[Writer Post] The Current SFWA Kerfuffle
There’s been another kerfuffle in the Science Fiction world – this time with SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America). A couple of “Old Guard†wrote a piece for the Bulletin (the official publication for said group) that caused great consternation. John Scalzi, the current President of SFWA and a true class act, has taken full responsibility for this…stupidity…an apologized – eloquently.
I appreciate his effort to make this apology but to SFWA members and to the public, because it’s one more nail in the “I will have to think long and hard about whether or not I EVER join this group†debate that I’ve been having with myself. I’ve alluded to my issues with SFWA in other posts, and I figured it was time to go ahead and say them. Because this debate about joining SFWA? It’s still moot. I don’t qualify for membership.
In 10 years (or more) of publishing and being a working writer, I do not have ONE SINGLE QUALIFYING SALE in an “approved†SFWA market. Now, I don’t blame them for having criteria – they’re a professional group and can set whatever standards they want, but 90% of the current paying markets (granted small and really small press) DO NOT QUALIFY. Nor does self published stuff (but that’s truly a different matter). And guess who’s getting the slots in the other 10% – those “names†who can sell copies and sometimes show their butts in public because they still think it’s 1970.
And let me tell you, if you don’t think it matters? It does. It’s not just the Old School Guys – yes, Mike Resnick is one of them – who refuse to treat you as professional if you don’t have a qualifying sale. (I haven’t been belittled for being a woman because I don’t yet rate on the radar as a professional writer). You think SFWA is a dinosaur despite Scalzi’s efforts? That’s because there’s almost no new blood able to join the ranks. (I don’t even qualify for “Associates†status that lets you see the pool but not play in it.) And some conventions – including one of my “home†conventions – have so many people wanting to be panelists have adopted criteria based on SFWAs guidelines to vette potential panelists. If I were a new writer, I wouldn’t be able to be on panels. So, it matters.
Only a couple of “new†writers are accepted into the Big 3 magazines every year. Think about that. The three top short story markets suitable for SFWA qualifications only take a small handful of writers that aren’t already (probably) SFWA qualified writers (whether members or not). And with book publishers cutting budgets to the bone, good luck getting a book deal with a qualifying publisher – especially since self pub subsidiaries are getting a lot of them DISQUALIFIED (and rightfully so). So it’s really hard to get your toe into that door to –hopefully – help bring an aging organization back into relevancy.
This isn’t supposed to be a “Woe is me†post. It’s a post to show my perspective on why things happen with organizations like SFWA. With an aging membership and a narrow focus, old ways of thinking are inevitable. At least Scalzi owned it. Whether anything is done about it? Yeah, I don’t see that happening either, so maybe after another 10 years of publishing, I might have something that qualifies and then we’ll see if I see the need to join.
2 Comments
I hear you on this. I think it’s at least improved some since the rants about pixel-stained technopeasant wretches six or seven years ago.
The incoming president made some noise about re-examining the membership criteria based on the rise of self-publishing, but I’m not holding my breath.
If it comes down to a vote by the existing membership, I don’t think they’ll open the doors much. I fear too many of them hold to the notion that we should come up through the ranks the same way they did… a way that no longer truly exists. 🙁
It seems to me that, as a professional organization, SFWA will have a difficult time surviving future publishing trends if it maintains its current level of ‘professional’ participation. Given that its mission is to protect the interests of professional writers, its membership requirements reflects the notion that somehow maintaining strict qualifications will also preserve professional markets. But this paradigm has done little to prevent the shrinking of professional markets and to preserve the ‘professional’ status of current and future writers.
The hard reality of contemporary publishing is that electronic publishing is available to everyone and not just professionals with exclusive access to book binding machines and marketing schemes. A savvy writer with a little technical training can become his or her own publisher, with plenty of access to distribution; the only difference is in a capacity for marketing, which differs according to resources. Greater marketing resources (given that the quality of the writing is the same and the production values are comparable) are really the only significant difference between professional publishers and one-person operations these days, and the balance of power will only continue to shift as the market dictates. Because this is the case, opportunities for joining SFWA, providing its membership requirements remain the same, will slowly evaporate unless the organization adjusts to these unfolding trends.
I am not a member of SFWA – my professional credits lie outside of science fiction and fantasy – but I’ve published over fifty short stories in small publications for science fiction, fantasy and horror, and feel that I’m still part of the field. But I’ve long been mystified by the political nature of the field, and SFWA in particular. While I love fantastic literature of all varieties, I’m dumbfounded by the infighting that goes on between the people who write it. I’m still trying to understand this more than 35 years after picking up my first SF magazine, but remain dumbfounded. As opportunities for professional publication dwindle, I suspect the infighting will become increasingly intense as writers wrestle with each other for recognition. Power struggles within SFWA, like the one triggered by the Malzberg/Resnick inanities, will continue to resonate, not so much to address social insensitivity, but to shift the balance of power to those who wish to be ‘the last ones standing’.
Which is a shame, because I truly love reading and writing genre fiction and hate to see it suffer as an art form.
And let me qualify the above remarks by stating that I’ve worked in libraries most of my adult life and have seen first-hand the transformation of print publications into the electronic, and have also witnessed the profound influence of the internet on the presentation of written works. The future is now, and the landscape is rapidly changing.