Discussion: Q4 Volume 36

[Wulf Moon]

wotf056 It’s Thursday!

Well done, Becky! YOU JUST LEVELED UP AGAIN!

Congratulations! Silver HM means you were in Dave's final stack. It means you wrote professionally. Well done!

[Wulf Moon]

HM for me. My first submission so I am excited! Thanks to Moon and other forumites for all the great advice in the Super Secrets thread. Now where to send my 13,000-word behemoth?!

To get an HM on your first try? That is quite an accomplishment, Officer! Well done to you and to all that submitted!

[Wulf Moon]

Silver HM. In the top 50 stories out of thousands. Which makes my day.

Nice work, Corbin! That's top 50 out of the best aspiring writers IN THE WORLD. You were in Dave's final stack! Well done!

~Moon~

[LambentTyto]

Honorable Mention for me. I wish we knew how many entrants, because that's basically like top 10%, right?

[Wulf Moon]

Congrats Becky and Peony!!!

Ditto that from me. You guys seriously ROCK!
Congrats to ALL you guys who entered this quarter. Now let's work harder.
I got an HM . . . when I expected an R. Needless to say, I am elated!

It's time to get busy again (had my knee replaced 3 weeks ago - still recovering) on Q1v37.

Congrats, Dragonchef! Sorry about the knee. Hoping you'll be back on your feet in no time!

Cheers!

Moon

[disgruntledpeony]

Honorable Mention for me. I wish we knew how many entrants, because that's basically like top 10%, right?

Last quarter, it was top 2%. Not sure about this one.

[LambentTyto]

Honorable Mention for me. I wish we knew how many entrants, because that's basically like top 10%, right?

Last quarter, it was top 2%. Not sure about this one.

Wow, that's not much. But how do you know that?

[Wulf Moon]

Honorable Mention for me. I wish we knew how many entrants, because that's basically like top 10%, right?

Joni keeps the total number of entries secret so as not to discourage aspiring writers from entering. But Dave has publicly said "thousands" each quarter, so it's out there. As to 10% of all entries, that's not really true. HMs are merit based. They are not percentage based. As Kevin J. Anderson once told me at the Seattle WotF gala, "Even getting one HM is a BIG DEAL. They don't give those things out lightly."

Enjoy!

~Moon~

[Corbin Maxwell]

Silver HM. In the top 50 stories out of thousands. Which makes my day.

Nice work, Corbin! That's top 50 out of the best aspiring writers IN THE WORLD. You were in Dave's final stack! Well done!

~Moon~

Thank you very much.

[Wulf Moon]

SHM That’s encouraging. I’d rather win of course but I’ll take it.

So excited for Liz!

Heh, proud of you, Chuck. I know you've been doing the work! Well done! YOU JUST LEVELED UP!

To make Dave's final stack means he had to decide between VERY good stories. It's often very fine points that separate out the finalists. Keep submitting guys! You're there! Getting an SHM and above means you were a final contender this past Q. It means you can do it again!

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

[Corbin Maxwell]

Honorable Mention for me. I wish we knew how many entrants, because that's basically like top 10%, right?

Joni keeps the total number of entries secret so as not to discourage aspiring writers from entering. But Dave has publicly said "thousands" each quarter, so it's out there. As to 10% of all entries, that's not really true. HMs are merit based. They are not percentage based. As Kevin J. Anderson once told me at the Seattle WotF gala, "Even getting one HM is a BIG DEAL. They don't give those things out lightly."

Enjoy!

~Moon~

This makes my 11th HM. My first wasn’t even called an HM. They were called quarter-finalist, but I guess that was a bit misleading so it was changed.

[Wulf Moon]

Honorable Mention for me. I wish we knew how many entrants, because that's basically like top 10%, right?

Joni keeps the total number of entries secret so as not to discourage aspiring writers from entering. But Dave has publicly said "thousands" each quarter, so it's out there. As to 10% of all entries, that's not really true. HMs are merit based. They are not percentage based. As Kevin J. Anderson once told me at the Seattle WotF gala, "Even getting one HM is a BIG DEAL. They don't give those things out lightly."

Enjoy!

~Moon~

This makes my 11th HM. My first wasn’t even called an HM. They were called quarter-finalist, but I guess that was a bit misleading so it was changed.

Corbin: I believe quarter-finalist was actually the old term for semifinalist back in AJ's day (Algis Budrys). Feel good about that. :)

[dosmax]

HM for me. My fifth one. It feels like a bit of a comedown after the SHM in Q2. Any tips for getting off the HM train and leveling up?

[CCrawford]

(I tried to post this once before but it vanished so if this duplicates, sorry...)

Congrats to the finalists (yay, disgruntledpeony!!!) and SHM and HMs!

R for me this time, but that just means I get to keep trying! :)

"Keep moving forward."

[Thomas Woodward]

Congrats to everyone, whether you placed or not. I just sent my HM out to Asimov's. The best way to move on is to send it out to the next market.

[CarolynIvyStein]

Honorable Mention for me 11/23 making my second HM and one R.

Onward!

[disgruntledpeony]

Honorable Mention for me. I wish we knew how many entrants, because that's basically like top 10%, right?

Last quarter, it was top 2%. Not sure about this one.

Wow, that's not much. But how do you know that?

Joni said so in a friend's HM e-mail last quarter.

[Wulf Moon]

HM for me. My fifth one. It feels like a bit of a comedown after the SHM in Q2. Any tips for getting off the HM train and leveling up?

Write a better story than anyone else. : )

It takes time (see the WotF Pournelle video). Every story is your practice session. But you can improve your practice sessions by studying the basics and making sure you execute them properly. Having a pro critique your writing also helps, because they know how to create professional work and can show you where it's not working in your story.

Keep at it.

~Moon~

[Wulf Moon]

Remember, semifinalists now come later, so if you haven't gotten the call but have no results in the next few days, it's very possible you're a semifinalist.

[Corbin Maxwell]

Joni keeps the total number of entries secret so as not to discourage aspiring writers from entering. But Dave has publicly said "thousands" each quarter, so it's out there. As to 10% of all entries, that's not really true. HMs are merit based. They are not percentage based. As Kevin J. Anderson once told me at the Seattle WotF gala, "Even getting one HM is a BIG DEAL. They don't give those things out lightly."

Enjoy!

~Moon~

This makes my 11th HM. My first wasn’t even called an HM. They were called quarter-finalist, but I guess that was a bit misleading so it was changed.

Corbin: I believe quarter-finalist was actually the old term for semifinalist back in AJ's day (Algis Budrys). Feel good about that. :)

It wasn’t that far back. 2006 or so.

[jbaugher001]

HM for me -- darn I really believed in this story.

On to the next one ;)

[SwiftPotato]

HM for me -- darn I really believed in this story.

On to the next one ;)

Hey, that's still really good! Congrats on the certificate!

[Henckel]

This is my first silver. I'm pretty happy about that.

My sincere congratulations to everyone who enterd.

[disgruntledpeony]

HM for me -- darn I really believed in this story.

On to the next one ;)

Keep believing! I highly recommend sending your story to other markets. Whether it sells or not, getting an HM means it's definitely got potential.

wotf056

This is my first silver. I'm pretty happy about that.

My sincere congratulations to everyone who enterd.

Congratulations, Henckel!

Dude, there are a lot of silver HMs among the forumites this time around. It's super exciting!

[chuckt]

wotf056

This is my first silver. I'm pretty happy about that.

My sincere congratulations to everyone who enterd.

Congrats! Yes, there are a few of us this time and I think we've all gotten help from Wulf. Thanks Wulf. You've been incredibly generous with your time and talent.

[RSchibler]

Congrats! Yes, there are a few of us this time and I think we've all gotten help from Wulf. Thanks Wulf. You've been incredibly generous with your time and talent.

Indeed. Thanks Wulf. It's greatly appreciated.

Congratulations to the HMs and the SHMs! Commiserations to the Rs - it's rough to get that email. Use it as motivation to write an even better story for Q1! And special congratulations to DisgruntledPeony on her FINALIST! Woohoo!

[Henckel]

Congratulations, Henckel!

Dude, there are a lot of silver HMs among the forumites this time around. It's super exciting!

Your great peer review helped helps.

And congratulations on making Finalist!!!!! That's super awesome!

[thegirlintheglasses]

Congratulations guys! Finalist and SEVERAL SILVERS!!!!!! You guys rock.

Another HM for me. :) Fingers crossed for Liz! Really hope we get someone from last year's challenge on that stage!

[JVAshley]

R for me

Congrats HMs and SHM! Particular congrats, Henckel! I read your story and you deserve it.
disgruntledpeony, my hopes are pinned to you!!!

[chuckt]

So Liz will probably hear in a week to ten days?