TL;DR
7/10. A useful, well-credentialed genre guide, valuable for craft instruction from a Hugo-winning author and, distinctively, for the editor’s-eye view of what actually sells. Its 1994 market guidance is dated by a transformed publishing world, but the craft fundamentals and the write-to-be-read principle endure.
The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova is a how-to guide from someone with the credentials to write it: Bova was a Hugo-winning author and the longtime editor of Analog, one of the field’s most important magazines, so he writes from both sides of the desk, as a successful SF writer and as the editor who bought and rejected stories. The book covers constructing strong SF stories and novels, the major elements of the genre’s storytelling, and the practical business of researching markets and selling work. For an aspiring science-fiction writer, that dual authority makes it a genuinely useful craft guide, with the standard caveat that the market half dates.
Bova’s editorial background is the differentiator: he is teaching not just how to write science fiction but how to write it so that an editor will actually buy it, which is a particular and valuable angle.
Craft from a master of the genre
The book’s core value is its craft instruction from someone who mastered the form. Bova covers the elements that make science fiction work, the construction of strong stories and novels, the handling of the genre’s distinctive demands, the storytelling fundamentals as they apply to SF, drawing on a long, successful career writing the stuff. For an aspiring genre writer, learning the craft from a Hugo-winning author is exactly the kind of grounded, experience-based instruction that helps, and Bova’s clarity about what makes an SF story succeed, on the page and with an editor, gives the craft material a practical, sales-aware edge that purely theoretical guides lack.
Keep reading
Writing science fiction that works on the page: Bova’s craft instruction from a master of the genre, in the wider practice of SF.
The editor’s perspective
What sets this apart from a pure craft book is Bova’s editorial perspective. Having spent years as an editor deciding which stories to buy, he can tell a writer what actually makes the difference between a manuscript that sells and one that gets rejected, the practical, market-aware knowledge that an aspiring writer rarely gets from someone who has sat in that chair. That insider view of what editors look for, how to research markets, and how to approach the business of selling science fiction is genuinely valuable, complementing the craft instruction with the commercial reality of getting published in the genre. It is craft and career advice from someone who shaped the field from both sides.
Keep reading
Selling your work: the business side of writing: Bova’s market-aware, editor’s-eye guidance, in the wider business of publishing.
The currency caveat
The standard limitation falls on the business half. The book dates from 1994, and the science-fiction publishing market has changed enormously since, the magazine landscape, the role of editors, the rise of digital and independent publishing, the entire commercial machinery, so the specific market and submission guidance is substantially dated and a writer must verify current practice against up-to-date sources. The craft instruction, what makes an SF story work, ages far better and remains valuable, as does the general principle of writing with the reader and the market in mind. As with any guide that mixes timeless craft with time-sensitive business, the craft endures while the market specifics expire.
Verdict
It is a useful, well-credentialed craft guide to writing science fiction, valuable for instruction from a Hugo-winning author and, distinctively, for the editor’s-eye perspective on what actually sells, craft and commercial sense from someone who shaped the field from both sides. It loses ground for its 1994 vintage, which dates the specific market and submission guidance significantly in a transformed publishing world, though the craft fundamentals endure. Treat it as sound on the craft and the timeless principle of writing to be read, and a dated starting point on the business, useful to the aspiring SF writer who pairs it with current market information. A solid, authoritative genre guide, dated only in its business half.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells about?
Ben Bova’s how-to guide to writing science fiction, covering the construction of strong stories and novels, the major elements of the genre’s storytelling, and the practical business of researching markets and selling work, written by a Hugo-winning author and longtime editor of Analog.
What makes Bova qualified to write it?
He worked both sides of the desk, as a successful, award-winning science-fiction author and as the longtime editor of Analog who bought and rejected stories, giving him both craft mastery and an editor’s practical knowledge of what actually sells.
What is the book’s distinctive angle?
Its editorial perspective. Having decided which stories to buy, Bova can tell a writer what makes the difference between a manuscript that sells and one that gets rejected, the market-aware insider knowledge an aspiring writer rarely gets from someone who sat in that chair.
Is the advice current?
The craft instruction, what makes an SF story work, ages well and remains valuable, but the book dates from 1994 and the publishing market has changed enormously, so the specific market and submission guidance is substantially dated and must be verified against current sources.
Who should read it?
Aspiring science-fiction writers who want craft instruction from a master of the genre plus an editor’s perspective on selling, with the understanding that the business half is dated and should be paired with current market information.
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