Five Ways
Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free story!
Teachable
Patreon
Cat Rambo

The World of

Cat Rambo

books, community, classes, & resources

Share this:

Platform Statement for SFWA Vice President

Picture of Cat Rambo
I am running for SFWA vice president because I love the organization and think I can do more for it in that position.
Well, the statement’s up in the SFWA forums, so I should probably put it here as well. I am running for SFWA VP. I think I can do a good job. Even if you’re not voting for me, please vote if you’re a SFWA member.

Dear SFWA Members:

I am running for Vice President of SFWA.

I joined SFWA in 2005, as soon as I made my first qualifying sale. Among the work I’ve done for SFWA are stints on the Nebula short fiction and Norton juries, work with the Copyright Committee, interviews and articles for the SFWA blog, articles for the SFWA Bulletin, assisting with the YA-SIG’s move to a mailing list, and helping develop guidelines for and moderating the discussion forums. At the time I joined, I was excited and proud to be joining the ranks of so many writers I’ve admired, and I continue to be an enthusiastic advocate for and supporter of SFWA.

I have worked with the current administration and know that I can interact smoothly with it to maintain and continue to build the organization as a valuable resource for speculative fiction writers and one whose members can take pride in their membership. I’m pleased to see SFWA continuing to adapt to changes in the publishing landscape, such as the recent rate increase for SFWA-qualifying markets and the work of the Self-Publishing committee, and hope to lead similar efforts.

As far as my qualifications go, I’ve worked as both a writer and an editor. I have over 100 original short story publications, including in such places as Asimov’s, Weird Tales, and Tor.com, and three collections (two solo, one with Jeff VanderMeer) (for a complete list, see http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/fiction/). My short story, “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” was a 2012 Nebula nominee, while others have been nominated for the Locus Award and the Million Writers Award. I was the editor for several years of award-winning Fantasy Magazine, receiving a 2012 World Fantasy nomination for my efforts there, and I have multiple editing projects coming up in 2014. I have also worked as a volunteer with both Broad Universe and the Clarion West Writers Workshop. Last year I wrote and self-published Creating an Online Presence, a guidebook for writers trying to navigate the confusing world of online self-promotion, and am currently writing a similar guide on podcasting with Folly Blaine, the podcast manager of Everyday Fiction. I teach a popular series of online classes on writing and editing and do some podcast narration. I am a frequent convention-goer and make a point of participating in SFWA activities when they’re available at such gatherings. This year, I will be attending Norwescon, the Nebula Award ceremony, the Locus Awards, and Worldcon, with tentative plans for a couple of other conventions.

My priorities as a board officer include:

  • Building SFWA’s name and influence by reaching out to both established and newer F&SF writers who have not joined but would find it useful. I’d like to see SFWA’s social media presence continue to expand and to work to interest and intrigue potential members.
  • Preserving SFWA’s institutional memory through archives and collecting existing information.
  • Improving the existing volunteer structure in order to more effectively connect volunteers with SFWA’s needs, as well as recognizing and rewarding volunteers more consistently.
  • Assisting SFWA as it determines qualifications for self-published writers as well as how it can best serve such writers.
  • Working to address internal miscommunications by better communicating what the board is doing and how people can assist in such efforts. I’d like to help current volunteers and SFWA officers tell other members what they do.

My primary role as VP, though, would be to support SFWA’s President. To assist me in that role, I’ve got good people skills, a sense of humor, and the fact that I don’t take myself overly seriously. I will continue to represent SFWA with enthusiasm and the respect such an august organization deserves.

Currently I am head moderator of the SFWA discussion forums. To avoid a potential conflict of interest, I have asked the other moderators to oversee the election subforum. Over the last six months, I’ve been recruiting new moderators and working out processes so someone else can take my place, should I be elected. As VP, I would continue to work with the moderating team to help make the transition as smooth as possible.

Sincerely,
Catherine (Cat) Rambo

10 Responses

  3. Pingback: Speculative Reminiscences: Weekly Recap for 1/26/2014 | The World Remains Mysterious
  4. Pingback: SFWA Accessibility Guidelines: What They Are and Why They Matter | The World Remains Mysterious

  6. When I started writing, I wanted desperately to be part of the club. It represented camaraderie in our niche and acceptance as a writer. Then I spent 2013 and 2014 (to date) watching the posts and infighting. I wondered if I had misjudged my previous interpretation of what the SFWA stood for, even knowing not everyone agreed with all these loud opinions.

    I am indie and pay for editors and the like, which is the biggest argument I’ve seen against independent writers after not going through the system. Eventually, I will be in a position to decide whether to join or not. Were I a member, I would vote for you based on this post and the expectations for cooperation and communication it creates. I hope you make it.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

newsletter
Uncategorized
classes & workshops
conventions
daily life
editing
F&SF history
guest post
publications
recipes
wayward wormhole
Writing
you should read this
youtube

Get Fiction in Your Mailbox Each Month

Want access to a lively community of writers and readers, free writing classes, co-working sessions, special speakers, weekly writing games, random pictures and MORE for as little as $2? Check out Cat’s Patreon campaign.

Want to get some new fiction? Support my Patreon campaign.
Want to get some new fiction? Support my Patreon campaign.

 

"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."

~K. Richardson

You may also like...

Addendum to Night Shade

Picture of a nightshade plant.I blogged about Nightshade last week, and since then there’s been a number of developments, including modification of the contracts that were so crappy. Authors should be feeling a little happier, at least.

But, I wanted to point to another group that’s involved in this and which is getting worse treatment than the authors, which is the production crew.

Marty Halpern says:

…all the focus online this past week has been the deal that Skyhorse and Start are offering the Night Shade authors. Authors. Authors.

There has been absolutely no mention, nor commitment made, to all the artists, designers, editors (including myself), and others who are owed tens of thousands of dollars — and seem to have been forgotten in all this “discussion” over the authors’ deal.

And now that NS is essentially closed and in “escrow” for this potential sale, the money that is owed to me (for invoices dating back to October of last year) — and all the other production people — may never get paid.

There would be no books to speak of if there weren’t editors, artists, and designers willing to work continuously for Night Shade for just the promise of pay. We are a dedicated lot and deserve to have our story told — and responded to — as well.

I’m afraid that when all is said and done, and the authors make their decisions — some will join S/S, others will not — those of us production people who helped put Night Shade books on the shelves and in ereaders, may be left holding a lot of empty invoices and bills.

Since I first heard about this, Rose Fox has posted about the production crew’s plight, and now there’s an addendum that comes from Jarred Weisfelt at Start Publishing saying that if the deal goes through, the creditors will get 30-50% of what they’re owed.

Better than nothing, sure. And Start and Skyhorse have been both communicative and willing to listen to authors, despite the deluge of “shame on you” comments on their Facebook wall. Still, finding this out is disappointing, particularly since production crew aren’t usually particularly well paid in the first place.

...

Read blog post
Night Shade Books: Clusterfuck and a Half

So, much of the Internet’s time, at least on the spec-fic side of things, was taken up this week by recent convulsions surrounding Night Shade Books.

Night Shade Books is a small press run by Jeremy Lassen and Jason Williams. Among the books they’ve published are Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl, Iain M. Banks’ The Algebraist, the novelizations of the Girl Genius books by Phil and Kaja Foglio, and on and on. In short, they publish excellent stuff.

Night Shade’s been having problems for years. SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, got involved in 2010. Within the past few months, the authors have been asking SFWA what’s up with Night Shade. Here, I get a little confused. I find it difficult to believe that any publisher is quaking in their boots at the threat of being delisted by SFWA. All that being delisted does, as far as I can tell, is prevent that publisher from being considered a “professional market” that people can use to qualify to become a member of SFWA. Big whoop. If this is the biggest club an author has in their arsenal, we are all in terrible trouble.


But perhaps I am misunderstanding that part. Anyway, what’s come out is that Night Shade has sold its list to another publisher, or rather a confusing combination of publishers Skyhorse and Start Publishing, but for that sale to go through, all of the authors involved must sign new contracts. And by all accounts those new contracts are shit. Some writers report that they are in the process of renegotiating those contracts, and that it’s a good sign that the publisher is open to amending them at least. However, those contracts ask for rights that were not included being in the original contracts, are substantially lower terms, and are presented in a way that forces authors who are willing to sign to pressure authors who are not willing to sign. And that is backed up by a letter from SFWA that apparently underscores that if the deal does not go through, Night Shade will most probably declare bankruptcy and everyone’s rights will be in limbo.

In all of this, no one seems to be clear what exactly SFWA accomplished, nor is the organization (and in the interest of full disclosure, I am a SFWA member, with access to its internal boards, and without betraying confidentiality, information on those boards has come pretty much entirely from people posting links to outside discussions) itself disclosing what’s up and whether they negotiated the terms from an even shittier state to the current crapfest or even what, exactly, they did, or why there is this Impenetrable Veil of Secrecy surrounding the proceedings. The first piece of information that came out during the period that the SFWA board was saying “Any day now we’ll have a statement,” was an ill-timed and now, it turns out, somewhat inaccurate tweet from Lassen:

Jeremy Lassen “@jlassen 2 Apr
My exciting news is that Night Shade is being bought by a larger publishing company! NS authors are recieving formal notification now. #nsb

Other people have analyzed the controversy better than I. Here’s some of the links:

...

Read blog post
Skip to content