le Guin is such a tragedy or why naming Peter S. Beagle as SFWA’s newest Grand Master is such a joy. So many of the people I met up with last night are at various points in their writing careers. It was like looking at my past, present, and future writing self. They all understood the language of the writing professional and the publishing industry. It felt like coming home. It felt like family.

Recently, SFWA has had to deal with some tough issues. All of them center around protecting its membership at large. I know, intimately, what they’ve been going through—all the time spent, the discussions had, the decisions made—and I’m proud of the Board. I think, with the evidence they had on hand, they did the only thing they could do to protect the SFWA organization and the community they’ve built.

I came away from the SFWA Reading rejuvenated, with an armful of Greg Bear's short fiction, inspired to attempt science fiction poetry again, and the sense that SFWA is still in the right hands, doing what it needs to do to meet the needs of its membership. I also came home with the desire to write more, to mentor more, and to continue to be part of the SFWA community. 

I'm so glad I went.

Awards Eligibility Post for 2017 Work

It’s 2018 and awards season has already begun. Nebula nominations are open. Hugo nominations are just around the corner. That means it’s time for me to take a critical look at what I’m most proud of from 2017 and what I’d like to highlight for your nomination consideration.

Short Story
“To Lose the Stars” in The Jim Baen Memorial Award: The First Decade anthology.
I am super proud of this near future SF story. The anthology editor posted the story in the SFWA forums. It is also available for those who would like to read it for awards consideration. Just contact me.

New Podcast / Fancast (Hugos) / Podcast Series
Five Minute Stories podcast by Jennifer Brozek (author/reader) and Jeff Brozek (post production).
This was my first time at creating an SFF anthology podcast series. I worked with the Husband on it. We’ve produced and released all 26 episodes. I’m stupidly proud of this project. My favorite episodes of the series are: Train to Topeka, Elevator of the Damned, Responsible, Questions, and Two Letters.

Blogging / Best Related Work (Hugos)
Author Etiquette blog series by Jennifer Brozek and Sarah Craft.
This monthly series has been going on for three years now and I think there’s some really good stuff in it. We’ve put together a series of articles to help authors across the spectrum navigate some of the trickier social customs and courtesies of the publishing arena. Sarah
s post.

(Edit: Shifted Author Etiquette series from "Fan Writer" category to "Best Related Work" category based on advice given.)

2017 Publishing Recap

Like most authors, looking back at what I did during the year is a good way to convince myself that I’m not just spinning my wheels and that I really am still headed ‘towards the mountain.’ This is also why I keep track of my daily activities in my private Freelancer Summary document. It allows me to see what I’m doing and when. I think I did pretty good in 2017.

Short stories submitted
•    6 short story acceptances
•    5 short story rejections
•    1 short story outstanding

Newly produced
•    8 new short stories written
•    1 new novel written
•    26 episode podcast produced (with the Husband)
•    12 Author Etiquette blogs produced (with Sarah Craft)
•    5 mini fiction collections and 1 “stealth” fiction collection released
(Not as much as I wanted but I did have two bathrooms renovated in the middle of it all that mucked with my productivity.)

Edited for others
•    3 novellas edited
•    6 EGM Speculate! stories edited
•    9 BattleTech/Shadowrun novels proofed for ebook editions

Social
•    15 events (readings, conventions, signings) attended
•    2 writing groups joined (Wit’n’Word [social writing], TBD Writing [critique group])

Signed
•    3 novel contracts
•    1 novella contract
(Due between now and the end of 2019 = about 300,000 publishable words.)

It’s nice to look at the quantified amount produced and be pleased with what you see. Supposedly, 2018 is going to be a slower, longer set of projects with only one novel, one novella, one anthology, and one short story currently on the docket. We all know this will change. Also, I already have seven confirmed events and four not yet confirmed, but planned for, events.

Then again, I’ve gotten good at producing while traveling. It’s taken me a bit to learn the skill. Now, I think it’s just a survival reflex. If I don’t write, the words will eat me.

Note: I’m leaving out all of the personal blogs, SFWA meetings (when I was a Director), looped edits/revisions, kickstarters participated in, weekly phone calls to various publishing folk, and the myriad of other freelance details.