We’ve mentioned the Ask the Editors sessions before , and while we are not aware if any of our followers have taken an interest, the sessions are a great way to learn about the business of writing short fiction. Follow the link for the April 1 session.

There is a great conversation here and some very pertinent questions from writers, asking about their rights, the potential of AI to  harm their work, how editors read manuscripts and determine what to reject or accept, and so forth. We are told that the interest in this series is waning, sadly, but you can get some very valuable insights here, and we recommend you give the sessions a watch on YouTube.

We are pleased to see a review of Issue #120 in The Supplement, a blog post edited by British author DJ Tyrer.

DJ’s poem, “Garbage Moon” will be published in upcoming issue #123.

We are proud to announce that two On Spec stories from 2022 have been named as finalists for this year’s Fiction category in the Alberta Magazine Awards.

Congratulations go out to Glenn Clifton, for “Bottom’s Dream” (Issue #121) , and to Douglas Smith, for “Gypsy Biker’s Coming Home” (Issue #120) .

See the whole list of finalists in the Showcase Awards here. 

Here’s where you have a chance to let the folks at Locus Magazine know about your favourite On Spec stories from 2022. Anyone can vote, and you can nominate up to five items in each category. Let them know that On Spec is worth a look!

If you are an emerging writer, you will be very interested in Susan MacGregor’s new video series, Writers’ RX.  As she explains, it’s a prescription for new writers, to show what elements work for a reader of your work. What makes the editor take an interest in a story and maybe even buy it for publication.  Subscribe to her posts on YouTube.

We recently received the following from a new reader of On Spec in regard to our current issue #122.  With their permission, we quote:

I absolutely loved the story “I’ll have my toast with jam, please.” [Author Andrea Bernard] 

I’ll never look at my appliances the same way again. 

Some of you may know abut the Aurora Awards, given every year to the best of Canada’s contributions to the SF&F community. On Spec has been lucky enough to win several of these awards over the years. Voting hasn’t yet begun on this year’s award, and meanwhile folks are scrambling to add eligible works produced/published in 2022 to the ever-growing list.

Membership is a paltry $10 a year, so do investigate this organization that serves to shine a light on Canadian creators, and organizers in the SF&F milieu.

From time to time, we will be posting non-fiction articles from SFF writers, many of whom have been published on the pages of On Spec. This is the first of those articles.

When we received Andrew Knighton’s author biography and read that he’s ghostwritten over thirty novels “as other writers”, we knew there was a story to tell here. It is guaranteed to entertain, and give some insight into the book industry, and it might even inspire others to try the same way of supplementing their earnings.

Check out: Haunting the Pages: How to Ghostwrite for Profit and Practice

You won’t be disappointed.

Check out Graeme Cameron’s  review of our newest issue!

Hi all. The inaugural Zoom session of ASK THE EDITORS went well this morning. Here’s a link to the recorded session.

The February session is set up and here’s the link to register. Remember that attendance is limited, and this is absolutely free. If you are a writer, this can be valuable advice for your next story submission.