Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Apex Magazine (is funding for 2026!) 🎉 @apexmag.bsky.social · 7d

Free yourself from the Canva mines ⛏️🖼️

We're offering a totally new product only on our Kickstarter through the month of October: an author graphics bundle of fully customizable Canva templates for speculative fiction authors! 🎨 check below for details! ⬇️

www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape...

say hello to our newest product...

Social media templates for speculative fiction authors! Are you an author sick of social media marketing? Let us handle some of it for you!

Currently available only on Kickstarter!

6 Genres - 40 templates each!

Classic Horror, Ecofiction, Cozy Horror, Fantasy, Gothic Romance, Sci-Fi

Everything you need for a full book marketing campaign

Cover Reveals, Snippets, Mockups, Special Announcements, Event Appearances, and More! Available in both 9:16 and 1:1 ratios!

Simply grab and go...or customize everything!

6 15

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Angela Liu @angelaliu.bsky.social · 11d

Hey y'all, OTHERSIDE is smashing their Kickstarter goals. Help them get fully funded for their second year!

And if you've ever wanted me to critique your poetry, that's one of the add-ons, alongside tons of great reward options.

OTHERSIDE - Kickstarter is LIVE! @othersidespec.bsky.social · 12d

WE'RE LIVE! AND WE ARE SO EXCITED! Back now to support a new magazine of speculative fiction by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors and artists! Snag some amazing rewards, including discounted subscriptions! Support queer art! And help us SMASH DAY ONE!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...

OTHERSIDE Kickstarter art. Text says OTHERSIDE Kickstarter LIVE NOW! over our purple and banner art with the Wanderer, a small figure on floating rocks, on the right.

1 17 28

Jenny M. Liu @jennymliu.bsky.social · Sep 3

I tend to rely on ChillSubs for finding markets. They have a lot of filters you can play around with to find what you're looking for! @brechtdp.bsky.social's Top 1000 Lit Mags spreadsheet is also a great resource: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

The Top 1000 Lit Mags 2025

docs.google.com

1 2

Jenny M. Liu @jennymliu.bsky.social · Sep 3

I ADORE Kanopy!! My library's catalog is especially incredible for world cinema and documentaries

A small sampling of my watchlist and what you may be able to find:

Screenshot of my Kanopy watchlist showing the following films: House of Cardin, Bill Cunningham New York, Romeo and Juliet, Beautiful Darling, Sisi & I, Suzhou River, Perfect Days, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, Hanzi, The Rules of the Game, Ballet, City Hall, In Jackson Heights, Giants and Toys, Youth (Spring), Ennio.

3

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Damián Neri @damianneriart.bsky.social · Aug 24

If you can read Spanish, I hope you like Sofón, Issue 1. It includes 17 SFF short stories and poems in Spanish, which I really enjoyed reading, editing, and putting together. Sofón is the third speculative fiction magazine from Mexico that pays its authors. I also did the cover art ^u^

Sofón, Issue 1. Speculative fiction magazine in Spanish. It features 17 short stories and poems by authors from Mexico, Spain, Cuba, and Morocco.

4 41 83

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Steve Hugh Westenra @stevewestenra.bsky.social · Aug 27

Absolute must-read, whether you're aiming for trad or to self-publish. So much great advice RE red flags, self-worth, and the importance of communicating with your peers

Sheila Jenné @jennelikejennay.bsky.social · Aug 27

If anyone wonders why I keep hammering on about vetting small presses... here's an account from a publisher sib that shows how much worse than nothing a small press can be.

www.morgansloan-author.com/post/lessons...

Lessons I Learned As A Failed Debut Author

I'd like to start by saying that the bookish community scares me. It doesn't take much for one post, one word, or one misunderstood comment to spiral out of control. I've been watching this circle onl...

www.morgansloan-author.com

3 7 27

Jenny M. Liu @jennymliu.bsky.social · Aug 24

tried spaghetti squash for the first time last night. a new world has opened up!

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Ariel Marken Jack @arielmarkenjack.bsky.social · Aug 22

Saros #5 is open for submissions! Send us your 500-2,500 word fiction themed around sound(s), silence(s), and the spectrum in between: Music, speech, singing, unbearable (enticing?) noise(s), and/or auditory nothingness.

Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · Aug 22

The Saros #5 reading period has arrived and the submission gates have been opened! Send us your 500-2500 words speculative fiction stories focused on sound/silence! We'll stay open until we've reached 111 stories submitted.

sarossf.com/submissions/

Saros #5 Reading Period: From August 22nd until we hit 111 submissions

Sound and silence themed speculative fiction stories
$25 CAD for both originals and reprints
Edited by Ariel Marken Jack
500-2500 words

2 27 39

Jenny M. Liu @jennymliu.bsky.social · Aug 19

1137

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Elena “Eraserhead baby” Zhang @ezhang77.bsky.social · Aug 17

My tiny chapbook, “The Moon, My Heart,” is finally available now! So so grateful to @tinywrenlit.bsky.social and Dana Knott for making this dream come true! www.tinywrenlit.com/product-page...

The Moon, My Heart (Elena Zhang) | Tiny Wren Lit

Evocative micro-poems inspired by Chinese folklore

www.tinywrenlit.com

10 17 62

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Paranoid Tree Press @paranoidxtree.bsky.social · Aug 5

Back Issue Summer Sale!!! We're tired of hoarding all these oldies, but goodies all to ourselves. Become a Paranoid Tree completist! Volumes 1-30 are only $3 apiece! Sale ends Mon, Aug 11. Check it out at the link in our bio. Happy reading!

4 8

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

dr. hazel 🐝 @hazelmonforton.com · Jul 31

"ChatGPT is great for brainstorming!"

Actually we have a tool for that already! It's called thinking. We use our brain. It's called brainstorming! Clue is in the name.

240 4.3K 16K

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Reactor Magazine @reactorsff.bsky.social · Jul 29

We are delighted to reveal the cover for @victormanibo.com's The Villa, Once Beloved, a haunting gothic about folklore, family, and postcolonial vengeance in the Philippines...

reactormag.com/cover-reveal...

Revealing The Villa, Once Beloved by Victor Manibo - Reactor

A dark history is unearthed amid crumbling façades in a new gothic horror arriving November 2025

reactormag.com

1 42 97

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Mia Tsai, rabble-rouser @itsamia.bsky.social · Jul 29

THE MEMORY HUNTERS is out today. With my debut, I didn't understand what kind of change a release would mean. Now I do. This book is no longer mine or my team's. I've released it, and all that's in it and all I left unsaid belongs to you.

bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

The Memory Hunters

Check out The Memory Hunters - Inception meets Indiana Jones in this cinematic, slow burn, romantic fantasy following a headstrong academic and her equally stubborn bodyguard as they ...

bookshop.org

24 61 120

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Kurella De'vil is in the Details @kurellian.bsky.social · Jul 14

for the people on the Sky at this timezone, i have some PROMOTION for you (oh boy). if you would like to read a hopeful story of climate change from the perspective of a mountain that does not want to die? did i write the BOOK FOR YOU!!!!

"The Death of Mountains"

it's been called 'good as hell'

The Death of Mountains

Lethe Press is an independent publishing house specializing in speculative fiction, books of gay interest, poetry, spirituality, as well as classic works of the occult & supernatural. Named after the ...

www.lethepressbooks.com

3 20 29

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

P.A. Cornell (She/Her) @cornellwriter.bsky.social · Jul 3

Super important for anyone encountering a moral rights waiver in contracts lately, as I have. Don’t skip reading this. Thanks @victoriastrauss.com for making this so easy to understand.

Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · Jul 3

Today I'm writing for Writer Beware at Planetside, SFWA's online magazine, with a look at moral rights--what they are, why they matter, and the implications of giving them up, as some contracts and agreements require you to do www.sfwa.org/2025/07/03/m...

Moral Rights: What Writers Need to Know - SFWA

By Victoria Strauss of WRITER BEWARE® What Are Moral Rights? In addition to various economic rights, such as the ability to license and profit from the use of their original work, the Berne Convention...

www.sfwa.org

1 7 26

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

Amy Barnes @amygcb.bsky.social · Jun 30

For all my fellow well-digging and dwelling writers: reckonreview.com/wind-and-roo...

6 13 31

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

R. O. Kwon 권오경 @rokwon.bsky.social · Jun 29

i signed this! thank you to the organizers 🫧

writers with published books & people who work in publishing, including agents, librarians, booksellers, illustrators, & more, y’all can also sign the letter here:

lithub.com/against-ai-a...

Against AI: An Open Letter From Writers to Publishers

“We want our publishers to stand with us. To make a pledge that they will never release books that were created by machines.”

11 510 1K

Jenny M. Liu @jennymliu.bsky.social · Jun 28

Congratulations, Elena!! Always happy to see your work recognized! 🎉

1 1

Jenny M. Liu @jennymliu.bsky.social · Jun 28

Shocked and thrilled to have made it onto the longlist!! Thank you so much and congratulations to everyone!! 🤯💗😭

Wigleaf @wigleaf.bsky.social · Jun 28

new on our mainpage: THE WIGLEAF TOP 50 VERY SHORT FICTIONS 2025 (selecting editor @samanito.bsky.social )

6

Jenny M. Liu @jennymliu.bsky.social · Jun 24

My contributor’s copy of @bestmicrofiction.bsky.social arrived last night! TYSM to @jmwwjournal.bsky.social and everyone at BMF for making this happen! ❤️❤️❤️

I promise this collection is worth spending time with and that the font size is just right! www.pelekinesis.com/catalog/best...

My contributor’s copy of Best Microfiction 2025 placed in the middle of some fake flowers.

My contributor’s copy of Best Microfiction 2025 held open to my story’s page by a silver claw clip.

1

Jenny M. Liu @jennymliu.bsky.social · Jun 13

Contract signed! @paranoidxtree.bsky.social is the best! 💖🌳

Please look out for my first ever CNF, "Rage in Retail," later this year. Paranoid Tree pairs their stories with incredible artists (check out their gorgeous print zines!), and I am so excited to see what mine will come up with!

2

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

A.D. Sui 🇺🇦 [sway] @thesuiway.bsky.social · Jun 12

hi friends!

a reminder that the Iron Garden Sutra ARC sign-up form is still open! tell your reviewer friends! tell your influencer friends! tell your friends who like "dark and disturbing" spaceships!

link: forms.gle/PFBzQuL3WShw...

White text against a space nebula background: A monk joins a science team in exploring a long-lost spaceship, uncovering its dark and disturbing history— and encountering something beyond human understanding—in this thought-provoking, metaphysical science fiction novel.

4 8

Reposted by Jenny M. Liu

P.A. Cornell (She/Her) @cornellwriter.bsky.social · Jun 3

Apex needs the help of this community. Please chip in if you can, and share the post to get more eyes on it.

Apex Magazine (is funding for 2026!) 🎉 @apexmag.bsky.social · Jun 3

2025 has been a hard year so far for Apex.

In the interest of transparency, we want to share what happened, the current state of things, and how you can help. We're determined to keep publishing great stories for many years to come, and your support is what will make that possible. 🖤👽

Looking into the Future

This year has not gone as planned. On January 14th, 2025, Diamond Comics filed for reorganization under Chapter 11. Years of bad business practices had caught up with Diamond Comics as they owed milli...

www.apexbookcompany.com

20 34