The Lunar Awards has grown tremendously, and that presents unique challenges. Identifying what opportunities are available to everyone or how to become involved can be overwhelming. This guide will help you navigate all the sections, giving you a more fulfilling experience as a subscriber, whether you’re a speculative writer or a fan of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. I appreciate your readership, and I’m honored you’re here. Let’s get started!
The Awards
The awards are a year-long event. They are divided into two parts (halves) and six rounds at two-month intervals. To participate in a season, you must write on the Substack newsletter platform and follow the rules. When the judging period ends, everyone who participates is mentioned, giving each author some exposure. The complete rules can be found on the frequently asked questions page.
The inaugural post explains the spirit of the Lunar Awards. It encapsulates this newsletter's primary vision and focus, including the awards.
The Pitch
The Pitch is a monthly discussion thread on Substack that features the best science fiction and fantasy, 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, this is a great section. If you’re a writer, it’s a forum to promote your work. It allows writers to polish their marketing and salesmanship skills.
We’re often shy about promoting our work, but The Pitch is a stress-free opportunity to practice, letting us share our stories with the public.
Click here to visit The Pitch section.
Prompt Quest
Every Prompt Quest is a unique experience, allowing fantasy, science fiction, and horror writers to hone their craft and gain loyal fans. These prompts encourage writers to contribute their speculative voices to Substack. A quest lasts two weeks. After the quest is finished, a discussion thread called “The Gathering” 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 connect them within the community. Observing peers also exercises the imagination. 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 diverse, primarily writers, but we 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 science fiction and fantasy, including authors, editors, filmmakers, etc. Only the founder conducts interviews, 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 popular science fiction, fantasy, horror novels, and movies 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.
Pledging as 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...
Ohhhh!!! I didn’t even know this is on Substack! As a serialized high fantasy fiction writer I just have to say… this is epic!!! ✨🙌🏾🥰