Gideon Smith

Baen Award-Winning Fantasy Author

✏️@SFWA @BSFA @ApparitionLit @StupefyingSF @100FootCrow @shacklebound @blackharepress @WyldbloodPress @FfldScribes

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

So honored! So humbled!
Thank you @BaenBooks

[Baen Books @BaenBooks]

Baen Books Announces Winner of the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award

Gideon P. Smith takes home the top prize for his short story “Traitor to the Wolfguard’s Creed.”

Riverdale, New York, August 2025—Baen Books is pleased to announce Gideon P. Smith as the grand prize winner of the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award for short fiction. Smith’s story “Traitor to the Wolfguard’s Creed” was selected by Baen editorial staff and special guest judge, Baen author Kacey Ezell. Second place was awarded to April Pereira for her story “Guilded Dead.” The third-place winner was Kathleen Powell for her story “A Game with Death.” Also, honorable mentions go to “Staying Afloat” by Arthur H. Manners, and “The Void Within” by Tyler Bourassa.

Started in 2014, this is the twelfth annual Baen Fantasy Adventure Award. The award will be presented by Baen publisher Toni Weisskopf at DragonCon, which takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, from August 28 through September 1,2025. Baen Books presents this award to honor stories exemplifying the spirit of adventure, imagination, and great storytelling in a work of short fiction with a fantastic setting, whether epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, or contemporary fantasy.

As the grand prize winner, Smith will receive an engraved award and a prize package containing various Baen Books.

“When I saw the email, I thought maybe a band of trolls had hijacked my inbox—I had to read it three times before I believed it. It still feels surreal. Baen authors are the writers I grew up on; they’re my literary role models. So now to be a part of that tradition is both humbling and heartening,” Smith stated. He later went on to add, “I can’t think of a better home for this particular story than Baen. I’m thankful to the judges and Baen for recognizing my work, and look forward to continuing to tell the stories I care about.”

His story will be a featured story on the Baen main page starting September 2025 and available in the Baen Free Library after that.

https://t.co/zlIu7viUA0

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

@brclothwrites As you see the color of the comforter is irrelevant - you just needed more cats :)

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

@fantasy_art_z Fred. I know because we went to High School together. :)

Ok...silliness aside. It's a passion flower

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

My first pro-rate sale of the year just went live - Anomaly Magazine. Been trying to crack that market for a while now. :)

Microfiction (300 words).

Dystopian medical SciFi.

https://t.co/Lp4iqJgTsM

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

Excited to share, I am one of the ten finalists for the 2026 Jim Baen Memorial Award in #sciencefiction

So honored!

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

Thank you @BFBZine for being such a great editorial team to work with!!

My piece 'Honesty to a Vulture' in Issue 8 now online!!

https://t.co/AGFdZzh5w4

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

Had a great time speaking on panels at #Marscon this weekend — thanks to everyone who came to the panels on magic systems, fighting in fiction, and science in SF. Really fun discussions.

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

Do you remember when you joined X? I don't - because back then it was called twitter ;) Nevertheless the X-bot insists its been 10 years and created an anniversary post for me so I figured why not, I can post it :) Happy Tuesday everyone! #MyXAnniversary

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

@Hannya_Kay the first time you hold a copy of your work printed in a magazine/anthology is *definitely* a special moment - huzzah!!!

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

Love this anthology; read it in one sitting as the other authors weird wild west stories are *so* good! If weird wests your thing, check out those, and my story 'When Luck is Not Enough' - only a desperate man would pull up a stool at the card table against the God of luck

[Eric Fomley @PrinceGrimdark]

Out today! Twenty flash fiction stories of the weird wild west, infusing horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Check it out and snag a copy! https://t.co/xK9kwNgWZR

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

So excited this small weird post found its perfect home at @CrepuscularMag

[Crepuscular @CrepuscularMag]

"Unmedicated" by Gideon P Smith is now free to read!

https://t.co/uAcbLPIgf2

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

Off to #dragoncon tomorrow to receive the Baen Fantasy Award! Very excited to meet the Baen folks as well as anyone from here who might be there! https://t.co/vD9Kkvrs4g

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

Thank you @BaenBooks - my story Traitor to the Wolfguard's Creed now live and free to read on the Baen website!

[Baen Books @BaenBooks]

What's going on this week at Baen Books?

IT'S .@dragoncon!!!!!

Join Griffin Barber, D.J. Butler, @WarpCordova, @KaceyEzell1, @cegannon1, @ThingyInBrainy, A.C. Haskins, Walter H. Hunt, @LesAuthor, Casey Moores, @JodyLynnNye, @MelissaOlthoff, Phillip Pournelle, @GrayRinehart, Aaron Michael Ritchey, @MichaelARothman , @LydiaSherrer, S.M. Stirling, Toni Weisskopf, @Marisa_comeaux, and Timothy Zahn from August 28 to September 1 in Atlanta, GA.

We will be at Booth 1300 in the America's Mall Mart with The Missing Volume. https://t.co/31gVyUUg3Q

Also, there is a BRAND NEW free short story on the website. This week we're proud to bring you the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award-winning story, "Traitor to the Wolfguard's Creed" by @gideonpsmith! https://t.co/PkCRFlaMxw

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

@MsAshtonDennis love this cover! Was scrolling X and this made me stop and scroll back up for a proper look. congrats 😀

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

@KaiDelmas @CrepuscularMag Crepuscular is like an amuse bouche... small, but sooooo, soooo good :)
I'm so thrilled to be included in its pages!

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

One of my more shadowy stories found a home @CrepuscularMag Acceptance today—will share when it's live!

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

I wrote Traitor to the Wolfguard Creed while my kids were asleep, early in the morning, thinking no one would ever read it.

This week it won an award. Still stunned.

Thanks to everyone who's encouraged my writing along the way. Thank you @BaenBooks

#Fantasy #WritingLife

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

@KaiDelmas @BaenBooks thank you so much, Kai! I'm in shock. In a good way. But definitely in shock 😃

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

I’m excited and humbled (and honestly still processing!) to share that I’ve won the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award!

Huge thanks to the judges and the @BaenBooks team. This story means a lot to me, and I couldn’t imagine a better home for it. 🐉⚔️✨

https://t.co/KoAF3Oz7cQ

[Gideon Smith @gideonpsmith]

Thank you @BaenBooks!
Yay, I made finalist 😲
In disbelief but couldn't be happier😀
congrats to all finalists, and all who entered, for believing in yourself and putting your work out there!

https://t.co/JKlDAEaEwW