State of Black Speculative Fiction Writer Survey

As part of the ongoing discussion on diversity in publishing, Fireside Fiction Company recently released a study revealing the statistical bias against black speculative fiction writers and/or stories. The study — as most diversity studies tend to do — lacks the perspective and submission data of black writers. They (we) have been relegated to the topic of the discussion instead of engaged participants in it.

FIYAH has developed a survey for black writers of speculative fiction endeavoring to provide the part of this data that:

1. quantifies the existence of black speculative fiction writers seeking publication
2. provides submission context to existing publication data
3. exposes the impact of doleful publication statistics on black writers
4. enables markets to pinpoint their failings in attracting or publishing black writers

Survey Participation Requirements

For the purposes of this survey, participating writers:

• must have submitted at least one piece of short speculative fiction to a paying market in the last 12 months. You do not have to be published in order to participate in the survey. Speculative fiction includes fantasy, science fiction, horror, paranormal and all of their included subgenres. “Short” fiction includes shorts, novelettes, and novellas (under 40,000 words).

• must identify as Black or of the African Diaspora (to include mixed/biracial)

 

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THE SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED. FINDINGS WILL BE POSTED FIRST QUARTER 2017. 

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if you are a publishing speculative fiction market and would like to be notified directly when results go live, please complete the form below.