http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/asimov's science fiction http://io9.com/tag/asimov's science fiction

Technology is changing how you read and write everything — but short fiction is at the center of the technological vortex of change. At Worldcon, we attended a panel about the future of short fiction, and learned just how the world of short stories is changing. More »
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Check out this steampunk Wizard Of Oz painting, complete with a very otherworldly field of "poppies!" It's just one of the amazing artworks that won this year's Chesley Awards for the best fantastical illustrations. More of our favorites below. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5606803&view=rss&microfeed=true The 2009 Nebula Awards final ballot is out, and it's "as fine a reading list as you're apt to find," says Cory Doctorow. Best novel finalists are Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl, Laura Anne Gilman's Flesh and Fire, Finch by Jeff VanderMeer and The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak. (And just a reminder: Windup Girl is this month's io9 book club pick, starting next week.) More »
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A new writing workshop organized by the Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction will provide three stories to the magazine per year, according to F&SF. And editor Gordon Van Gelder tells io9 it may actually boost unpublished authors' chances otherwise. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5305621&view=rss&microfeed=true The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has established a new writing workshop with former Asimov's Magazine editor Gardner Dozois, and F&SF editor Gordon Van Gelder says the workshop will supply stories to F&SF in future. Although it's great for experienced editors like Dozois and Van Gelder to share their hard-won wisdom with aspiring writers, the implication that a "pay-to-play" workshop is going to be the main entry point for new writers to F&SF is causing some consternation. Prime Books editor Sean Wallace blogs: "Um, there are so many kinds of wrong with this I don't know where to start . . ." and one of his commenters suggests the catch phrase "ethics fail." (It's not an internet controversy unless there's word or phrase ending in "fail.") More »
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Here's what passes for good news in the world of print science-fiction magazines: the "big three" magazines only saw circulation declines in the low single digits in 2008, compared with double-digit declines in recent years. More »
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Now that Warren Ellis has reopened the perennial debate over the fate of print science fiction magazines, the discussion has mutated a bit. Some observers say it's not just print magazines, but short fiction in general, that's doomed. Eoghann Irving over at Solar Flare says his readers are suggesting the real problem is that most short science fiction, in print and elsewhere, is "simply too literary for many people's tastes." Readers want cracking adventure reads, but most short SF is "cutting edge" and fancy. Wis(s)e Words chimes in that the print SF mags are "incredibly dull." But it's not all bad news: a panel at WorldCon called "Short Fiction: On Its Way Out, Or A Way To Break Into The Market?" ended up concluding that short fiction is not on its way out. More »
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