Toni Weisskopf (born Antonia Katherine Flora Weisskopf on December 12, 1965) is an American science fiction editor and the publisher of

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

. She has been nominated four times for a

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

. She has won the

Phoenix Award The Phoenix Award annually recognizes one English-language children's book published twenty years earlier that did not then win a major literary award. It is named for the mythical bird phoenix that is reborn from its own ashes, signifying the boo ...

, the Rebel Award, and the Neffy Award for best editor. She uses the

nom de plume A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

T. K. F. Weisskopf as an anthology editor.

Biography

Weisskopf was born on December 12, 1965, in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

. Her family moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

when she was three years old, and then to

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

, when she was twelve. She graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in 1987 with a degree in anthropology. She has one daughter, Katherine, with

Jim Baen James Patrick Baen (, beɪn , ; October 22, 1943 – June 28, 2006) was a U.S. science fiction publisher and editor. In 1983, he founded his own publishing house, Baen Books, specializing in the adventure, fantasy, military science fiction, ...

. Following Baen's death, she married

Hank Reinhardt Julius Henry ("Hank") Reinhardt (January 18, 1934 – October 30, 2007) was an American author, editor, science fiction fan, and noted armorer and authority on medieval weaponry. He wrote as Hank Reinhardt, the nickname by which he was widely kno ...

, who died on October 30, 2007.

Career

Upon graduation in 1987, she was employed by

as an editorial assistant. She worked various jobs there until becoming executive editor, a job she had until the death of founder

in 2006. Since that time, she has been the publisher at Baen. She has edited a number of Baen anthologies under the name T. K. F. Weisskopf. She won the

in 1994 for excellence in

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, as well as the tongue-in-cheek Rubble Award, an anti-award given out annually to a fan or professional who has "done something humorously ignominious". Her first publication, a vampire anthology titled ''Tomorrow Sucks'', was co-edited with Greg Cox and published by Baen in 1994. A follow-up anthology, ''Tomorrow Bites'', was released in 1995. Weisskopf received the Rebel Award in 2000 for "lifetime achievement in Southern Science Fiction Fandom". Her next set of anthologies, ''Cosmic Tales: Adventures in Sol System'' (2004) and ''Cosmic Tales II: Adventures in Far Futures'' (2005) contained science fiction adventure stories. ''Transhuman'', an anthology co-edited with Mark L. Van Name, was published in February 2008. Weisskopf was the editor guest of honor for the 2010

North American Science Fiction Convention NASFiC, an abbreviation for North American Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention scheduled in North America during years when a Worldcon is being held outside North America; NASFiCs are held only during such years. Bids for ...

ReConStruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. She was nominated for a

four times in the Best Professional Editor category: in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. She was awarded the Neffy Award as Best Editor in 2015. In February 2015 Toni was an Editor Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 33rd annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium. In 2020, she co-edited with Christopher Woods an anthology, ''Give Me LibertyCon'', that established a scholarship in honor of Timothy Bolgeo, founder of LibertyCon, an annual science fiction convention in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

. She was announced in July 2020 as the Editor Guest of Honor for Discon III, the 79th

World Science Fiction Convention Worldcon, officially the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during Wor ...

. Due to controversies over the online community Baen's Bar maintained by

, she was removed as Editor Guest of Honor on February 19, 2021.

Bibliography

Weisskopf edited the following anthologies as T. K. F. Weisskopf: * ''Tomorrow Sucks'' with Greg Cox (October 1994,

Baen Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

, ) * ''Tomorrow Bites'' with Greg Cox (October 1995, Baen, ) * ''Cosmic Tales: Adventures in Sol System'' (June 2004, Baen, ) * ''Cosmic Tales II: Adventures in Far Futures'' (February 2005, Baen, ) * ''Transhuman'' with Mark L. Van Name (February 2008, Baen, ) * ''Give Me LibertyCon'' with Christopher Woods (June 2020, Baen, ) * ''Onward, Libertycon!'' with Christopher Woods (June 2022 Woods Publishing, )

Awards and recognition

Weisskopf has received the following awards and recognition:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisskopf, Toni 1965 births Baen Books Living people Oberlin College alumni American science fiction editors American speculative fiction editors American women editors People from Waltham, Massachusetts