Joel C. Scoberg

They Are Still Here (Maen Nhw Yma O Hyd) An anthology of contemporary fantasy stories featuring creatures and characters from Welsh mythology and folklore

Only £7 short of £3000. Surely we can get there today: www.kickstarter.com/projects/191...

writers of the future winner Joel Scoberg interview Spotify video

I had the pleasure of speaking to W.A. Blinko on his SciFi Fans Podcast where we had a good chat about writing, inspiration and my #WritersoftheFuture experience. Check it out if you’re interested (and it’s kind of cool to be on Spotify too!)

🪐📚💙 #writingcommunity

A mint club biscuit beside a cup of tea

The only time I ever eat a mint club biscuit these days is after giving blood. It’s not the only reason I give blood, I swear 😆

The cover of They Are Still Here (Mae Nhw Yma O Hyd). The image is of the sorceror, Gwydion, surrounded by wild animals (wolf, boar, deer) in a Celtic knotwork frame. Gwydion's hat is crowned with antlers. He carries an axe in his right hand and an oak twig in his left. Art by Josh Arklin.

Mae'n fwy! (It is live!)
You can now back our Kickstarter campaign here: www.kickstarter.com/...

TODAY IS THE ONLY DAY YOU CAN REPOST THIS!!!

Deadline for Writers of the Future Quarter 4 is at midnight on 30 September 2025.

Final countdown to submit to the #WritersoftheFuture tonight! You never know, it could be you on that Hollywood stage next April (you can just see me on the back row third from right) #writingcommunity

Only a few hours left until the deadline tonight! Get those stories in to be in with a chance of seeing your name in #WritersoftheFuture Volume 42 next year! #writingcommunity

Artemis II: astronauts ready to go to Moon Astronauts of Nasa's first crewed mission to the Moon for more than 50 years hope their journey inspires a new generation.

Meet the history-making astronauts headed for the Moon. 🔭 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The cover of They Are Still Here (Mae Nhw Yma O Hyd). The image is of the sorceror, Gwydion, surrounded by wild animals (wolf, boar, deer) in a Celtic knotwork frame. Gwydion's hat is crowned with antlers. He carries an axe in his right hand and an oak twig in his left. Art by Josh Arklin.

We have an anthology project launching on Kickstarter in October. Find out more about it here: www.kickstarter.com/...

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Happy Hobbit Day! Today's Classic Cover of the Day is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, with a cover illustrated by Tolkien himself

Image showing Volume 41 of Writers of the Future won the NYC Big Book Award 2025 for Anthology

Woop woop 🙌🏻 🥳 #WOTF41 has won another award, this time the NYC Big Book Award 2025 in the “Anthology” category. Very proud to have a story feature in this book

The Allure and Terror of First Contact with Aliens | Galaxy Press Explore the allure and terror of first contact with aliens—from SETI and NASA’s James Webb to classic sci-fi and the story “Code L1” in Writers of the Future Vol 41.

I love a first contact SF story (or film), and Andrew Jackson has written a cool blog about them. He also wrote the excellent (and scary) first contact story, “Code L1”, in #WritersoftheFuture #WOTF41. If you also love first contact stories (come on, who doesn’t?!), go check them out

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This is what the surface of a comet looks like.

Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, photographed by ESA's Rosetta mission from an altitude of 16 km.

Don't know about any other writers out there, but I've had a recent deluge of marketing scam emails. I've written a blog post about it in case anyone is interested. Be vigilant and scrutinise any unsolicited emails.

#writingcommunity

The Death of Social Interaction: How Smartphones and Screen Time Are Destroying Human Connection | Galaxy Press Smartphones and screen time are replacing real conversation. Explore the decline of human connection in the digital age and its effects on society.

A thought provoking blog post about the impact of technology on social interaction by Barlow Crassmont, which inspired his #WOTF41 winning story. Both are a great read!

#writingcommunity 🪐📚💙

Quick rundown for non-US academics of whether you're likely to be eligible for the Anthropic payout:
1. you have works published in or before 2022
2. which are registered for US copyright (most likely if you had a US publisher, not otherwise): check here publicrecords.copyright.gov
1/2

Attention #AcademicSky Everyone is talking about books, but thousands of academic journals were also pirated and are entitled to up to $3,000 *per pirated volume!!!* if editors submit titles to join the suit. Incredible opportunity for underfunded journals to get some $$! #SkyStorians #MedievalSky

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.

OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.

Survival Instincts at the Heart of Dystopian Fiction | Galaxy Press Explore survival instincts in dystopian fiction—from Atwood to Karma Birds—where women face impossible choices and fight for control.

Check out this blog on dystopian fiction by Lauren McGuire, a great writer and #WritersoftheFuture winner. It’s a really interesting read. #writingcommunity 🪐📚💙

I recently hit 100 total submission rejections. It feels like a milestone to acknowledge because it represents my (slowly growing) resilience and perseverance in the face of rejection. Skills I’m regularly told are vital to writers. Now autumn is here, I’m hoping for one more acceptance in 2025 🤞🏻

“It’s alive! It’s alive!” Taking the Spark of an Idea to Bring to Life a Writers of the Future Winning Story | Writers & Illustrators of the Future What are the components of writing a story that wins the Writers of the Future? Joel Scoberg breaks down his writing process in creating a winning story.

If any writers out there are thinking of entering the #WritersoftheFuture contest, I have written a blog about how I turned an idea into a WOTF winning story. #writingcommunity

Space Unicorn!

PLEASE SHARE! Writers! Uncanny Magazine is OPEN to Short Story Submissions from August 25 to September 8! We can't wait to read your stories!!! buff.ly/xB0IZOX

Saying this again: there is a scammer out there targeting newbie authors, claiming I'm one of their clients. They use different names, and I'm already pursuing legal action. But I have never worked with a PR company, editing service, or book packager, so anybody saying so is lying, period full stop.

Why do I love A Game of Thrones? It’s gritty and driven by human greed and vanity, with tumultuous politics, backstabbing betrayals and unexpected deaths. But beyond that, the series is special to me because it takes me back to my first great adventure with my wife as penniless backpackers in 🇳🇿

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YouTube video by The Writing Community Chat Show From Lawyer to Sci-Fi Bestseller | Joel Scoberg on Writing, Dreams & Winning Big.

I had a lot of fun on the Writing Community Chat Show talking about: writing short stories, how I became a winner of the #WritersoftheFuture, and even Radagast!

Also go check out the 360+ interviews on the WCCS site with authors like Ian Rankin giving writing tips and advice.

🪐📚💙 #writingcommunity

Bonus show this Wednesday - Joel C Scoberg. 8PM, Live on YouTube, Facebook, X, & right here! From Law to Hollywood: Joel Scoberg’s Journey to Sci-Fi Stardom.

I’m super excited to be appearing on the Writing Community Chat Show on 6 August at 8pm (GMT). Tune in to hear about my writing journey and inspirations, and my story, “The Stench of Freedom”, which was a winner of the #writersofthefuture contest and appears in #WOTF41

🪐📚💙 #writingcommunity

Press Release - Baen Books Announces Winner of the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Press Release - Baen Books Announces Winner of the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award

Huge congratulations to my writing pal @gideonpsmith.bsky.social who has won the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award 🤩🥳 He’s a very talented writer (how else would he have won?!) and is also a really supportive guy that encourages and motivates emerging writers to keep going. Well deserved 👏

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Press Release - Baen Books Announces Winner of the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Press Release - Baen Books Announces Winner of the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award

Still reeling, but thrilled to share—I’ve won the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award!

This story is personal, and having it find a home at @baenbooks.bsky.social means the world to me. Eternal thanks to the judges and everyone who believed in it. 🐉⚔️✨

www.baen.com/pr-2025-fant...

Congratulations!🎊🎉

Fun in the sun and 100 subs done Issue #6 (July 2025)

ICYMI: check out the latest issue of my newsletter.

I talk about hitting 100 submissions this month, recent interviews, what I've been reading (spoiler alert, Paper Menagerie and other stories by Ken Liu) and my book recommendation for this month.

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