Contest Questions

I think alternate history falls under the "speculative" umbrella already - it just needs to be clear that it is, in fact, alternate history. But that's a subjective and slippery slope - probably up to the judges. Maybe Kary will pop in with an insight.

I read Tsuu, Tsuu, Kasva Suuremasse, in v38 today, Rebecca, is that considered alternate history?

@storysinger I believe both Rebecca’s story and The Phantom Carnival by Elizabeth Ticknor are excellent examples of alternative history. John Goodwin did a podcast with the two of them a few weeks ago talking about writing alternative history for Writers of the Future. I found it fascinating the level of research they’d put into their historical time period, but that research clearly paid off. Made the pieces feel authentic to the period. 

I could definitely be wrong here, but this is how I think of it. Alternate history and historical fantasy are a Venn diagram, but not a circle. 1632 by Flint, Island in the Sea of Time by Stirling, and His Majesty's Dragon by Novik, are examples of alternate history. I could argue that His Majesty's Dragon is both alternate history (events of the past being told differently) and historical fantasy (events of the past being told with magic/fantasy elements). 1632 and Island in the Sea of Time are alternate history because the people and rules of that world are identical to ours, it's just history with a twist (modern people/ideas/elements). So from my perspective, "Tsuu, Tsuu, Kasva Suuremasse" is historical fantasy. Outlander is another example of historical fantasy, IMO - where the history is fairly accurate (as it is in my story) but there is magic/the fantastic.

More salient to the point, I think historical fantasy (like both "The Phantom Carnival" and my story) are probably more what WotF is looking for.

@rschibler Good distinction! Thanks for the clarification between alternate history and historical fantasy.

Thank you both for the info. I really enjoyed both stories. I just listened to the podcast with John Goodwin interviewing Rebecca and Elizabeth and it was well worth the time.

After hearing the explanation about the origin of The Phantom Carnival I realized I had a connection. As a confused teen, a brother, a friend and yours truly, decided to jump a train and run away together. In those days the tail of a train had a caboose with an engineer on watch. He saw us running across the top of the cars and leaping from one to another without realizing the danger. Even though we found a car to hide in they searched until they found us. 

The next two weeks we were guests at a local boys holding facility with some of Mobile's troubled teens. When our parents came for us we were more than ready to go home. We never ran away again.

Thanks for listening! Liz and I had a great time

This is just curiosity, but I've always wondered:

Do you (the contest administrators) print out the files for the first reader who then literally "goes through the stack", or does Kari read the submissions in electronic format?

Posted by: @dommichaels

This is just curiosity, but I've always wondered:

Do you (the contest administrators) print out the files for the first reader who then literally "goes through the stack", or does Kari read the submissions in electronic format?

Electronic. Printing would be tens of thousands of pages (at least).

And while nobody likes to hear it, she rejects most within a page. No sense in consuming all that paper when she only reads the first page.

If you'd like to learn more about the slush process, keep an eye on Fyrecon. I can't divulge details yet, but they're working with Writers of the Future on a special presentation you're going to want to see!

@martin-l-shoemaker 

That what I figured. Makes perfect sense. Thanks!

Posted by: @martin-l-shoemaker

If you'd like to learn more about the slush process, keep an eye on Fyrecon. I can't divulge details yet, but they're working with Writers of the Future on a special presentation you're going to want to see!

Holy cow! Looking forward to this for sure! Thanks for the update, Martin.

@physa See my announcement on the front page! (In a few minutes...)

Kary English – The Slush Is ALIVE – The Contest – Quarterly Topics, and Other Items – Writers & Illustrators of the Future Forum (writersofthefuture.com)

Random question: How well are references to popular film/TV shows received by this contest? In the several WOTF anthologies I've read, I don't recall coming across any pop culture references. 

Posted by: @wildkardde

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Random question: How well are references to popular film/TV shows received by this contest? In the several WOTF anthologies I've read, I don't recall coming across any pop culture references. 

Generally speaking, references to contemporary films/shows/media/events, etc. serve to date your story and bookmark it into a specific time and place. The other drawback is that it may pull the reader right out of the story because it reminds him when and where he is.

On the other hand, using historic events, media, films, books, etc can add authenticity to, say, a story about time travel. Thinking specifically here about Ernie Cline's Ready Player One and Stephen King's 11/22/63.

@morgan-broadhead Good to know, thanks.

Posted by: @wildkardde

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Random question: How well are references to popular film/TV shows received by this contest? In the several WOTF anthologies I've read, I don't recall coming across any pop culture references. 

Hey, there!

References are fine.  No rules against them.

I'm guessing here, but many of the winning stories wouldn't be likely to have any just by virtue of their settings - far future sci-fi, epic fantasy, etc. Just be careful to get them right (example: Cap'n Crunch was a cereal, Captain Kangaroo was a TV show for kids), and don't go so deep with them that you end up writing fanfic (ex: Your story, Son of Scooby, has one of Scooby's pups solving mysteries with Shaggy's tween daughter.) 

I actually had one this quarter that did the Kangaroo vs. Crunch thing, and it was an immersion breaker. It wasn't the only reason for rejecting that particular story, but it was one of the reasons.

Couldn't find an answer searching the forum: 
Anyone track the appearance of "flash" fiction among the contest winners, historically? 
Thanks for any leads or info!

Volume 5 page 68.

Yup. Page 68 - only.

I've done some searching, but can't seem to find a definitive answer. How are self-published novels considered when it comes to entry eligibility? I've published a fair amount of books, but no individual title by itself has yet sold over 5,000 (paid) copies. Is that the number I'm supposed to look at? Because cumulatively, I have sold more than 5,000 books. And I've only sold one short story at the pro rate of 8 cents/word, though I don't think circulation of that was 5000 either.

Thanks!

Posted by: @luckycharms

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I've done some searching, but can't seem to find a definitive answer. How are self-published novels considered when it comes to entry eligibility? I've published a fair amount of books, but no individual title by itself has yet sold over 5,000 (paid) copies. Is that the number I'm supposed to look at? Because cumulatively, I have sold more than 5,000 books. And I've only sold one short story at the pro rate of 8 cents/word, though I don't think circulation of that was 5000 either.

Thanks!

Posted by: @jason

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Here is what I got from the Contest Director, "It is 5,000 per title that counts against. Has to also be 8 cents per word so this person is totally OK to enter still."

 

Fabulous! Thank you so much, Jason!

Can anyone name a winning story which featured same-sex relationships in main characters?

Posted by: @angelslayah

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Can anyone name a winning story which featured same-sex relationships in main characters?

Can't recall any off the top of my head although, to be fair, I've never actively looked for that specific thing in a story. But hey, you know, don't let that stop you. Write the story you need to write!

@angelslayah Under My Cypresses by Jason Palmatier from Volume 39 (Second Place in Q4) features a same-sex couple.

Posted by: @lizardosity

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@angelslayah Under My Cypresses by Jason Palmatier from Volume 39 (Second Place in Q4) features a same-sex couple.

Hey thanks! I appreciate it.

I do note that one of the two in the relationship is an AI, and that the relationships that take up most of the story are hetero. I wonder if there's a, you know, real homosexual relationship in the archive? I'm just curious. 

dM

I've thought a few times about whether being a finalist published in the anthology counts towards pro-ing out. I tend to lean towards it would count, but figured I may as well ask.

Posted by: @atkirk

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I've thought a few times about whether being a finalist published in the anthology counts towards pro-ing out. I tend to lean towards it would count, but figured I may as well ask.

Excellent question! All eligibility questions are best sent to Joni. My completely unofficial opinion is you're right. The anthology meets the definition of a qualifying market.

Posted by: @g-l-bertram

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Has anyone ever seen a dark fantasy story win this contest?

I finished a dark fantasy  that I'm considering for Q4, but I'm worried it'll get disqualified. It's not incredibly bloody, but a fair amount of people (and goats) die, and it has a pretty strong horror element.

I've read recent WotF publications, and I've only seen a few I'd consider dark fantasy. Something tells me that even if my story is "good," it may not be the right fit for this market.

Let me know your thoughts!

If you're extra ambitious, PM me and I'd love to have you skim over it to check whether it's WotF worthy...

Joni and I have had a long conversation on this topic this year. I will include the following quotes from her, just so we're clear:

Sent on 6/9/25 (I'd asked her about the presence of LGBTQ in my story and whether the contest had a problem with that. I also asked about age range because of the questions on the forum.)

That is fine. We have no restrictions on that. Our rules are our rules. 

Also, where did you get middle school readership? 

We are definitely used in high school but I'm not aware of middle school readership. 

Both of your comments concern me, so I'd like to find out where they are coming from so I can correct where it is coming from. Even if it is "internal." Sometimes things are said on the forum that are from someone's mind but not part of our program. 

Hi Victoria, (8/26/25)

I'm not sure where this PG-13 thing came in.

We do accept light horror if it is not blood and guts for blood and guts' sake.

I wish I would have seen that forum comment because I would have told them to submit. 

Best,

 I think the confusion may have come because they want PG-13 content. That is, minimal swearing and no f-bombs, and this isn't where you send in sexual content. Read the anthology and you'll see what they want. Sorry if I haven't posted this here. I know I put it elsewhere, but it dawned on me, I might have forgotten the forum! Doh!