WRITERSoftheFUTURE.com

"I think this is a meme," Jeremy said. I looked at him with confusion, not understanding young whippersnapper terminology, and he understood that my 31 year old self needed a translation. "We got trolled." As a 26-year-old high school teacher, I feel that translations between yo...

The final outcome of the contest is always the annual anthology. I'm sure Dave wants to make sure there's a little bit of everything in that anthology -- a melting pot flavored by all the subgenres found inside fantasy and science fiction. So you might submit an amazing fantasy story in Q4, but if ...

preston wrote:Loved your story too, Jeremy, "The Minarets of An-Zabat." It was so suspenseful and original. Loved the vivid imagery, and your characters are so real.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

You have no idea why DF didn't put it in the Finalist pile, and the next market might buy it. Remember, pro-ing out is a GOOD outcome too. Send it to Clarkesword, Lightspeed, F&SF, and so on. I'll echo this and say that two of my four professional sales in the last year were stories that got HM...

Sataris wrote:just got off the phone with joni, who was lovely as you'd expect—finalist this time! still shaking a little bit. best of luck all!

Congrats! Now try not to twitch yourself to death before you hear final results (about six weeks for me, last year).

Here's an idea, since Sean Hazlett dropped by (hi Sean!). Why don't we fill the short jaunt to 5000 with advice on how to win the contest from former winners. It can be something you did that turned the page, something you learned at the workshop, something someone told you on a critique, advice fr...

Since for many reasons I haven't been hanging around here on the forum I didn't know who from here got to me on the show tonight. I caught one guy with long hair who mentioned the forum but they don't put up the names long enough to get more than a glance at them. Thought there might be more activi...

Hello all, checking in briefly. They’ve got us running pretty hard, but we’re all in the midst of the 24 hour story right now. Let’s see what I can pull out of a hat being inspired by a single one dollar bill. Well by my calculations you only owe them 16 words at pro-rates; 17, if you're generous w...

jficke13 wrote:I just checked in for my flight out to LA. It's almost like it's actually happening.

I'll see you there tomorrow, Jon!

And thanks, KD! I'm literally vibrating with excitement.

Hi Katie! Welcome and good luck in the contest! I should warn you though that because submissions are anonymous and some judges check these forums, you should try to keep the details of your story secret.

YM Pang wrote:I sold a story to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. *faints*

Blogged about it here: http://www.ympang.com/i-sold-a-story-to ... e-fiction/

It's close to April Fool's. Wouldn't blame y'all if you didn't believe me.

Wow! Congrats!

AliRae wrote:I’m having a hard time keeping my cool waiting. Checks inbox again.

'round these parts we call that "twitching."

It varies from venue to venue, but in general a form rejection is going to be 90% identical to rejections being sent out to other authors. Some venues have multiple form rejections that they send out (for example, Lightspeed seems to have a few) but these are still forms, though some may be "hi...

You would be right that F&SF and FFO are not "all-personal" rejections, so congrats on those!

In general, I wouldn't change the cover letter because of a past personal rejection. Whether or not they remember you probably will have little bearing on the decision of whether or not to buy the next story you submit. The decision of whether or not to buy a story has everything to do with that par...

What a great story Rebecca! The imagery was so vivid and the characters so well drawn.

That's very interesting. My only question would be, since Dave has been the first reader of the contest for several years now, wouldn't he recognize the same story submitted more than once? I wonder if that would pre-bias his read of the rewrite. I imagine you're right. That said, I found it very u...

The cover is so good and I still can't believe Brandon Sanderson is in our table of contents. wotf015 I also have an eARC (a different one from Jon's) with my story and the second and third place stories from quarter one in it. If you're interested in reading and reviewing that one too, drop me a li...

I’m not ready! Last year it was March. I’m not ready, I have to focus! *hunkers protectively over Q2 submission” Weird though it may sound, getting results earlier tends to help me focus. It gets that worry out of the way so I can move on XD I felt the same way! Good luck you guys! Hoping for the b...

I mentioned being accepted into an anthology of game-tie-in fiction a few months ago and the publisher finally announced it: http://azurekeep.com/portfolio/tales-of-ruma/ Looks like Dave and I are going to be anthology buddies again. /channels Matt Dovey and celebrates success whilst stabbing malic...

I signed the contract, so I guess I can announce that my novelette "An Empty Cup" will be appearing in the upcoming Spring issue of Deep Magic! wotf007 I wasn't sure I would ever be able to sell this one, but it does have sort of a YA tone, so I guess Deep Magic decided they wanted it! Wh...

I signed the contract, so I guess I can announce that my novelette "An Empty Cup" will be appearing in the upcoming Spring issue of Deep Magic! wotf007 I wasn't sure I would ever be able to sell this one, but it does have sort of a YA tone, so I guess Deep Magic decided they wanted it! Whi...

FYI, forgot to mention that my certificate arrived on Wednesday! Now to go shopping for frames... wotf013 I never framed my HM certificates. I left them on the desk by where I write to remind myself that "hey, you can maybe sorta do this, keep writing." Now that I think of it, they coulda...

"other matters", he says casually wotf001 *casually glances to the left* *casually glances to the right* *whispers* plane tickets, ok? It was about plane tickets... Glad to see things are a little more organised this time--I didn't get my ticket confirmation until March, only 4 weeks befo...

I've been in contact with Joni about other matters recently, and she is swamped with finishing up Q4 stuff, which I take to mean she is in the process of getting all of those certificates out to you lovely people. wotf008 "other matters", he says casually wotf001 *casually glances to the ...

I've been in contact with Joni about other matters recently, and she is swamped with finishing up Q4 stuff, which I take to mean she is in the process of getting all of those certificates out to you lovely people.

You're welcome.

I'm not sure this advice has much to do with my win, though. That story was the only one on the docket to submit at the time.

I love that people are already jumping into the Q2 waters! With my current pace of writing, I'm now running into a problem I've never faced--choosing which story to submit. Given the prolificness of everyone here, I'm assuming I'm not the only one with this predicament...so how do you choose? wotf0...

Hey all, I heard a rumor and was wondering about it - thought I might ask here. On a whim, I submitted a story to F&SF in September and my rejection letter from Mr. Finlay was signed, "Best regards, Charlie". Then a little birdie told me that "getting a Charlie" is a thing (...

This might be jumping the gun a bit, but seeing how a lot of forum members have already turned in their Q4 stories and are working on Q1, I thought I'd start this thread. For Q1 I'm writing a Fantasy. My last three entries have been more science fiction. I love science fiction, love to read it, but...