Contest Questions

If you're worried about grammar, I would personally recommend checking out Dreyer's English. It's written by the chief copy editor of Random House, and it's both educational and entertaining (at least, it was to me personally). If you don't want to buy it, you can probably find it at your local library or some such.

Just bought a copy, thank you for the recommendation. I have Strunk & White, but it is not "entertaining". Although, it is slim, succinct, and very useful.

Every writer started at ZERO and worked their way up, from Tim Powers to Brandon Sanderson to Frank Herbert. It's good to remember.

Exactly This! If you are a green as a granny smith author and you are submitting short stories, you are still way ahead of those who wish they were writers but never put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) or were too timid to submit. Keep at it!

Good Luck!

Hi! So, maybe it says somewhere on the contest, but I'm a little confused about what to submit. I know there's a 17,000 word limit. Are we supposed to be just submitting a 17,000 word excerpt of a longer manuscript? Or, are they just looking for an under 17,000 word short story?

17,000 words is the maximum word count the contest allows you to submit for a story submission. Anything under is fine. And it must be a stand alone story, not a novel excerpt. You can use a chapter from your novel--David Farland won the contest doing that--but you have to make that chapter into a short story, because it will only be judged as a short story. That said, both David Farland and Robert Sawyer have stated it will be harder to win at that 17K word count. I did a Super Secret recently as to why. Check out that topic if you wish.

Best of success!

Moon

Stupid Super Simple Question: Italicize or Underline?

SFWA guidelines say to underline when something should be italicized or bolded or any other odd font. I have always followed these guidelines when submitting to SFF markets, but the YA agents I have heard are saying just italicize it. In a seminar, Dave even mentioned his editors are now fine with italicizing.

I know this does not work well with COURIER font, but it does with TIMES NEW ROMAN. I also only used Courier in the past, in case the editor was part of the Old Guard, but I am trying to adapt to the new best practices. (like one space after a period--please don't shoot me over this)

(like one space after a period--please don't shoot me over this)

Glad someone else had this issue. I'm a lawyer by training and the convention in that world is still two spaces. I had to undo 25 years of habit.

Stupid Super Simple Question: Italicize or Underline?

SFWA guidelines say to underline when something should be italicized or bolded or any other odd font. I have always followed these guidelines when submitting to SFF markets, but the YA agents I have heard are saying just italicize it. In a seminar, Dave even mentioned his editors are now fine with italicizing.

I know this does not work well with COURIER font, but it does with TIMES NEW ROMAN. I also only used Courier in the past, in case the editor was part of the Old Guard, but I am trying to adapt to the new best practices. (like one space after a period--please don't shoot me over this)

Yeah, I had to learn one space after periods, not two. It was VERY hard to unlearn. : )

Italics are correct now, not underlining. Saves their copyeditors work converting those back. And Times New Roman is acceptable, but Old Guard editors often don't like it because it's harder to spot errors in Times, unlike monospaced fonts like Courier, and the text is smaller as well. I know Dave likes Courier, as do I. 12 pt. Times New Roman is hard on those of us squinting through bifocals and readers, even though it may look purdy.

Thank You
I just wanted to double check. I try to tailor the formatting to the preferences of the agent/editor to which I am sending it. And I don't want to stress Dave's eyes while he reads my entry.

Do you have to be 18 in order to enter the contest?

Do you have to be 18 in order to enter the contest?

Marilyn Guttridge won aged 17 competing against writers of all ages see https://www.prweb.com/releases/lronhubb ... s%2C%20Inc.

Do you have to be 18 in order to enter the contest?

Alice Wang, the Ilustrators of the Future winner that illustrated my “Super Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler” story, was seventeen when she won. There are no age limits on the contests.

Alice Wang, the Ilustrators of the Future winner that illustrated my “Super Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler” story, was seventeen when she won. There are no age limits on the contests.

Just wanted to say I've just read that for the first time. It was brilliant. I'm a 50 year old man and it made me fill up.

Alice Wang, the Ilustrators of the Future winner that illustrated my “Super Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler” story, was seventeen when she won. There are no age limits on the contests.

Just wanted to say I've just read that for the first time. It was brilliant. I'm a 50 year old man and it made me fill up.

Thanks, PD! Tim Powers loved the story, too, and he’s older than you. : ) He took me aside three times at the workshop to tell me how much he loved the story. On the last day when we said farewell, we gave each other a hug and he said, “I started reading your story again this morning, Moon.” And then, with a twinkle in his eye, “I want to figure out how you did it.”

Tim Powers has been my writing hero for decades. To have him say that about a story I wrote? You can keep my trophy.

May WotF make such magic happen for you!

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

Do you have to be 18 in order to enter the contest?

One of V37's winners is, in fact, not going to be 18 yet when we get to the gala in September! Youngest winner in contest history.

Do you have to be 18 in order to enter the contest?

One of V37's winners is, in fact, not going to be 18 yet when we get to the gala in September! Youngest winner in contest history.

So... the question is, were they born before or after I started entering the contest?

So... the question is, were they born before or after I started entering the contest?

Born in a different century to you Bam-Bam.

Noice.

Absolute newbie here, so if this is a silly question, I blame it on that.

I got an HM on my contest entry and it feels like quite the badge of honor! Getting the physical HM certificate in the mail was a legitimate surprise; I would have been perfectly satisfied with a digital file that I could print myself, but it looks like this contest is definitely a cut above. My question is one of etiquette; how ok is it to announce/ leverage that story and the HM it won?

For example, if I was shopping the story around for publication, would it be permissible to note that it won a WotF honorable mention or is that frowned upon? Or maybe if I were to decide to self-publish a short story collection, would it be ok to state in the blurb which of the stories won HM (and hopefully as time goes on, even higher)? I don't have any immediate plans to do much with the story; just curious as to what my options going forward might be.

Anyway, thanks in advance for the answers! The contest is such a beautiful concept; I don't want to step on anyone's toes if I can help it.

The general consensus is: for pro or semipro paying markets do not mention it, especially if this is the story. For lower markets, think about mentioning that you have *gotten* an HM in the contest, but not that this is the story, because it just means you've been rejected. For token, non-paying markets, anything goes; follow your gut. (I believe there's at least one old thread that talks about this, I'll see if I can find it.)

For self-publishing, certainly mention it -- what do you have to lose?

Edit: Found it

The general consensus is: for pro or semipro paying markets do not mention it, especially if this is the story. For lower markets, think about mentioning that you have *gotten* an HM in the contest, but not that this is the story, because it just means you've been rejected. For token, non-paying markets, anything goes; follow your gut. (I believe there's at least one old thread that talks about this, I'll see if I can find it.)

For self-publishing, certainly mention it -- what do you have to lose?

Edit: Found it

All good things to know! I don't imagine I'll be anything close to pro or semipro for quite some time, but there are some good points made in that thread that make me think I'll play it close to the vest anyway.

I have about a billion other questions about the lay of things, but I imagine I'll take a deeper dive into the treasure trove of threads here before I bog the boards down too much.

In any case, thanks for being patient with the newbie!

's pleasure!

I agree with Reuben.

When I was sending out my finalists I mentioned I'd been a finalist. Even then I didn't say - this - story was the finalist. But before that I didn't mention the HMs. If an editor is at all familiar with this contest, they know the finalist is a story that was chosen for the anthology, but the judges picked a different story. So while it's a rejection, it's also not. Ish.

So, keep writing and submitting until you get that finalist. And if you're lucky, you'll only need one. 😉

Hello! I couldn't find this question on here.

I was wondering if a story could be disqualified for using the names of popular 'influencers' or icons. Is it okay in moderation? Or simply don't do it?

Hello! I couldn't find this question on here.

I was wondering if a story could be disqualified for using the names of popular 'influencers' or icons. Is it okay in moderation? Or simply don't do it?

I wouldn't. First of all, using actual names will date your story. Second, you don't know what sort of infamy those icons will commit in the future - imagine writing a story with football hero OJ Simpson back in the 80s, how someone reading it in the 2000s would react. Third it's generally not a great idea to use real people in your stories. So change their names and have fun!

Hello! I couldn't find this question on here.

I was wondering if a story could be disqualified for using the names of popular 'influencers' or icons. Is it okay in moderation? Or simply don't do it?

I don't think you'd be DQ'd, but your odds may go down, so it's 6 or 1/2 doz.

Dave is huge on transport. The contest is huge on originality.
The closer you stay to real life, the less far you've transported.

However, Dave did mention when necessary to use a brand name, name it.
Example: I used Nike in my 2nd finalist.
But I probably wouldn't have put a famous person in the Nikes.

Hello! I couldn't find this question on here.

I was wondering if a story could be disqualified for using the names of popular 'influencers' or icons. Is it okay in moderation? Or simply don't do it?

If you make up your own 'influencers' and icons, you'll have more control with the story, even if you model them off existing people. (Plus, it keeps you from risking lawsuits and the like.)

Hello! I couldn't find this question on here.

I was wondering if a story could be disqualified for using the names of popular 'influencers' or icons. Is it okay in moderation? Or simply don't do it?

I've mentioned famous people that don't date my stories massively or if they do, only in a way that dates the story in a way I want it to. In one story, I thought the famous names were crucial to my story. Both stories received Honorable Mention in WotF, so no DQ, and plenty of professionally published stories mention famous people and brands. One of my favourite novels is Replay by Ken Grimwood, which mentioned (amongst others) Steven Spielberg in a future sense at the time the book was published. Although that reference has dated now, I don't see it that way and instead love it as a kind of alternate future that could have happened. Though even without any aspect of feeling dated, it worked really well in the context of the story (I'm trying to avoid spoilers).

I'm not a lawyer, but there are areas you have to be careful with, such as defamation, even if you're fictionally criticising someone or something that's real. And another example, Google didn't used to like their name being used as a verb, for example: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3006486.stm

Hello! I couldn't find this question on here.

I was wondering if a story could be disqualified for using the names of popular 'influencers' or icons. Is it okay in moderation? Or simply don't do it?

I wouldn't. First of all, using actual names will date your story. Second, you don't know what sort of infamy those icons will commit in the future - imagine writing a story with football hero OJ Simpson back in the 80s, how someone reading it in the 2000s would react. Third, it's generally not a great idea to use real people in your stories. So change their names and have fun!

Dustin, Disgruntledpeony, and Alex (also!)

This was mighty helpful. I will go the safe route and try to make some original icons.
It should be more fun this way anyway and yes, defamation is something I do not want to risk!

So, along those lines, is it considered copyright infringement if a character is wearing a Jon Snow costume at a party?

So, along those lines, is it considered copyright infringement if a character is wearing a Jon Snow costume at a party?

Since a day has passed and no one has answered this, i'll have a go.
From the entry rules - Plagiarism, which includes the use of third-party poetry, song lyrics, characters or another person’s universe, without written permission, will result in disqualification
So it would seem safest not to refer to Jon Snow. Seems over the top to me, but better to err on the side of caution and describe the outfit, and maybe add a reference to being like out of some fantasy film.

Responding as someone who dropped out of law school in part because of how cynical I was becoming about how laws are actually applied, TimE is right: the most important thing is to look at is publisher and contest rules because those are usually more restrictive than copyright law in order to completely avoid litigation. The cost of arguing fair use can very quickly exceed the amount you can make from a piece of short fiction, and copyright (and trademark, and the additional protections for real people) enforcement often involves automated systems that scan for keywords like character names without nuanced evaluation.

Thanks, Tim! I think you're right that it's better to be safe than sorry. It seemed like an innocent reference, but it's not something integral to the story. Out it comes!