Are submissions the final version that goes to print?

Posted by: @vrlass

Hey, I have a quick question. I understand you canno’t resubmit. But, if someone gets to final 3 is it possible to make adjustments?
I just realized that the story I loved for the last month, could be improved (probably I have suddenly grown as a writer). 
It might mean I won’t get there and thus I have nothing to worry about, but still, I am just wondering. Could I still make changes after making to final 3, or is submission always the final version?

I was asked to make a few additions by the judge. Mostly just a tiny bit more description here and there. But not sure if they will let you make any unrequested changes. But they do edit your story.

I did several proofreading edits and received a few notes from Dave Farland on more description, like Preston. Dean Wesley Smith is the editor of the anthology now, so the notes would be from him, but yes - there are edits.

That being said, if the story were to win, they probably don't want any changes made to it beyond what the editors request.

My story in the anthology was a whole scene longer than the version that won. Dave felt I ended with a strong theme, but I didn't introduce it at the start. He gave me a notion of how to introduce it. I went in an entirely different direction. Mine was better.

Same as the prior comments. There were a few things that needed changing, mainly a small part cut out and another expanded, plus more description at a few key points. Overall, I think it made it a better story.

I recently finished the copy editing round(s) and we dug deep into any word or words that might trip people up. For instance, I had the word deigned in there and it seemed like the right word when I wrote it, but upon studying the primary meaning of it, it wasn't quite right. So I/we changed it to dared instead which worked better.

We did that type of thing a few times, plus punctuation and capitals. I Capitalized Everything initially, so it was toned down. Figure that was better than ALL CAPS!

As Dustin said, copy editing also yields some changes. For mine, a lot of it was small things, mainly grammatical, style consistency, and making some sentences clearer. I was flipflopping between Canadian and American English, but the editor caught it and we decided to go all Canadian. It's not a one-sided arrangement. I was able to disagree with a few proposed changes and offer suitable alternatives. Overall it was a good experience. It's great working with the WOTF team to improve the story before publication - a humbling experience that shows me I have a lot to learn.

The above comments are very interesting. It seems a story may be a winner, yet STILL require additional work before it gets published in the anthology.
Just goes to show that, if the story is really compelling enough to win, publishers are willing to work with you to whip it into final shape.