Jess Gofton

Morning Womble! I'm between books at the moment and feeling indecisive, but as it's Saint David's Day I think I'm going to pick up The Mab ed. by Matt Brown and Eloise Williams, which retells the tales from The Mabinogion for a Middle Grade audience 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Across the top "There are two types of horror fans at Solaris..." Below, the graphic splits in two, on the left a gothic black house next to a pastel lilac and pink one. On the right, horror editor Chiara in black and grey next to horror fan and marketing manager Jess in lilac.

Inside Solaris, there are two types of horror fan...

ft @mestierious.bsky.social and @jessgofton.bsky.social !

But both types think you should grab one of Solaris' horror books - available to buy or preorder now! 👇

ft @rhiannonagrist.bsky.social @mkhardywrites.com @isabelcanas.bsky.social & more!

The Misheard World by Aliya Whiteley | FanFiAddict Synopsis  Before wars are won, they must be witnessed.  Elize Janview is a soldier, one of the few survivors of an unimaginably terrible weapon, w ...

“Aliya Whiteley strikes again. This is a masterpiece. Yes, I said masterpiece. And no, you have not misheard.”

Read the full review here 👇🏻

fanfiaddict.com/the-misheard...

Happy book day @solarisbooks.bsky.social

I devoured Bethany Jacobs' Kindom Trilogy through December and January and haven't stopped thinking about it since, such a brilliant series 🔥

On the left, the book cover for ASUNDER, in the middle, author photos of Kerstin Hall an T. R. Moore, and on the right the book cover for THE GODS MUST BURN. Below, white text: The One Body Problem with Kerstin Hall and T. R. Moore. Online only - Wednesday 25th February 6pm GMT.

TONIGHT! 25/02 at 6pm GMT, our first free online event of the year is with @kerstinhall.bsky.social & @authortrmoore.bsky.social!

We'll celebrate their recent releases - ASUNDER & THE GODS MUST BURN - as they discuss the problem of characters who aren't alone in their own bodies! geni.us/SolPKHTRM

I've been feeling a bit unsettled lately, jumping between projects and unable to focus on anything, and I love that feeling when a character finally hooks you back into writing.

Short fiction is so cool. You keep putting the work in and all these strange little people come crawling out your brain.

Hugo Award nominations now open.

Nominations are now open for the 2026 Hugo Awards!

Emails are going out to eligible nominators (those who became a member of LAcon V by January 31, 2026, or were a member of the Seattle Worldcon 2025) about how to set up their LAcon V virtual convention account.

White text that says "FIRST READER APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!" on a blurred purple image of our website banner.

OTHERSIDE is looking for 1-2 first readers! We got SO many amazing submissions that it's time to expand our team!

Interested? This is a great opportunity to learn about the editorial process 👀 We offer an honorarium and first readers can still submit to us!

📝Apply here: forms.gle/QcYLzXFn6AEn...

a cartoon says that having fun isn't hard when you 've got a library card Alt: "Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card"

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you have access to a library, go and tell your librarians about the upcoming books you're excited for!

Times are tough and if you can't afford to preorder all the new releases you want to read, you can still support the author through your library 📚

NoSleep Podcast S23E21 - The NoSleep Podcast It's Episode 21 of Season 23. Tune in to WNSP for tales about messing with your mind. "Ptolomea" written by Aurora Ulfvenstierna (Story starts around 00:06:10) Produced by: Jeff Clement Cast: Narrator...

Roses are red,
And sometimes they speak;
Shouldn't have buried my girlfriend in the garden last week... 🥀

Want something spooky this Valentine's Day? You can hear my sapphic horror "As Sweet" in S23E21 of @thenosleeppodcast.bsky.social! www.thenosleeppodcast.com/episodes/s23...

Revealing The Eagle in the Mountain by Caskey Russell - Reactor Now returned from his quest, Elān is changed...

We are delighted to reveal the cover for Caskey Russell's The Eagle in the Mountain! The sequel to The Door on the Sea is a Tlingit epic fantasy following what happens when the quest is finished–and when someone else needs to takes over:

Finally, if you have a request declined, it doesn’t mean every request will. No one is rubbing their hands and cackling when they hit that button. I can’t even begin to tell you how much we appreciate all the work early reviewers do when you share your love for our titles! You’re the best.

Keep your list of interests up to date, too! Solaris publishes sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, but if you don’t have any of those genres listed in your interests, I’m less likely to approve your request simply because we see too many negative reviews along the lines of “I don’t like sci-fi. 1 star.”

Make sure any links in your bio are up to date. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve gone to peek at someone’s Instagram, only to find it no longer exists, and I won’t approve you for a book if you’re telling me you’re going to review it on a platform you don’t appear to be on.

As already mentioned, use your bio to tell me where you’ll be sharing your reviews and about the kinds of books you enjoy! You don’t need to tell me you love books in general—you wouldn’t be on NetGalley if you didn’t. (And double-check for spelling errors in your bio, too!)

The ol’ NetGalley ratio. I won’t immediately decline someone’s request if their ratio is low. Personally, I pay attention to how many of our titles you’ve already reviewed; if you’ve been approved for 9 of our titles and you haven’t reviewed a single one yet, I’m not inclined to give you another.

But don’t forget to also upload your reviews to NetGalley. We can see when you last posted a review there, and if your profile says you haven’t posted a review since September 2023, I’m not going to approve you for a 2026 title when it looks like you’re not reviewing any books.

Leave links in your bio. I want to see where you’re planning to share your review—if you only post reviews on NetGalley, that’s not helping the book or the author when no one outside of NetGalley can see it—so tell me about your blog or Instagram or YouTube channel or TiKToK etc.! I’m very nosy.

a cat wearing glasses is sitting on top of an open book on a table . Alt: A cat wearing round glasses looks up from an open book on a table.

I wrote one of these threads on the other place, so I'm bringing my opinions to Bluesky for anyone who might find them useful.

Here are some tips for getting approved for forthcoming titles on NetGalley! 📚

I loved it! And maintain my campaign for soup for Chono

Happy Sunday, Womble! I finished On Vicious Worlds by Bethany Jacobs yesterday and I'm chomping at the bit to get my hands on This Brutal Moon, but first I'm going to dive into The Reformatory by Tananarive Due for my book club.

The front cover of On Vicious Worlds by Bethany Jacobs. A cityscape behind the purple silhouette of a face.

ON VICIOUS WORLDS by @dr-bethany-jacobs.bsky.social is my first 5 star read of 2026, so now I guess I'll just lie in a dark room until my hold of THIS BRUTAL MOON comes in at the library 😭

Against a multicoloured fabric background swirled with stars, Caspar Geon's THE IMMEASURABLE HEAVEN. White text in the top left reads "Nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award."

Huge congratulations to @caspargeon.bsky.social / @tomtoner.bsky.social , THE IMMEASURABLE HEAVEN is a Philip K. Dick Award nominee!👉 https://bit.ly/3LtK1Lu

This reality-bending SciFi reads like a fable from another galaxy with an entirely non-human cast!

Buy: https://geni.us/immeasurable

All right poetry pals, it's January 1, which means that Rhysling Award Nominations are now open!

Check your SFPA Missive for details and nominations links.

And in the meantime, get to re-reading your fav 2025 poems 💖

a close up of a person 's hand holding a watch on their arm . Alt: A GIF of Arnold Schwarzenegger covering himself in war paint.

Me preparing to tackle the 1k+ emails in my inbox

Everyone needs a Kai.

It's wonderful! Very tempted to reread it soon.

This is the perfect poem to read in January. 💙

The cover of These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs. An orange silhouette of a face against a dark background, with a tower to the left.

THESE BURNING STARS by @dr-bethany-jacobs.bsky.social

An unputdownable space opera debut weaving a complex, juicy, political plot around a fascinating group of characters. I'd like to wrap Chono in a blanket and feed her soup.

The cover of Witch King by Martha Wells. An illustration of a person in a blue cloak.

WITCH KING by @marthawells.com

An exploration of the cost of peace and the effort and work it takes to maintain it, complete with a set of characters I fell head over heels in love with. I can't wait to get my grubby hands on QUEEN DEMON.