January 13th, 2014 at 9:10 pm
The Washington Science Fiction Association has established a literary award to honor the work done by small presses in promoting and preserving science fiction. The award, now in its eighth year, is given annually for short fiction works (17,500 words or fewer) of imaginative literature (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative fiction or like literature) published by a small press.
Stories may be nominated by SF authors, small press publishers, and members of WSFA. Details of the nomination process and contact information can be found at www.wsfasmallpressaward.org click on Rules.
Deadline for nominations is April 5, 2014. If you have any question email: admin (at) wsfasmallpressaward (dot) org.
January 3rd, 2014 at 12:01 am
WSFA Journal November-December 2013
Meeting brought to order at 9:18pm
Committee reports:
Treasurer reported that WSFA had approximately $??,??? and the Capclave surplus was at $???? with a couple invoices outstanding for advertisements. Also, the transfer to M&T bank is almost complete and there will be three accounts: WSFA; Capclave; and WSFA Press for better tracking of funds. Trustees had no report. Capclave past noted that there were lots of new people and we filled the parking lot. Capclave present said things were going great. Capclave future is closing in on a hotel. Committee to Actually Discuss SF will discuss F&SF and next meeting will discuss Galaxy’s Edge from Arc Manor. Entertivities noted that Myke Cole will be at the LoC and that there was a 5th Friday in January. Also noted BSFS on Feb. 1st was doing an author release party.
No old Business.
New Business: There is a 5th Friday in January.
Click the link for the full text of the January/February 2014 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the January 3rd, 17th 2014 / February 7th, 21st 2014 meetings.
WSFA Journal January-February 2014
Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes
November 12th, 2013 at 12:38 am
Hey Folks, the new Synthetic Voices podcast is up for October’s stories. You can find it here:
http://scienceismagic.com/?p=1591
Come spend an evening discussing science fiction, fantasy, and horror!
November 25th, 7:30pm-10:00pm at La Madeleine, 7607 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD 20814.
We’ll be discussing the 6 “Top Picks” from the Synthetic Voices podcast, plus anything else that comes up in the mix (other podcasts, favorite/recent audiobooks). Also, learn about other activities of the Washington Science Fiction Association (with which we are affiliated).
If you’re new, we recommend listening to at least 3 or 4 stories from the list, just so you’ll be able to contribute something. 🙂
If you’re interested, you can just show up, but might I suggest RSVPing on Facebook?
https://www.facebook.com/events/175086026029017/
November 1st, 2013 at 12:01 am
WSFAns received their copies of the Skin Trade. Talked politics and shutdown. Called to order at 21:18. Paul suggested abolishing all the officers. No minutes because Secretary is in England. Waiving the minutes by default. Sam S. has treasurers report. $??,???.??, tomorrow write check for $??,??? and change to hotel, something around ??K. No damage claims. Bob for trustees said elections are in May. Intertivities, Bill saw Ender’s Game, dropped Val/Peter Internet storyline. Dropped some of the time dilation stuff. Sam L said two conventions coming up, Philcon and Darkovercon. Prez saw Gravity and liked it. Fab Bungalow had a Halloween party. Bill scared kids. Pictures on Facebook. 235 kids.
Click the link for the full text of the November/December 2013 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the November 1st, 15th 2013 / December 6th, 20th 2013 meetings.
WSFA Journal November-December 2013
Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes
October 12th, 2013 at 11:55 pm
The Washington Science Fiction Association is pleased to announce the winner of the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction published in the previous year:
“Good Hunting” by Ken Liu, published in Strange Horizons, edited by Brit Mandelo, An Owomoyela, and Julia Rios (October 2013).
The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year. An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story. The award consists of certificates for both the author and publisher, and a trophy and $250 for the author.
The other finalists were:
“Astrophilia” by Carrie Vaughn, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, edited by Neil Clarke (July 2012).
“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” by Ken Liu, published in Lightspeed Magazine, edited by John Joseph Adams (August 2012).
“Bottled Spirits” by Pamela K. Kinney, published in Buzzy Mag, edited by Laura Anne Gilman (June, 2012).
“Coca Xocolatl” by Lawrence M. Schoen, published in ReDeus: Divine Tales, edited by Robert Greenberger and Aaron Rosenberg (Crazy Eight Press 2012).
“Mornington Ride” by Jason Nahrung, published in Epilogue, edited by Tehani Wessely (Fablecroft Publishing June 2012).
“The Six Million Dollar Mermaid” by Hildy Silverman, published in Mermaids 13: Tales from the Sea, edited by John L. French (Padwolf Publishing Inc. December 2012)
The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (
www.wsfa.org) and is presented at their annual convention, Capclave (
www.capclave.org), held this year on October 11-13 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Present to accept the award for Ken Liu was Jamie Todd Rubin. Also present to accept their Honorable Mention certificates were: Pamela K. Kinney for her story “Bottled Spirits; Lawrence M. Schoen for his story “Coca Xocolatl”, Hildy Silverman for her story “The Six Million Dollar Mermaid”.
September 6th, 2013 at 12:01 am
Minutes:
21:19 hours – meeting called to order.
Entertivities: Rocket Launch tonight! (Note: after the meeting was adjourned, the majority of WSFAns went out side to see the rocket go overhead. The prevalence of smartphones with things like gps, compasses and internet enables us to be facing in the right direction.)
Click the link for the full text of the September/October 2013 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the September 6th, 20th 2013 / October 4th, 18th 2013 meetings.
WSFA Journal September-October 2013
Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes
August 25th, 2013 at 11:44 am
The Washington Science Fiction Association is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction (published in 2012):
“Astrophilia” by Carrie Vaughn, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, edited by Neil Clarke (July 2012).
“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” by Ken Liu, published in Lightspeed Magazine, edited by John Joseph Adams (August 2012).
“Bottled Spirits” by Pamela K. Kinney, published in Buzzy Mag, edited by Laura Anne Gilman (June, 2012).
“Coca Xocolatl” by Lawrence M. Schoen, published in ReDeus: Divine Tales, edited by Robert Greenberger and Aaron Rosenberg (Crazy Eight Press 2012).
“Good Hunting” by Ken Liu, published in Strange Horizons, edited by Brit Mandelo, An Owomoyela, and Julia Rios (October 2012).
“Mornington Ride” by Jason Nahrung, published in Epilogue, edited by Tehani Wessely (Fablecroft Publishing June 2012).
“The Six Million Dollar Mermaid” by Hildy Silverman, published in Mermaids 13: Tales from the Sea, edited by John L. French (Padwolf Publishing Inc. December 2012)
The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2012). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author and publisher hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.
The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (wsfa.org) and will be presented at their annual convention, Capclave (capclave.org), held this year on October 11-13 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
August 11th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
We are now into our final week of voting for the WSFA Small Press Award. The last day for voting is midnight, Friday, August 16th.
Paid-up member of WSFA, are eligible to take part in the contest by reading the finalists and voting for your favorites. Read the rules page and do not share the stories with anyone who is not a current WSFA member.
To vote, go to the content area of the award website: http://www.wsfasmallpressaward.org/content
You will be asked for a username and password. These are unique to each WSFAn. If you do not have your username and password, send email to webmaster@wsfa.org. Before writing to the webmaster if your login/password doesn’t work — note that the password is case sensitive, and so must be entered exactly as shown when you received it. If you are refused entry to the site, then email the webmaster and let him know.
The page lists the seven stories up for consideration this year. The name of each story is a link to a PDF of the story for you to read. To the left of each story title is a box where you can register your vote (if any) for the story.
To vote, place a 1 in the box to the left of the story you think is the best, a 2 in the box of the story you think is second best, etc. You do not need to vote at all for any story you don’t think is worthy of consideration.
When you have assigned your votes, click on the “Submit” button at the bottom. The system will respond by giving you the time and date on which your votes were recorded so you’ll know it ‘worked’.
If you do not wish to use the website to vote, you can just submit your vote directly to the WSFA Administrator at: admin@wsfasmallpressaward.org (Be sure to include your name and email in the message so we can verify your membership in WSFA.)
All the details for participating in the WSFA Small Press Award are available at the website: http://www.wsfasmallpressaward.com
Links to the WSFA Small Press Award are also available on http://wsfa.org.
July 8th, 2013 at 12:14 am
Hey Folks, the new podcast is up for June’s stories. You can find it here:
http://scienceismagic.com/?p=1490
Also, check out the awesome podcast discussion we have scheduled (the last two have been awesome, so expect this one will be too)!
Come spend an evening discussing science fiction, fantasy, and horror!
July 22nd, 7:30pm-10:00pm at Jason’s Deli, 7356 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD
We’ll be discussing the 6 “Top Picks” from the Synthetic Voices podcast, plus anything else that comes up in the mix (other podcasts, favorite/recent audiobooks). Also, learn about other activities of the Washington Science Fiction Association (with which we are affiliated).
If you’re new, we recommend listening to at least 3 or 4 stories from the list, just so you’ll be able to contribute something. 🙂
Meet us in the back room of Jason’s Deli in College Park (look for the Terp’s Lounge). And as Jason’s is our host, they’d love it if you grabbed your dinner there while we talk.
NOTE: PARKING is generally easy to find in the lot out front, but is METERED so bring cash or a credit card!
If you’re interested, you can just show up, but might I suggest RSVPing on Facebook?
https://www.facebook.com/events/202226826596412/
July 5th, 2013 at 4:56 pm
As Cathy Green was at the North American Discworld Convention, former Secretary Sam Lubell took the minutes.
Kathi Overton was there, recovered from her 4th of July extravaganza. She biked there.
President Barry Newton called the meeting to order 21:22 hours. No treasurer’s report. Sam S. doesn’t have the passwords and the ex-treasurer isn’t here. Trustees have nothing, we had an election, new officers have been inducted. Bill Lawhorn noted he hadn’t seen the new secretary yet. No new members at this meeting. Sam L. and Cathy G. are interchangeable (we are both New York Jews who are Harvard ’89 and former residents of Mather House, so the confusion is understandable). Sam had to remind Barry that he was not the secretary anymore. Committee to Talk SF will do the Hugo nominees (except the novels which will be the third Friday discussion).
Click the link for the full text of the July/August WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the July 5, 19 2013/ August 1, 16 2013 meetings.
WSFA Journal July-August 2013
Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes
