Archive for February, 2006

SLF Newsletter                                No. 21                                                   Jan./Feb. 2006
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In this issue:
Staff Changes
Mentorship Program
SLF Small Press Co-op at WisCon
Older Writers Grant Winner
Website Additions
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* Staff Changes:

Deborah Biancotti and Karen Meisner are now assisting
Mary Anne Mohanraj as Associate Directors in addition
to their other duties as Membership Coordinator and
Awards Administrator respectively.

Ashley Gronek has taken over the position of Public
Relations Coordinator from Dawn Burnell.

* SLF Mentorship Program

The Speculative Literature Foundation is launching a pilot mentorship program for beginning writers. These writers will be able to gather valuable advice from more experienced writers regarding the craft and business of writing.

Structure

Each mentor will receive five mentees. The mentors will offer advice and answer craft/business questions (both from a SLF facilitator and from the writers themselves). Please note: this is not a workshop, and mentors will not read or comment on individual writing from their mentees.

Applicants may indicate a preference for a particular mentor, but we cannot guarantee that you will be matched with that mentor. Once matched, you will be added to a mailing list with your mentor and the other mentees in your group. Conversations on that mailing list are to be kept private and confidential. At the end of the program, participants are required to write a one-page evaluation of the program, and a brief evaluation of their mentor.

The first group of 20 mentees for the Spring 2006 Pilot Program (March 15-June 15)has been chosen and will be mentored by Jay Lake, Beth Adele Long and Jennifer Pelland.

Further information at: [http://speclit.org/Programs/Mentorship.php]

* SLF Small Press Co-op at WisCon

The SLF will be at WisCon, the world’s leading feminist science fiction convention, held this year from May 26-29, 2006, in Madison, Wisconsin.

For more information about WisCon, visit their website at
http://www.wiscon.info. The SLF is reserving a table in the Dealers’
Room and is offering both SLF members and non-members the opportunity
to sign up for a share of our table, where you can place up to five
copies of three separate titles for sale. The cost of the table-space is $5.00 for SLF members and $15.00 for non-members.

Space will be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis; we can
accommodate a maximum of twenty-four titles overall.
To reserve your share of space, please sign up by contacting the
coordinator, Erzebet YellowBoy, at erzebet@papaveria.com and make your payment by following the instructions on our website at
http://www.speculativeliterature.org/About/membership.php. If you are
using PayPal, please use the “Other Amount” field and include a note to let us know that you are signing up for this offer. If you are not a member of the SLF, we invite you to take this opportunity to join us in the promotion of literary quality in speculative fiction.
The books that you wish to place on the table can be mailed directly to the Speculative Literature Foundation to be received no later than May 1, 2006. Once you have signed up for table spa ce, Erzebet will provide the address to which you can send your titles. You may also bring the titles with you to WisCon and deliver them directly to our table. We will sell your books for you while you enjoy the convention, and send you a check for the money earned once the convention is over. You agree to pay for return shipping should your titles not sell at WisCon or you may donate unsold titles to the Speculative Literature Foundation.

If you have any questions regarding this offer, please feel free to
contact Erzebet at erzebet@papaveria.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!
- Mary Anne

* Older Writers Grant Winner:

The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) is delighted to
announce that its second annual Older Writers Grant is to be
awarded to Douglas Smith. The $750 grant will be used to help Mr.
Smith in his professional writing career. Honorable Mentions
included Susanna Crowley, Rob Hunter, Roger Pepper, Kate
Robinson, and Pam Summa. These writers will receive a one-year
free membership to the Speculative Literature Foundation, which
offers many helpful resources for speculative fiction writers.

The award is intended for writers of fifty years or older to
assist such writers who are just starting to work at a
professional level. The award was chosen by a jury consisting of
M.J. Goodner, Sandra Kasturi, and Sheree Thomas of the SLF on the
basis of interest and merit.

The Older Writers Grant is generously sponsored in its entirety
by Centric Advertising (http://www.centric.com/).

Please direct any questions to Sandra Kasturi, Award
Administrator, at olderwriters@speculativeliterature.org

* Website Additions:

SLF Website Update - Spring, 2006

We now have Rich Horton’s Market Summaries for 2005!

For those new to these summaries, they contain breakdowns of
various markets — publishing schedules, number of original
stories published each year, number of novellas, as well as
reviews of some of the best short fiction published in the
previous year. Whether you’re trying to match up a short story
with the right market to submit it to, or simply trying to decide
what next to read, these summaries are invaluable.

Including individual reviews for: Abyss and Apex; Aeon; Amazing;
Amazon Shorts; Analog; Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine;
Apex Digest; Argosy; Asimov’s; Black Gate; Cemetery Dance;
Challenging Destiny; Chiaroscuro; Continuum; Cthulhu Sex;
Electric Velocipede; F&SF; Fantastic; Fantasy Magazine;
Fictitious Force; Flytrap; Fortean Bureau; Full Unit Hookup;
Futurismic; HP Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror; Ideomancer;
Interzone; Lacy Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet; Lenox Avenue;
Lonestar Stories; Neo-Opsis; Not One of Us; Oceans of
the Mind; Onspec; Paradox; Postscripts; Realms of Fantasy;
Revolusion SF; Say…; Scifiction, 2003 (for the first time!);
Scifiction, 2004 (for the first time!); Scifiction, 2005; Son and
Foe; Space and Time; Strange Horizons; Talebones; Tales of the
Unanticipated; The Infinite Matrix; The Third Alternative;
Ticonderoga Online; Trunk Stories; Weird Tales;

As well as DAW Anthologies, Baen Anthologies, Wheatland Press
Anthologies, SFBC Anthologies, Young Adult Anthologies,
Anthologies>From Other Countries, Small Press Anthologies,
Fantasy Anthologies, Some Online Sources of Fiction, Some More
Small Press Magazines, New Stories From Collections, Novella
Chapbooks, and a Summation of some of the best short fiction
published Online in 2005.

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Newsletter information:

Suggestions, comments, and information to be included
in the Newsletter may be sent to Editor David Lunde at
news@speculativeliterature.org. If you do not wish to
continue receiving the newsletter, write to the same
address with “unsubscribe” in the subject line-be sure
to include your name.

The SLF Newsletter is a private publication of the
Speculative Literature Foundation. Unless otherwise
indicated, permission to reprint, repost, or quote is
expressly denied. Unless explicitly signed by the
Director, views contained within do not necessarily
reflect the official views of the Foundation.

David Lunde, Senior Editor