In 2017, we celebrated the highest number of entrants ever for both the Writers of the Future and the Illustrators of the Future Contests. For example, in the third quarter, we got some 27% more story entries than we had in the second, thus setting a new record, but in the fourth quarter we broke that record by another 25%. We love seeing this level of competition. It means that each quarter, we have a better chance of discovering great new talent.
We’ve now had entrants from 187 different countries, with our first entries this year from Palestine, Wallis and Futuna, Burundi, Andorra, Seychelles, and Benin.
Judges Who Passed in 2017
This past year we were saddened to lose two of our writing judges.
Dr. Jerry Pournelle passed away in September. He, of course, was famous for his megahit novels, such as Lucifer’s Hammer and The Mote in God’s Eye. He had also been a judge for the Writers of the Future Contest since its inception in 1983, so he helped mentor writers in the Contest for thirty-four years, always attending the awards ceremonies and speaking personally to the new winners during the writing seminars.
We also lost Dr. Yoji Kondo, a distinguished astrophysicist working with NASA since 1965. He wrote science fiction under the name of Eric Kotani. He was also an accomplished aikido instructor. Yoji passed away in October. He attended the Writers of the Future Awards ceremony each year with his wife and took great delight in encouraging our new writers.
Publications by Past Winners
Each year, we go to great lengths to try to discover what our past Writers and Illustrators of the Future winners have been up to, but given the proliferation of online books and magazines, any numbers we give out would probably not reflect everything that has been released. For example, we counted seventy novels by our writer winners this past year, but that doesn’t include the hundreds of short stories they published. The same is true for our illustrators, who continue to publish dozens of book covers, illustrated books, graphic novels, comics, and so on. And, of course, much of the artwork done by our illustrators goes into products like video games, movie and television designs, etc., and that art is only seen once the work hits the screen. Rather than attempt to list everything, we give the highlights in our awards section below.
Awards Won in 2017 by Our Past Writers and Illustrators
World Fantasy Awards: Rachael K. Jones was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award in the short story category for “The Fall Shall Further the Flight in Me,” which was published in the anthology Clockwork Phoenix. Karen Joy Fowler was a finalist for best anthology, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, which she edited along with John Joseph Adams. And Ken Liu was a finalist for his collection, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories.
Washington Science Fiction Awards (WSFA): Brad R. Torgersen was a finalist for the WSFA Small Press award for “Jupiter or Bust” (Intergalactic Medicine Show, Mar/Apr 2016). Aliette de Bodard was also a finalist for “A Salvaging of Ghosts” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Mar 2016).
Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic: James Allen Gardner was a finalist for his story “The Dog and the Sleepwalker,” which was published in the anthology Strangers Among Us.
Aurora Awards: Writers Contest judge Robert J. Sawyer won Canada’s Aurora Award for best novel for Quantum Night. He also won the Aurora Award for best novel of the decade for The Neanderthal Parallax.
Hugo Awards: Ken Liu was a finalist for best novel as translator for Death’s End, written by Cixin Liu. Also, Carolyn Ives Gilman was a finalist with her short story “Touring with the Alien,” (Clarkesworld, Apr 2016).
The David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy: The Morningstar Award for best fantasy debut went to Megan E. O’Keefe for her novel Steal the Sky. Meanwhile, the award for best fantasy novel went to Writers Contest judge Brandon Sanderson for The Bands of Mourning.
Locus Awards: Ken Liu was a finalist for best fantasy novel for The Wall of Storm. David D. Levine was a finalist for best first novel for Arabella of Mars. Aliette de Bodard placed as a finalist for her novelette “Pearl” published in the anthology The Starlit Wood. Aliette de Bodard scored a finalist for “A Salvaging of Ghosts” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Mar 2016), Ken Liu for “Seven Birthdays” from the anthology Bridging Infinity; and past winner and current judge Nnedi Okorafor for “Afrofuturist 419” (Clarkesworld, Nov 2016).
The award for best collection went to Ken Liu for The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. Ken Liu was also nominated for Invisible Planets: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese SF in Translation.
The Locus Award for best art book honored past winner and current Illustrator Contest judge Shaun Tan for his book The Singing Bones.
Shaun Tan and Illustrators of the Future judge Bob Eggleton were finalists for best artist.
Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award: Carolyn Ives Gilman won second place for her story “Touring with the Alien” (Clarkesworld, Apr 2016).
Ditmar Awards: Jason Fischer was a finalist for his novelette “By the Laws of Crab and Woman” (Review of Australian Fiction Volume 17, Issue 6). Also, Cat Sparks won for best short story with “No Fat Chicks” published in the anthology In Your Face. Tim Napper was a finalist in the short story category with “Flame Trees,” which he wrote while in our writing workshop (Asimov’s, Apr/May 2016). Tim was also a finalist for best new writer. For the best art Ditmar Award, WotF contest winner, Shauna O’Meara was a finalist for her illustrations in Lackington’s Issue #12.
James Tiptree Jr. Literary Award: Rachael K. Jones was on the honor list for “The Night Bazaar for Women Becoming Reptiles” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Jul 2016).
Compton Crook Award: David D. Levine was a finalist for his novel Arabella of Mars.
Nebula Awards: William Ledbetter won the Nebula Award for Best Novelette with “The Long Fall Up” (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/Jun 2016).
Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Novel in Science Fiction and Fantasy: David D. Levine won for Arabella of Mars.
Analog Award: C. Stuart Hardwick was a finalist for his novelette “Dreams of the Rocket Men.” The award for best short story went to Frank Wu for “In the Absence of Instructions to the Contrary” (Nov 2016). The best cover award went to Illustrator Contest judge Vincent Di Fate (Dec 2016). Other finalists included Eldar Zakirov (Mar 2016), and judge Bob Eggleton (Jun and Apr).
Asimov’s Readers’ Awards: The winner for the short story category was James Alan Gardner, with “The Mutants Men Don’t See” (Aug 2016).
Aurealis Awards: Nick T. Chan won for best novella with “Salto Mortal” (Lightspeed, Jun 2016). The winner for best short story was Samantha Murray for “Of Sight, of Mind, of Heart,” (Clarkesworld, Nov 2016), and a finalist for best short story went to Ian McHugh for “The Baby Eaters” (Asimov’s, Jan 2016).
In the category of best fantasy novella, Jason Fischer was a finalist for “By the Laws of Crab and Woman.”
T. R. Napper won best horror story with “Flame Trees” while another finalist was R.P.L. Johnson for “Non-Zero Sum” published in SNAFU: Hunters. Shauna O’Meara was a finalist for best young adult short story with “No One Here Is Going to Save You” from the anthology In Your Face.
And in the category of children’s fiction, Lee Battersby was a finalist with Magrit.
The Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award went to our writing judge Robert J. Sawyer.
Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Past illustrator judge Jack Kirby was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
This is the news from 2017, and we are looking forward to another stellar year!
For Contest Year 34, the winners are:
Writers of the Future Contest Winners
First Quarter
1. Jeremy TeGrotenhuis
The Minarets of An-Zabat
2. Diana Hart
Miss Smokey
3. Janey Be
ll
The Face in the Box
Second Quarter
1. Vida Cruz
Odd and Ugly
2. Amy Henrie Gillett
All Light and Darkness
3. Eneasz Brodski
Flee, My Pretty One
Third Quarter
1. Darci Stone
Mara’s Shadow
2. Erik Bundy
Turnabout
3. N. R. M. Roshak
A Bitter Thing
Fourth Quarter
1. Erin Cairns
A Smokeless and Scorching Fire
2. Cole Hehr
What Lies Beneath
3. Jonathan Ficke
The Howler on the Sales Floor
Illustrators of the Future Contest Winners
First Quarter
Bruce Brenneise
Duncan Halleck
Anthony Moravian
Second Quarter
Adar Darnov
Reyna Rochin
Brenda Rodriguez
Third Quarter
Alana Fletcher
Maksym Polishchuk
Jazmen Richardson
Fourth Quarter
Quintin Gleim
Sidney Lugo
Kyna Tek
NEW WRITERS!
L. Ron Hubbard’s
Writers of the
Future Contest
* * *
Opportunity for new and amateur writers of new short stories or novelettes of science fiction or fantasy.
No entry fee is required.
Entrants retain all publication rights.
ALL AWARDS ARE ADJUDICATED BY PROFESSIONAL WRITERS ONLY.
Prizes every three months: $1,000, $750, $500 Annual Grand Prize: $5,000 additional!
Don’t delay! Send your entry now!
To submit your entry electronically go to:
www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest
E-mail: [email protected]
To submit your entry via mail send to:
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest
7051 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, California 90028
WRITERS’ CONTEST RULES
* * *
1. No entry fee is required, and all rights in the story remain the property of the author. All types of science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy are welcome.
2. By submitting to the Contest, the entrant agrees to abide by all Contest rules.
3. All entries must be original works, in English. Plagiarism, which includes the use of third-party poetry, song lyrics, characters or another person’s universe, without written permission, will result in disqualification. Excessive violence or sex, determined by the judges, will result in disqualification. Entries may not have been previously published in professional media.
4. To be eligible, entries must be works of prose, up to 17,000 words in length. We regret we cannot consider poetry, or works intended for children.
5. The Contest is open only to those who have not professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Professional publication is deemed to be payment of at least six cents per word, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits.
6. Entries submitted in hard copy must be typewritten or a computer printout in black ink on white paper, printed only on the front of the paper, double-spaced, with numbered pages. All other formats will be disqualified. Each entry must have a cover page with the title of the work, the author’s legal name, a pen name if applicable, address, telephone number, e-mail address and an approximate word count. Every subsequent page must carry the title and a page number, but the author’s name must be deleted to facilitate fair, anonymous judging.
Entries submitted electronically must be double-spaced and must include the title and page number on each page, but not the author’s name. Electronic submissions will separately include the author’s legal name, pen name if applicable, address, telephone number, e-mail address and approximate word count.
7. Manuscripts will be returned after judging only if the author has provided return postage on a self-addressed envelope.
8. We accept only entries that do not require a delivery signature for us to receive them.
9. There shall be three cash prizes in each quarter: a First Prize of $1,000, a Second Prize of $750, and a Third Prize of $500, in US dollars. In addition, at the end of the year the winners will have their entries rejudged, and a Grand Prize winner shall be determined and receive an additional $5,000. All winners will also receive trophies.
10. The Contest has four quarters, beginning on October 1, January 1, April 1 and July 1. The year will end on September 30. To be eligible for judging in its quarter, an entry must be postmarked or received electronically no later than midnight on the last day of the quarter. Late entries will be included in the following quarter and the Contest Administration will so notify the entrant.
11. Each entrant may submit only one manuscript per quarter. Winners are ineligible to make further entries in the Contest.
12. All entries for each quarter are final. No revisions are accepted.
13. Entries will be judged by professional authors. The decisions of the judges are entirely their own, and are final.
14. Winners in each quarter will be individually notified of the results by phone, mail or e-mail.
15. This Contest is void where prohibited by law.
16. To send your entry electronically, go to:
www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest and follow the instructions.
To send your entry in hard copy, mail it to:
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest
7051 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California 90028
17. Visit the website for any Contest rules updates at www.writersofthefuture.com
NEW ILLUSTRATORS!
L. Ron Hubbard’s
Illustrators of the
Future Contest
* * *
Opportunity for new science fiction and fantasy artists worldwide.
No entry fee is required.
Entrants retain all publication rights.
ALL JUDGING BY PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS ONLY.
$1,500 in prizes each quarter. Quarterly winners compete for $5,000 additional annual prize!
Don’t delay! Send your entry now!
To submit your entry electronically go to:
www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-the-illustrator-contest
E-mail: [email protected]
To submit your entry via mail send to:
www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-the-illustrator-contest
L. Ron Hubbard’s Illustrators of the Future Contest
www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-the-illustrator-contest
7051 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, California 90028
ILLUSTRATORS’ CONTEST RULES
* * *
1. The Contest is open to entrants from all nations. (However, entrants should provide themselves with some means for written communication in English.) All themes of science fiction and fantasy illustrations are welcome: every entry is judged on its own merits only. No entry fee is required and all rights to the entry remain the property of the artist.
2. By submitting to the Contest, the entrant agrees to abide by all Contest rules.
3. The Contest is open to new and amateur artists who have not been professionally published and paid for more than three black-and-white story illustrations, or more than one process-color painting, in media distributed broadly to the general public. The ultimate eligibility criterion, however, is defined by the word “amateur”—in other words, the ar
tist has not been paid for his artwork. If you are not sure of your eligibility, please write a letter to the Contest Administration with details regarding your publication history. Include a self-addressed and stamped envelope for the reply. You may also send your questions to the Contest Administration via e-mail.
4. Each entrant may submit only one set of illustrations in each Contest quarter. The entry must be original to the entrant and previously unpublished. Plagiarism, infringement of the rights of others, or other violations of the Contest rules will result in disqualification. Winners in previous quarters are not eligible to make further entries.
5. The entry shall consist of three illustrations done by the entrant in a color or black-and-white medium created from the artist’s imagination. Use of gray scale in illustrations and mixed media, computer generated art, and the use of photography in the illustrations are accepted. Each illustration must represent a subject different from the other two.
6. ENTRIES SHOULD NOT BE THE ORIGINAL DRAWINGS, but should be color or black-and-white reproductions of the originals of a quality satisfactory to the entrant. Entries must be submitted unfolded and flat, in an envelope no larger than 9 inches by 12 inches.
7. All hard copy entries must be accompanied by a self-addressed return envelope of the appropriate size, with the correct US postage affixed. (Non-US entrants should enclose international postage reply coupons.) If the entrant does not want the reproductions returned, the entry should be clearly marked DISPOSABLE COPIES: DO NOT RETURN. A business-size self-addressed envelope with correct postage (or valid e-mail address) should be included so that the judging results may be returned to the entrant. We only accept entries that do not require a delivery signature for us to receive them.
8. To facilitate anonymous judging, each of the three photocopies must be accompanied by a removable cover sheet bearing the artist’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and an identifying title for that work. The reproduction of the work should carry the same identifying title on the front of the illustration and the artist’s signature should be deleted. The Contest Administration will remove and file the cover sheets, and forward only the anonymous entry to the judges.
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 34 Page 43
