If you know of a regional or national convention that might be appropriate to consider for the placement of LFS outreach ads, let us know.
Over the decades, the Libertarian Futurist Society has advertised in various publications and programs, both within the SF/fantasy realm and in libertarian magazines, such as Reason.
This year, the LFS board has authorized the development of new and updated display ads designed to raise our visibility and recruit new members.
Check out below one of our new full-page ads.
The new ad has a theme of “Culture matters.”
Here’s an excerpt from the ad reflecting that key theme:
A nonprofit international network of sf/fantasy fans, the LFS sponsors the Prometheus Awards for pro-freedom speculative fiction and publishes reviews, essays, author’s updates and more on the LFS website’s Prometheus blog. We believe cultural change is as vital as political change in achieving freedom and justice for all. After all, imagination is the first step in envisioning freer futures.”
“Prometheus Award… results are as remarkable as the award’s longevity. The LFS ranges far outside the borders of conventional American libertarian thought. Following this particular award can be rewarding for readers of all stripes.” — “40 Years of the Prometheus Award” (TOR.com)
“Libertarian-leaning authors have had an outsized, lasting influence on the SF field… Unlike most ideologies that advocate forms of protectionism and Luddite restrictionism, the libertarian outlook values choice, freedom, a general openness to radical new ideas and an instinctive rejection of stale convention and custom.” — “The Libertarian History of Science Fiction,” Quillette magazine (quillette.com)
“Uniquely among political movements, many of libertarianism’s most influential texts have been by SF writers.” — The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
The new ads end with a selective list of Prometheus-winning authors and their works, designed to reflect the Prometheus awards’ broad range, variety and diversity.
If we had more room and more ad space, of course, then we’d be able to list more winners. But given the cost and ad size constraints, here’s the representative list of winners we were able to include:
Among Prometheus winners: Hans Christian Andersen (“The Emperor’s New Clothes”), Poul Anderson (Trader to the Stars), Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451), Travis Corcoran (The Powers of the Earth), Cory Doctorow (Little Brother) , Ursula K. Le Guin (The Dispossessed), Robert A. Heinlein (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress), Sarah Hoyt (Darkship Thieves), George Orwell (1984, Animal Farm), Terry Pratchett (Night Watch), Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged, Anthem), L. Neil Smith (The Probability Broach), Neal Stephenson (Cryptonomicon), J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings) , Vernor Vinge (A Deepness in the Sky, “The Ungoverned,” “True Names”), Kurt Vonnegut (“Harrison Bergeron”).
One version of the new LFS full-page ad has been booked to appear in November in the European edition of the Students for Liberty magazine, timed for publication and distribution to 3,000 attendees from around the world of their next national conference.
Another priority area to advertise and recruit members, relatively new to our outreach efforts, will be regional conventions.
Among the possibilities we’ve begun to research and consider: Liberty Con, in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Boskone, in Boston Massachusetts; Basedcon, in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Students for Liberty’s European magazine and conference.
What SF or libertarian conventions do you attend and can recommend? Let us know!
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS:
* Prometheus winners: For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees – including the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards – visit the enhanced Prometheus Awards page on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to all published essay-reviews in our Appreciation series explaining why each of more than 100 past winners since 1979 fits the awards’ distinctive dual focus on both quality and liberty.
* Read “The Libertarian History of Science Fiction,”an essay in the international magazine Quillette that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.
* Watch videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies (including the recent 2023 ceremonywith inspiring and amusing speeches by Prometheus-winning authors Dave Freerand Sarah Hoyt), Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog’s Video page.
* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Facebook pagefor comments, updates and links to Prometheus Blog posts.
* Join us! To help sustain the Prometheus Awards and support a cultural and literary strategy to appreciate and honor freedom-loving fiction, jointhe Libertarian Futurist Society, a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf/fantasy fans.
Libertarian futurists believe that culture matters! We understand that the arts and literature can be vital in envisioning a freer and better future – and in some ways can be even more powerful than politics in the long run, by imagining better visions of the future incorporating peace, prosperity, progress, tolerance, justice, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other’s rights, individuality and human dignity.
Through recognizing the literature of liberty and the many different but complementary visions of a free future via the Prometheus Awards, the LFS hopes to help spread ideas and ethical principles that help humanity overcome tyranny, end slavery, reduce the threat of war, repeal or constrain other abuses of coercive power and achieve universal liberty, respect for human rights and a better world (perhaps ultimately, worlds) for all.