WRITERSoftheFUTURE.com

Thanks for the kind words, Preston! And the link (whoops lol)

Congrats wiseserpent and Ishmael!

Also have a story of my own out today-an early version of which was a shm a little ways back.

You can read it (free!) over at syntax and salt

So is there a general feeling that having complex longer stories (between 15k and 17k) with multiple viewpoints may not be as competitive, even if they're otherwise sold? I'd not considered this. My woefully unqualified opinion is that no matter where you submit, you start edging into the realm of ...

Very pleased to announce that my new story "Korba's Revenge," is now live at Stupefying Stories! It's my first attempt at steampunk. (2000 words). Here's the link if you'd like to take a peek: https://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/2018/09/showcase-korbas-revenge-by-preston.html wotf026 w...

I saw that on Twitter! What an awesome idea, going to grab one shortly

congrats to those of you that have already heard back!

the way these are coming out makes me wonder if they're being sent as each piece is read individually rather than in waves once everything's been sorted

preston wrote:

WiseSerpent wrote:I got a story published in Swords & Sorcery Magazine Issue 79. August 2018!

Congrats! A very vivid and inventive story. Well done. I enjoyed it very much.

seconded!

and congrats as well, Ishmael!

And to Ym Pang!

roughly 12 months wotf027 That's the best thing to be twitching for but the wait has to be unbearable. Your story and three others go before a full panel of judges right? yup! the wait, surprisingly, isn't all that bad—the golden pen thing just sorta feels like a potential-but-unlikely bonus, thoug...

And after that-if you get the call-you get to have a miniature heart attack every time the phone rings for several weeks while you wait for the final decision. Pretty sure I lost a pound or two from all the unexpected cardio How much do you think you will twitch while waiting to see if you win firs...

This is my first time jumping into the forums, and Q3 V35 is my first WoTF entry, so I'm lurking here to read all these juicy posts from more experienced WoTF entrants. Good to know, KD, that we can expect another 2-3 weeks for announcements. How does it work? I think I read in here somewhere that ...

yeah that makes sense - thanks!

Semi-Finalist get a critique from the judge and cannot be re-submitted to the contest. Really?... I thought any story that wasn't a winner could be resubmitted??? nope, sadly semi-finalist stories are disqualified from further entry. read somewhere that it has to do with keeping the contest from bo...

Well this is my first post on the "sucess" thread. .. I just got the news a few days ago that a short story of mine as been accepted into an anthology. (I'm dancing on the inside. Really. Otherwise a 40+ year old man dancing beside a public pool with a phone in his hand might just come of...

I think if you’ve got two stories of about the same quality ready for submission, it couldn’t hurt to trunk the similar one and send it out a bit later. At that point you’re just getting rid of a potential concern so why not. But if it were me and I felt like the similar one were stronger, I’d just ...

in general, agents expect that you're querying widely, but often ask that if you're offered representation before they've responded to your query you let them know and give them a week or so to respond (to decline or ask for pages). You might get a request for an exclusive somewhere along the way, t...

oooh thanks for the heads up!

bobsandiego wrote:so Q2 vol 34 I posted that Dave had returned me to the dog house.
Last week I found out that this year, this Q2, I am a finalist.
It doesn't seem real.

Congrats! I'll be pulling for you!

pcmccollum wrote:Wow, did not expect this...



Now to submit a story for Q3!

congrats! that's already a pro quality story, and I bet the critique will be super useful.

and congrats to all the hm/shm folks as well! Anything within the top 10% is just awesome.

congrats, that's awesome! personally I never reply since those emails are often automatically generated when a reader puts a story forward, and generally speaking the editor who is emailing you probably hasn't had a chance to read the piece yet themselves. doubt it would hurt you if you replied, but...

That was a great read! Such an uplifting story

Welcome to the forums and congrats on submitting your first story! By far the hardest send button to hit. Let the twitching begin!

I think you're fine. I've always personally included the information on the MS unless explicitly told not to and have never had a problem.

ohh, thanks for the details on PodCastle, Matt, that's good stuff. I love all the Escape Artist markets. I don't have anything half as informative to say, but as for Apex: we don't generally personalize responses (at least at the first level), so don't ever let a form get you down or make you feel l...

thanks all! very, very surreal

welp, took some time to let everything sink in, buuut wotf059 first place! looks like you and I will be getting better acquainted, Preston! Congrats again! in related news, when Joni called I gave maybe the weirdest response ever? it went something like this: oh god thank you so much this is amazing...

My silver honorable had a bit of a literary bent to it - though in hindsight, I probably put too much focus on the language (at the expense of plot in particular). Would you consider it acceptable to retain a heavy literary or lyrical bend at the cost of readability if it didn't compromise the plot...

I got a finalist with a "literary" style. Quick scene changes, shifts between past and present tense, first person mixed with what could be called omniscient voice. Maybe its uniqueness is what got the finalist, but it might also be why it didn't win. wotf017 Thanks for sharing. I'd be in...

i feel you. i just had a market that doesn't ask for revisions very often ask me to make some pretty specific ones, so I went ahead and made them, then they told me that the story was worse for the changes I'd made and rejected it. i dont take the rejection personally, but man, a little surprised th...

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!

Hi all! Figured I'd drop by and say hello. I've been following the contest for a while now, but my first entry was Q4 of 2017, and I was lucky enough to get a SHM. Like everyone else, I'm sitting here twitching over the Q1 results. I've sold a couple of stories, most recently to DSF, but I've mostly...