Release Date 2 July 2024
Available in paperback and digital (through all major retailers).
 
Locus Recommended Reading List 2024
BSFA Awards LongList
 
Beam aboard your own Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror classroom with the next volume of the BSFA-shortlisted writing-guide series!
 
Join Tiffani Angus (Ph.D.) and Val Nolan (Ph.D.) for a whirlwind introduction to the storytelling basics of 30 more subgenres and major tropes from across the limitless realms of Speculative Fiction.
Learn about Space Opera, Folk Horror, Climate Fiction, Werewolves, Astronauts, Mythic Fantasy, Goblin Markets, Dragons, and many more with deep dives into each subgenre's history and development, spotter's guides to typical examples, pitfalls to watch out for in your own writing, and activities to help you get started! All derived from a combined two decades of university-level practices and experience!
 
Spec Fic for Newbies breaks genres into bite-sized pieces for students or for any budding writer. It offers a welcoming introduction to how writers, filmmakers, and other creatives can begin to explore the infinite potential of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror to create new stories beyond the boundaries of the ordinary.
This is not another dusty rulebook. This is a portal to endless other worlds!
 
Spec Fic for Newbies vol 2 
Space Opera 
Astronauts 
First Contact 
Climate Fiction 
Pandemic Fiction 
Uplifted Animals 
Submarine Stories 
Mysterious Islands 
Biopunk 
The Multiverse 
Mythic (aka Mythological) Fantasy 
Fairies 
The Goblin Market 
Enchanted Clothing 
Dragons 
Cryptozoology 
Body Swapping 
Portal Fantasy 
Carnivalesque 
Comedic Fantasy 
Folk Horror 
Ghost Stories 
Werewolves 
Possessed, Haunted, and Cursed Items 
Animals That Attack 
Evil Children 
Ecohorror 
Gendercide 
Places People Shouldn’t Go 
Last Person Left Alive