Clear the book shelf and make room for the rookie

Writers and Illustrators of the Future Winners are Tomorrow’s

(big names here that are more current than Steven King)

HOLLYWOOD, CA- More than 500 rookie writers and illustrators have been given their chance to have successful professional careers as winners of the L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests over the past 25 years. With combined cash prizes totaling over $600,000, over one-thousand bookstore signings and scrapbooks full of media generated, these rookies-turned-pro writers have gone on to publish over 400 novels and 3,000 short stories, with several becoming New York Times best-selling authors, including Jo Beverly, Nancy Farmer, Karen Joy Fowler, Sean Williams, Dave Farland, Kevin J. Anderson, and Patrick Rothfuss. Winners are judged by a blue-ribbon panel of famous science fiction/fantasy authors including Orson Scott Card,Kevin J. Anderson, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Anne McCaffrey.

“With only 3 in 10,000 stories written in the US ever getting published, so many creative writers have seen their dreams crushed. So to see a means for the newcomer to have a chance to break in is a very rewarding endeavor,” said Joni Labaqui, Director of the Contest, now in its 25th year. The Contest was created by best-selling author L. Ron Hubbard with the purpose to discover and encourage talented beginning writers of science fiction and fantasy. “The contest has been around so long, and discovered so many now-professional writers, it has become a beacon on the horizon of anyone looking to become a pro”.

“The Writers of the Future Contest provides that break that new writers and illustrators need and deserve,” Labaqui said. “This tradition continues with the latest group of just announced winners for our 24th installment.”

The 24thWriters of the Future anthology (Galaxy Press, 2009) features the works of the 12 winning writers, one “published finalist”and 12 illustrators from the 2007-2008 Contest.

The judges are adamant that this year’s book is the best ever. “The quality of the stories being entered continues to rise on a yearly basis”, said Coordinating judge K.D. Wentworth. “It is getting more difficult every year because there are so many good stories coming in.” Thousands enter yearly. Many neophytes use the quarterly deadline to push themselves to write a story every 3 months.

Writers of the Future volume 24 is due in bookstores this March. For more information on the contests go to www.writersofthefuture.com.