*NOTE: This program is currently on hiatus.

Technology Exchange

“My very first computer in college was an Apple IIe, cobbled together by a friend out of spare parts; at that point, I was living on ramen, and certainly couldn’t have afforded a computer of my own. Even though it had a tendency to first heat up and then crash unexpectedly, and connected to the net at the painful rate of 300 baud, I wrote more than thirty stories in my first year with that computer. My second computer was a laptop, a Christmas present from a friend. It was used, and he’d found it on eBay, but I didn’t mind a few dents and dings. It gave me the freedom to take my work on the road, and in the years that followed, I spent a tremendous number of hours writing in cafes, when the silence of my tiny apartment grew unbearable.”

— Mary Anne Mohanraj

The SLF technology exchange program is intended to allow generous donors who have some extra tech to spare (in the form of laptops, printers, and cameras), to donate it to speculative writers who would appreciate having said spare items. Your old computer might be used to write a Hugo-winning novel; your old camera might be used to take research photos to lend a rich sense of place to a fabulous short story. And by donating through the SLF, you also get to claim your donation as a tax-deductible item.

At the moment we have two simple forms you can fill out: one for donors and one for recipients. A human being on our end will do their best to match you up.

Recipients are chosen on a first-come, first-served basis. Flexibility in preferred brands and specifications will naturally lead to a faster match. Although donors will need recipient contact info in order to mail the equipment to them, recipient and donor information will otherwise be kept completely confidential by the SLF; names will never be listed on our site.

The SLF is only responsible for matching up compatible interests; we will not be taking physical possession of any of the equipment, and we will be in no way held responsible for the state of the hardware/software.