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Congratulations! The Reader's Pick is...
...new (to us) writer Joshua Mannix, and his story " At the Yatai on Kuiper Station Nine "! Well done! As with every such prize,...

Gnerphk
Feb 161 min read


November Theme Prompt Winner
Editors' Choice: " Human's Best Friend " by Alex McNall is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for November/December. ...
Jim Dutton
Jan 252 min read


January Theme Prompt: Galactic Brackets
Write a sports- or gaming-related sci-fi story. Let the competition begin! Well, it's already begun in a number of venues. In the US, the...
Jim Dutton
Jan 183 min read


Readers Pick for December...
Congratulations to our very own J. Millard Simpson for winning the December Reader's Pick with 44 rockets for his story, " Potboiler " --...
Rod Castor
Jan 121 min read


Santa's Elves are Busy!
Merry Christmas, everyone! When my kids get up on Christmas morning and race to the living room to see what is under the Christmas tree,...
nathankrupa
Dec 22, 20242 min read


The Readers Have Picked...
Nina Miller, " Lost Citizens of the Fringe " as November's best story, with an amazing 40, count them 4-0 Rockets. Congratulations!!!...

Gnerphk
Dec 15, 20241 min read


November Theme Prompt: Aspirational Utopias
Write a sci-fi story set in a fictional utopian society. I admit I have lost track of what a majority of Americans envision as our ideal...
Jim Dutton
Nov 17, 20243 min read


Announcing: Subscriber Submissions Month
One of the most frequent topics we chat about in the (metaphorical) smoke-filled lounge labeled EDITORS ONLY is: "What can we do to...

Gnerphk
Nov 1, 20242 min read


Announcement: Featured Writers
Change can be good, friends, and I'm not talking nickels and dimes here. Most of our writers' stories here at Sci-Fi Shorts are kept...

Gnerphk
Oct 26, 20242 min read


July Theme Prompt Winner
"Lifetime Subscription" by Guy Lingham is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for July/August.
Jim Dutton
Sep 21, 20243 min read


September Theme Prompt: The Bogeyman Cometh
Write a science fiction story in which the villain or antagonist is an artificial intelligence. This Halloween, there's a lot of scary...
Jim Dutton
Sep 15, 20245 min read


Why Colonize Mars?
"Because it's there!" -George Mallory, English mountaineer Mars is a barren wasteland devoid of life. There's nothing there, even less...

Gnerphk
Aug 17, 20246 min read


The Joys of a Small Publication
So many writers are nervous about submitting their stories, afraid of being judged, afraid of putting their work out there and being told...

Gnerphk
Aug 10, 20242 min read


False Simultaneity
"Pulling on his pants, he rushed to the door when the doorbell rang, fumbling with the latch." That's an example of False Simultaneity: ...

Gnerphk
May 9, 20243 min read


Are We There Yet?
It would be customary at this time of year to look back at the changes, events, and developments that occurred in the year 2023. Having...
Jim Dutton
Dec 29, 20232 min read


How To Write For Sci-Fi Shorts: A Primer
Image Copyright 2023 - SFS Publishing LLC Writing for periodicals is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s also not for the faint of heart,...

Gnerphk
Nov 28, 20234 min read


Living on Another Planet
Let’s get real: As far as we know, Earth is all we’ve got. I mean, if we screw this place up, it’s a big deal, cause you know, until the...
J.A. Taylor
Jan 13, 20232 min read
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