Writer Contest Rules

1. No entry fee is required, and all rights in the story remain the property of the author. All types of science fiction, fantasy, and dark fantasy are welcome.

2. By submitting to the L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future quarterly contests (“Contest”), the entrant agrees to abide by all Contest rules.

3. All entries must be original works by the entrant, in English. Plagiarism of any length will result in disqualification. The entrant’s work must be created in its entirety by the entrant and cannot be generated, in whole or in part, by Artificial Intelligence. Any work generated in whole, or in part, by Artificial Intelligence, as determined in the Contest Administrator’s sole discretion, will be disqualified and any prize awarded based on such submission will be forfeited. Excessive violence or sex and the use of profane, vulgar, racist or offensive words or images, as solely determined by the judges, will result in the story being rejected.

4. Eligible entries must be works of prose, either short stories (under 10,000 words) or novelettes (under 17,000 words) in length. We regret we cannot consider poetry, works intended for children, plays, screenplays, treatments, outlines, partial manuscripts, children’s picture books or grade school books, memoirs, mystery or horror stories that lack a speculative element, fan-fiction, scholarship essays, and work that’s already published. Vignettes, writings of scenes without story elements and plot are also not accepted.

5. Entries may not have been previously published in professional media. 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.

6. Entries may be submitted to the Contest electronically or hard copy via mail:

a) Entries submitted electronically must be double-spaced and must include the title of the work and page number on each page, but do not include the author’s name. The first time an entrant logs to electronically upload their entry, they will provide the author’s legal name, pen name if applicable, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and approximate word count. The author’s name and/or any contact information must not be included on the story manuscript itself to facilitate fair, anonymous judging. If the author’s name and/or any contact information is included on the story manuscript, it will be disqualified. To submit your entry electronically, go to: www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest and follow the instructions.

b) If entries are submitted in hard copy form, they 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. 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. To send your entry in hard copy, mail it to:

L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest
7051 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90028.

7. The Contest year starts each year on October 1st and ends on September 30th of the following year.

8. The Contest year has four quarters: October 1stto December 31st; January 1st to March 31st; April 1st to June 30th; and July 1st to September 30th. To be eligible for judging in a quarterly contest, an entry must be postmarked or received electronically no later than midnight (Pacific Time) on the last day of that quarter. Late entries will be included in the judging for the following quarter and the Contest Administrator will so notify the entrant should this occur.

9. For each of the quarterly contests, there shall be three cash prizes: a First Prize of $1,000, a Second Prize of $750, and a Third Prize of $500, in US dollars. All quarterly winners will also receive trophies at the annual award ceremony.

10. Winners for each quarter will be individually notified of the results by phone, mail, or e-mail as soon as possible after the judging of the quarter has been completed and received by the Contest Administrator. The winners of each quarter will also be announced in the Writers & Illustrators of the Future monthly newsletter. The above cash prizes will be paid to the winners of each quarter within 60 days of the winners being announced.

11. The Grand Prize will be determined as follows: The First Place quarterly winners will have their entries judged by a Grand Prize panel of judges after the end of the contest year. The Grand Prize winner shall be determined by these judges. The Grand Prize winner will receive an additional $5,000 and a Grand Prize trophy. The Grand Prize winner shall be announced and awarded their $5,000 cash prize and trophy at the L. Ron Hubbard Writers & Illustrators of the Future Annual Awards Ceremony held in the following year after the end of the Contest year.

12. All quarterly winners will be given the opportunity to attend the L. Ron Hubbard Writers & Illustrators of the Future Annual Awards Ceremony for the Contest year that they won in. The Contest will pay for the entrants travel and hotel to attend the ceremony and attending a free writer’s workshop in the week before.

13. Each entrant may submit only one manuscript per quarter. Winners of the quarterly contestsare ineligible for further participation in the Contest. Entries submitted multiple times with no changes will become ineligible.

14. All entries for each quarter are final. No revisions are accepted.

15. Entries will be judged by a panel of professional authors. The decisions of the judges are entirely their own, and are final and binding.

16. Should the publisher of the Writers of the Future anthology decide to publish an edition of the anthology for the contest year completed, the winners will be contacted regarding having their winning manuscripts included in the anthology.

17. This Contest is void where prohibited by law.

18. The Contest does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of their race, political orientation, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, or mental or physical disability or any other status prohibited by applicable law.

19. The odds of winning the quarterly contests depend on the number entries received for a particular quarter.

20. Visit the website for any Contest rules update at: www.writersofthefuture.com.