Missing Arisia?

Then join Broad Universe for a Not-Arisia-RFR at the time the convention would have occurred!

The Motherboard hopes this virtual event on Friday, Jan. 14 at 7pm ET will help soothe those missing the annual convention, which was canceled for 2022.

For those new to Rapid Fire Readings, each author will have about 8 minutes to read a selection. Don't miss the chance to discover your next favorite author!

Registration is required! Visit our Calendar and the event listing to sign up.

Featuring authors: LJ Cohen, Randee Dawn, Marianna Martin, Anne Nydam, Dianna Sanchez, Kathy Sullivan, and Jo Weston.

Our new website is live, and if you're a Broad, you're likely wondering how to get into Broad-only content. 

Here's the directions: 

• Select the head-and-shoulders icon in the upper right corner. 
• The icon will change to pale blue after logging in and then you can access Broads-only content. 
• Set up your password. We're sorry we couldn't keep the old passwords. They were known only to you. You can even reuse your old one.
• On the Login page, select Forgot password. 
• Enter the email that you use with Broad Universe. 
• A password will be emailed to you. 
• You should receive a password quickly. If you don’t check your SPAM folder. If a password hasn't arrived in an hour, then email the Treasurer. Some of you have used two or three emails with us, so please send the best email to receive Broad Universe information. 
• Once you get your password, login using your email.
• Start exploring!   

The new site offers profile and privacy settings you control! Your profile appears in the public Directory so that readers and SF/F/H fans can learn about your work.

• To update your profile (and please do, regularly!), log in, then click on the head-and-shoulders icon. 
• Your name is followed by View profile | Change password | Log out
• View profile takes you to My Profile where you can update or change information. Here you can:
• • See what the public sees by selecting My directory profile.
  • Add the cover art for 2 books along with titles and buy links. 
  • Add your pronouns 
  • There are several other options on the My Profile to explore, including:
  • Member photo albums, a great place for artists to post their work
  • Privacy, where you can select how much you want to share with the public and other Broads. For professionals looking for more freelance gigs, having your contact info public might be helpful. 
• Don't forget to save changes when you're done! 

After you login in, checkout the Welcome Broads page. Contact the Motherboard with any questions.

Please pardon the digital dust for a few days

While we don’t anticipate any lengthy or major disruptions, we’re about to move our website to a new web host, change our email provider, and make other large backstage technical changes.

So for the next couple days, if the site is down, or your email inquiry seems to have temporarily fallen through a wormhole—there’s no cause for alarm, and we’ll be back online and fully operational before you know it.

Thanks for your patience through any hiccups, and we hope you’ll love the new site.

Warm regards,

The Motherboard

The Motherboard is getting ready to migrate to a new web platform. 

As part of preparing for this change, we need to ensure that our database of Broads is up-to-date. That way when we move everyone's account to the new database, we know we have accurate contact information.      

You can help us by logging into your Broad Universe account and updating your contact information and names. Please ensure your main email, your names (pen names, the name you use in face-to-face interactions,) websites, etc. are all up-to-date. We don't share your information EVER.

To double check your profile, log in and then click on For Supporters. Select Manage Your Profile from the dropdown menu. Then click on  Edit your account information. Update any missing or incorrect information and save.

Please log in and update your information by July 15! Questions? Want to help? Just email officers(at)broaduniverse(dot)org.

From Gloria Oliver comes a new cozy historical mystery series - The Daiyu Wu Mysteries.

Book 1 - Black Jade - is now available for ebook pre-order and live for the trade paperback.

Could an old-fashioned ballgown be used to commit murder?

Daiyu Wu is aware that fear of the Yellow Terror has made her nationality a rare breed in the Lone Star State. Being Chinese and blind makes her doubly unique in 1930 Dallas. Despite these impediments, anyone who dismisses her for either fact does so at their peril.

One day, at her family-owned laundry business, Dai detects the scent of burned garlic. With the help of her companion, Jacques, the source is soon discovered. It is a green ballgown. The gown has money pinned inside it to pay for the cleaning, but oddly, it came with no address label to identify its owner. Her extensive knowledge leads Dai to believe someone has committed murder using arsenic. The perpetrator is trying to use White Laundry to hide the evidence. But no mention of foul play turns up in the newspapers, and there's not enough proof to convince the police there's been a crime.

Her curiosity and intellect stimulated like never before; Dai ignores the possible consequences and sets out to solve the mystery with the help of her canine companion, Prince Razor, and her confidant, Jacques Haskins. It's either that or let the killer get away with it — assuming a spoiled popinjay, his jealous self-appointed girlfriend, and Dai's overprotective parents don't get in her way.

Sample chapters and more info at: https://www.gloriaoliver.com/daiyu-wu-mysteries/black-jade-a-daiyu-wu-mystery/

Available at your favorite retailers.

At its second quarter meeting, the Motherboard voted to pause Broad Universe's NetGalley program for at least 6 months because of the increased costs to subsidize the program. We will reevaluate the decision at our October meeting.

Broad Universe’s NetGalley program began in 2014 to make the review service affordable for small presses and indie authors. (The regular cost starts at $450.) Our program never made money, but initially the difference between the cost of the service and the fees we received was nominal. 

In 2020, Broad Universe experienced a steep drop in the number of titles scheduled, and despite a 2-for-1 deal offered during the summer of the pandemic, interest has not returned.

In December, we reduced the number of books featured each month from 10 to 5 and hoped that 2021 would bring a resurgence of interest. Unfortunately, we often had only one book scheduled each month.

The NetGalley program has routinely accounted for almost half of Broad Universe's annual expenses but this benefit was used by a fraction of Broads. Without corresponding income from the program, the cost created an unsustainable situation and led to the Motherboard’s decision to put our NetGalley on hiatus.

To help us determine the level of interest in bringing back this service, we ask authors and publisher who would like to schedule a book on NetGalley in late 2021 and early 2022 to Contact Us. Please provide details about the number of books, release dates and the number of months the titles would be listed.

The Motherboard would like to thank all Broads who volunteered for NetGalley team between 2014 and 2021. These volunteers worked every month for years to promote, schedule, invoice, check files, and send data to authors and publishers. The Motherboard is deeply grateful for their time and efforts. We could not have offered this service without this amazing group of volunteers.

-- Broad Universe Motherboard