Your Guide to the Lunar Awards
Your Guide to the Lunar Awards
A summary of sections and community activities.
The Lunar Awards has grown tremendously, and that presents unique challenges. It can be overwhelming to identify what opportunities are available to everyone or how to become involved. This guide will help you navigate all of the sections, giving you a more fulfilling experience as a subscriber, whether you’re a speculative writer or just a fan of science fiction and fantasy. I appreciate your readership and I’m honored you’re here. Let’s get started!
The Awards
The awards run in seasons, and there are approximately five seasons each year. You must be writing on the Substack newsletter platform and follow the rules to participate in a season. Nobody knows when a new season will launch, which keeps the awards exciting. Everyone who participates is mentioned when the judging period ends, giving each author some exposure. Visiting past season start and winning announcement posts is a great way to understand how it works in practice. The complete rules can be found under the frequently asked questions page.
You can read more about the spirit of the Lunar Awards in the inaugural post. It encapsulates the primary vision and focus of this newsletter, including awards.
The Pitch
The Pitch is a monthly discussion thread of the best science fiction and fantasy on Substack, as recommended by the authors themselves. Pitches are like elevator pitches, short and intriguing. If you’re an avid reader hoping to discover new writers, then this is a great section to visit. If you’re a writer, then it’s a forum where you can promote your work. It allows writers to polish their marketing and salesmanship skills.
We’re often shy about promoting our work, and The Pitch is a stress-free opportunity to practice, putting our stories out in the wild for public consumption.
Click here to visit The Pitch section.
Prompt Quest
Every Prompt Quest is a unique experience, giving fantasy and science fiction writers an opportunity to hone their craft and gain loyal fans. These are prompts encouraging writers to contribute their speculative voice to Substack. A quest runs for two weeks. A discussion thread called “The Gathering” is run after the quest is finished, and it allows authors to share and discuss stories originating from the prompts.
There is no obligation to participate. It’s a fun way to encourage writers and get them connected within the community. It’s also an exercise in stretching the imagination by observing peers. Even though everyone gets the same prompts, the variety produced is amazing!
Click here to visit the Prompt Quest section.
Fiction
Fiction is where we post original science fiction and fantasy short stories from talented and imaginative authors. The Lunar Awards is not a literary magazine, but we’re happy to publish a story if we find a good fit through existing community connections. The future goal is to pay authors for their work. Submissions are not currently public, but if you feel like we could be home to one of your stories, then reach out any time. In general, you should already be a part of the community, writing speculative on Substack, and the story should be a finished, original work that has not previously been published.
Click here to visit the Fiction section.
Essays
Essays explore how fantastic, bizarre and mysterious topics impact us as both readers and writers of speculative fiction. Occasional discussion threads are included. Just like fiction, we’re always open to publishing contributions if the content is a good fit. Our community is extremely diverse, primarily writers, but are all curious about elements in the universe that are interesting to observe under a more focused lens.
If you’re willing to write an original essay that is not about the craft of writing (meta), please get in touch. Space travel, AI, robotics, cryptozoology, natural science and paranormal activity are all desirable topics. You don’t need to be an expert in the field, but there should be more than a surface relationship. Query by DM or email about the topic first.
Click here to visit the Essays section.
Interviews
Interviews are discussions with successful and influential figures in the world of science fiction and fantasy. This can include authors, editors, filmmakers, etc. Only the founder conducts interviews, which are typically requested due to a reciprocal interest. However, please reach out via an email response post or DM if you want to suggest a candidate for an interview.
Click here to visit the Interviews section.
Reviews
Reviews dive deeper into those science fiction and fantasy novels and movies that are popular or considered modern classics. Readers can have complex relationships with speculative works, which may elicit visceral reactions or open our minds to new frontiers. These reviews are meant to explore themes, characters and settings from a fresh viewpoint.
Click here to visit the Reviews section.
Becoming a paid subscriber helps grow the Lunar Awards, contributing to the success of indie science fiction and fantasy authors and elevating speculative fiction.
That's nice and succinct! Have you considered possibly pinning this post to the homepage? I've got something similar on mine. I think it's a good thing to do if there's eclecticism afoot...
Very helpful to see this all in one place. It’s a terrific mix of offerings. Thank you!