Discussion - Q2 - Volume 35

[beavs007]

Rejected.

But apparently the “good news” is that I can get access to writing tips that only winners were allowed to see before...

[Galen]

I'm hit!! Need to eject, got to... BZZZZZZZZZZT (<---- insert sound of radio static)

"R" for me. Commiserations for those of you in the same boat, er plane! And congrats to those who get to keep on twitching.

[thestoryteller]

They sent me two rejection emails in a row so it must have been really bad...

It was a first submission so I'll just keep trying. Also, they did mention tips that are available which is pretty cool. Good luck to everyone else!

[amoskalik]

I'm out. But the good news is, my Rs sell better than HMs, so off to the Grinder!

[dosmax]

Got an HM. Always hoping for more, but pretty happy regardless. And now I've brought my R:HM ratio back to 1:1. Good luck to everyone still waiting!

[KD Julicher]

HM for me. Now I can start twitching for Q3!

[michaeljwyantjr]

HM here

[morganb]

Another R to add to my list.

[AliciaCay]

HM's are going out also... landed myself yet another one.

~A

[Wulf Moon]

And I just got served. A silver honorable mention for Q2--the judge's way of saying if you give this another pass, it could be a finalist next time. This makes 12 honors out of the 13 times I've entered with David Farland as judge.

You're killin' me, Dave. : )

[Michael Kingswood]

And another HM for me.

This is getting repetitive. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

[WaywardSaint]

HM.

Onwards!

[YM Pang]

R. I kinda suspected it was too irreverent and unusual, but still.

[pcmccollum]

Wow, did not expect this...



Now to submit a story for Q3!

[Thomas Woodward]

R here. Congrats/commiserations to everyone and good luck in the next quarter!

[cfkreitzer@gmail.com]

Is there a difference between honorable mention and silver honorable mention? What does silver honorable mention even mean? how many get it? How many entrants? Still super stoked since I didn't even realize how big this contest was when I entered this Q2 for the first time ever. So excited. Wonder if I can come with something for Q3 before this saturday haha! It's doable right?

[reigheena]

Is there a difference between honorable mention and silver honorable mention? What does silver honorable mention even mean? how many get it? How many entrants? Still super stoked since I didn't even realize how big this contest was when I entered this Q2 for the first time ever. So excited. Wonder if I can come with something for Q3 before this saturday haha! It's doable right?

Silver Honorable Mentions are a tier above Honorable Mentions. There are dozens of HM, but only a handful of Silvers. For an idea of relative numbers - check https://www.writersofthefuture.com/writ ... 8-winners/

And I got a rejection. Both of my resubmissions got downgraded a tier this year. hopefully my brand new stories do better in Q3 and Q4!

[KristyEmber]

R. :(

[jficke13]

Is there a difference between honorable mention and silver honorable mention? What does silver honorable mention even mean? how many get it? How many entrants? Still super stoked since I didn't even realize how big this contest was when I entered this Q2 for the first time ever. So excited. Wonder if I can come with something for Q3 before this saturday haha! It's doable right?

I tried to delve into what an HM/SHM means in this post: https://jonficke.com/2017/12/17/what-an ... ion-means/

[Wulf Moon]

Is there a difference between honorable mention and silver honorable mention? What does silver honorable mention even mean? how many get it? How many entrants? Still super stoked since I didn't even realize how big this contest was when I entered this Q2 for the first time ever. So excited. Wonder if I can come with something for Q3 before this saturday haha! It's doable right?

It's doable. Due to my wife's health issues, I once had six hours before deadline and decided I didn't want the quarter to pass without a story. I wrote it in four hours, spent another two editing, and submitted it at 11:55 PM. It got HM. When you figure there's likely three thousand or more entries a quarter, anytime you get a certificate, it really is an honor. It says you are writing at or close to writing at a professional level.

So, HMs mean you got in Dave's second read pile, and he liked it. Not enough to go into his final pile, but he had to think about it. Good on you when you get one.

Silver Honorable Mention likely means you were in that final pile and Dave narrowed it down. If you watched Get Smart, you could say, "Missed it by THAT much." It also means he really liked it, so keep that in mind. For the record, Dave said there were about 14 Silvers this time.

Semifinalist means you were there, you made Dave sweat as he had to find some reason to cull eight from the sixteen he still had sitting there. Something made him say, "Not strong enough, because these were written better." It's arbitrary, because it's based on one man's opinion. But Dave's opinion is law in WOTF, so if you don't meet 100% of Dave's criteria, YOU'RE OUT! But you still get a cool critique, where he tries to help you see how to improve your writing. There are eight Semifinalists.

Finalist means YOU MADE IT! You get a RING OF POWER. Now you shall rule the publi...Wait, wrong story. Finalist means your story gets sent on to the panel of judges that choose the winners. Like HIGHLANDER, there can only be THREE! : ) The rest get their heads chopped off, but it's a clean cut, one chop, none of that dirty dull axe tricksiness. So, eight Finalists.

Three winners per quarter. First, Second, Third.

One Grand Prize Winner, from the First Place winners from each of the four quarters. Now can I say it? THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!

Hope that helps. Congrats to all that got honors, and congrats to all that entered. You are writing. You are sending. Keep it up! You're on the path.

Cheers!

~Moon~

[jficke13]

FWIW, and I didn't go back and edit my post about meaning of HM/SHM/etc., but in LA, DF said essentially that unless he gets a story that blows him away on the first read that is a "surefire finalist" he ends up with a pile of last-look stories that he then assembles his 8 F, 8 SF, and remainder SHM out of. So a SHM means you were knocking on the door every bit as much as a SF or F did. A different editor on a different day and you're in. Or, if there were 4 stunning sword and sorcery stories, and yours was a sword and sorcery story, it just might not have worked out. Dave is judging a contest, yes, but also assembling an anthology. He likes to pass a mix of stories on to the judges. Luck... it's got something to do with it from time to time.

[LDWriter2]

Another one lost-totally.

And I too received two rejections

[Dustin Adams]

Silver here.

I'm afraid I win't reach finalist again until I close in on 2k posts...

[preston]

Wow, guys! That was a big wave. My condolences to all the R's. Been there many times. Don't let it discourage you. Let it inspire you to do better! I think with so many entries, good stories can get lost in the shuffle.

Congrats to those who managed to earn an HM. An HM is the equivalent of making the second round, right? You were close.
Special congrats to Wulf and Dustin for your Silvers. That's sweet...and so darn close to semi-finalist and finalist.
Huge congrats to Phillip for your semi-finalist. Yikes! Next time, finalist!

Wonder if there was only one wave this time. Kind of feels like it with HMs, SHMs, and Semis already being reported. No word of any finalists yet? Hmmm...***starts looking around***who haven't we heard from yet?

[pcmccollum]

Thank you, Preston. Ever hopeful, but ever cautious in making finalist.

Congrats to the HMs, SHMs, SFs, and Fs.

My condolences as well for the Rs, but really, I want to say "Congratulations." It takes guts to pour your soul out onto the screen (or paper) and then to let someone else read it and judge it? That's worth celebrating.

Keep studying. Keep practicing. Keep pushing forward. I know I will.

[Henckel]

Wow, did not expect this...



Now to submit a story for Q3!

Congrats pcmccollum!

[Henckel]

Silver here.

I'm afraid I win't reach finalist again until I close in on 2k posts...

Congrats Dustin Adams!

[pcmccollum]

Wow, did not expect this...



Now to submit a story for Q3!

Congrats pcmccollum!

Thank you, Henckel!

[Ck Kemp]

HM here. I'll echo congratulations to everyone. It really does take guts to submit. Keep writing!

[Sataris]

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.