L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest (4th quarter 2023)

Deadline: June 30, 2024

Competitions

Essay

Location(s)

  • Online

Overview

WELCOME TO THE WRITERS OF THE FUTURE - The most enduring and influential contest in the history of SF and Fantasy. L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest is an opportunity for new writers of science fiction and fantasy to have their work judged by some of the masters in the field and discovered by a wide audience.

This Contest will run from April 1, 2023, through June 30, 2023.

Details

The Contests

Writers & Illustrators of the Future

The L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests have left an indelible mark on the fields of science fiction and fantasy. With more than three decades of developing new professional writers and more than a quarter century of cultivating new professional illustrators, the impact that the two Contests have had on the field is impossible to measure.

Renowned author and critic Algis Budrys led the original Writers of the Future Contest, with a blue-ribbon panel of science fiction legends serving as judges: Dr. Gregory Benford, Robert Silverberg, Theodore Sturgeon, Jack Williamson, and Roger Zelazny. The first awards ceremony was held in 1985 in Beverly Hills, California.

But the Contest was formed for a purpose beyond simply giving awards—it was intended to help foster the next generation of master writers. Budrys developed a world-class workshop to accompany the awards ceremony. The prototype workshop was held in Taos, New Mexico, with fellow authors (and Contest judges) Frederik Pohl and Gene Wolfe.

Rules

  • 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.
  • Manuscripts will be returned after judging only if the author has provided return postage on a self-addressed envelope.
  • We accept only entries that do not require a delivery signature for us to receive them.
  • 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.
  • Each entrant may submit only one manuscript per quarter. Winners are ineligible to make further entries in the Contest.
  • All entries for each quarter are final. No revisions are accepted.
  • Entries will be judged by professional authors. The decisions of the judges are entirely their own and are final and binding.
  • Winners in each quarter will be individually notified of the results by phone, mail or e-mail.

ABOUT L. RON HUBBARD

A culture is only as great as it’s dreams. And it’s dreams are dreamed by artists.

In the 1930s and 1940s, through the heyday of pulp magazines that filled newsstands with countless pages of adventure in all genres, one especially prolific and accomplished writer set the bar high for his peers and aspiring authors alike, a man whose fiction has since sold nearly fifty million copies and is one of today’s most widely read authors.

L. Ron Hubbard all but defined what it means to be a successful writer, and throughout his career he freely passed along his knowledge of the craft. His creation and endowment of the Writers of the Future Contest in the final years of his life is a natural extension of many years of “paying it forward.”

Hubbard’s literary output was legendary—simultaneously the envy of his peers and a blessing to his fans. For years, he regularly penned about 100,000 words per month (the equivalent of a typical modern novel). From 1934 to 1940, he published an average of three stories every four weeks—more than 138 short stories, novellas and novels in seven years.

Opportunity is About


Eligibility

Candidates should be from:


Description of Ideal Candidate

  • All entries must be original works by the entrant, 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 eight cents per word, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits.

Dates

Deadline: June 30, 2024


Cost/funding for participants

  • No entry fee is required and entrants retain all publication rights.
  • Entries in the Writers of the Future Contest are adjudicated only by professional writers. Prizes of $1000, $750 and $500 are awarded every three months. From the four quarterly 1st Place winners each year, a panel of judges select one story as the grand prize winner. The writer of the grand-prize-winning story receives the L. Ron Hubbard Golden Pen Award and an additional $5000 cash prize.
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