Discussion: Q1 Volume 38

Posted by: @rschibler

I started writing in January 2017. The first community of writers I found was this forum, and I’ll never stop being grateful for that little piece of serendipity. I’ve made lifelong friends, found mentorship and support, and grown as a writer and a human being because of the people I met right here. 

Writing is a weird journey. It’s intensely personal, yet public. It’s largely subjective, but based in precedent and skill and study. It’s just putting words down, but it’s also incredibly hard. Some days you’re sure you can’t and some days you’re sure you will. 

Well, today is one of those latter days for me because after four years, 700k words, and more tears than I’d like to admit, I get to post this sign:

I could not, would not, have made this journey alone. To everyone who supported me and believed in me, especially when I didn’t believe in myself, thank you. All I ever wanted was a finalist - that was in my control. What happens with the judges and the results is not - but by God, I did it!

With all the amazing generosity you show in giving truly helpful crits to people it feels like it is not only karma but inevitability that Finalist would come your way!! Well deserved.

Sorry I'm late to the party, been working hard for the money 😉

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL 4 FINALISTS!! I've been reading and catching up on the forum and I'm grinning from ear to ear for all of you! Very well done, and all my fingers and toes crossed for all of you. ❤❤

As for moi?

I officially have a full set, Lol ...

Now for a trophy to really round things off, haha 😉

Good luck everyone!  

@agathon Congrats on the sale!  

Posted by: @aliciacay

I officially have a full set, Lol ...

Congratulations, Alicia! That's amazing!  

For the count, we now have 4 finalists and 2 semifinalists, compared to q4 in which we had 3 finalists and two semifinalists. Aha, it is close, you say? But last quarter we had no winners, and now... *dramatic music booms* (Sorry finalists, I couldn't resist ? )

Posted by: @aliciacay

Sorry I'm late to the party, been working hard for the money 😉

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL 4 FINALISTS!! I've been reading and catching up on the forum and I'm grinning from ear to ear for all of you! Very well done, and all my fingers and toes crossed for all of you. ❤❤

As for moi?

I officially have a full set, Lol ...

Now for a trophy to really round things off, haha 😉

 

Good luck everyone!  

Congratulations to you too! And thanks, I'm sure we'll all take every drop of good luck that's on offer...  

Posted by: @reuben

Congratulations, Alicia! That's amazing!    

For the count, we now have 4 finalists and 2 semifinalists, compared to q4 in which we had 3 finalists and two semifinalists. Aha, it is close, you say? But last quarter we had no winners, and now... *dramatic music booms* (Sorry finalists, I couldn't resist ? )

I'm off to find some dramatic music right now.

Posted by: @wulfmoon

Posted by: @chwalter

I've been lurking here since I submitted my very first short story in Q1, and I am thrilled with the result.  Congrats to everyone who scored a certificate, especially our finalists.  The sheer numbers involved in reaching that level are mind-boggling.

So cool, MarathonCoder! What a great first showing! Keep it up! And WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

All the best!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

Thank you Wulf!

Posted by: @madeline

First time submitting, received an HM!

I'm new to short fiction and the submissions process is pretty confusing--am I able to keep submitting this story to other magazines since it wasn't chosen to print?

Hi @madeline, I’m pretty sure we keep our rights and you can publish elsewhere, certainly if the work isn’t published in the WotF anthology. But maybe even in that case, not sure. Congrats on your HM!

@wulfmoonThanks Wulf!

@doctorjest Awesome!

Posted by: @aliciacay

Sorry I'm late to the party, been working hard for the money 😉

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL 4 FINALISTS!! I've been reading and catching up on the forum and I'm grinning from ear to ear for all of you! Very well done, and all my fingers and toes crossed for all of you. ❤❤

As for moi?

I officially have a full set, Lol ...

Now for a trophy to really round things off, haha 😉

 

Good luck everyone!  

Great job on the semi-finalist, Alicia! I'm proud of you.

@aliciacay

That’s awesome!  

Posted by: @jdw4lrhwriters

I have a question... (newbie here). I submitted a story for the 1st Qtr, 2021 and just got an email from Joni Labaqui stating that I was an honorable mention. Is there a listing somewhere that shows the HM's? Thanks so much.

J.D.

There will be a blog post with the three winners, and all other tiers after the winners are notified and someone types it all out.

I will update the original post with the link, and I think I copy/paste the info into that first post as well. If it lets me.

Over the years we've estimated that only 10% of stories receive at least an HM.

So, back when there were 90 HMs we figured 900 entries. If 250 HMs now, 2500 entries.

The theory is the number of entries isn't known so that newcomers don't get intimidated, but quality is quality regardless of the number of entries. Thus, if you got an HM, that story fared well. You did. It did.

And the cool part is, we get to put a new horse in the race every three months and see how they do.

----

I'm kicking myself now for all the quarters I missed. Yeah, there's legit life reasons sometimes, but looking back there are too many I just didn't do the work. So I set up the "goals" thread in the hopes of stating publicly that I, and others who brave to join me, will fight tooth, nails, and claws to get a story in every quarter.

Posted by: @wulfmoon

Posted by: @patezell

Congrats to all FOUR finalists! Hoping you all get calls soon - three winners, one held as possible published finalist. There.  It's in the universe now.

 

Onward to the next quarter!

Congratulations on your HM, Pat! Are you new to the Forum? If so, WELCOME ABOARD!

And you're right. That's the perfect play this quarter. As Picard said to the universe,  "Make it so."

 

Pat is a wireless librarian, veteran of the Hatrack wars prior to its extinction.

Posted by: @reuben

Posted by: @aliciacay

I officially have a full set, Lol ...

Congratulations, Alicia! That's amazing!  

For the count, we now have 4 finalists and 2 semifinalists, compared to q4 in which we had 3 finalists and two semifinalists. Aha, it is close, you say? But last quarter we had no winners, and now... *dramatic music booms* (Sorry finalists, I couldn't resist ? )

Don’t forget, while we didn’t have a winner last quarter, we did have a Published Finalist. Brittany Rainsdon. A PF is a winner, they get everything the winners do—expense paid trip to Hollywood, week long workshop, gala, publication in the antho, and a gorgeous trophy. If you think of all the hopeful Finalists waiting to see if they get chosen for PF—around twenty stories that were judged by Dave to be worthy of winning—it’s actually a major win. It is no small thing to be a PF. Ever read “The Pushcart Legion”? Among my favorite antho stories of all time, and it was *only* a PF.

We did indeed have a winner last quarter. Her name is Brittany. And she is in the judging again for Q1 as well. ?

Posted by: @aliciacay

Sorry I'm late to the party, been working hard for the money 😉

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL 4 FINALISTS!! I've been reading and catching up on the forum and I'm grinning from ear to ear for all of you! Very well done, and all my fingers and toes crossed for all of you. ❤❤

As for moi?

I officially have a full set, Lol ...

Now for a trophy to really round things off, haha 😉

 

Good luck everyone!  

Well done, Alicia! You were my guest at the WotF gala. I invited you to help you keep the fire burning to stay in the race, and indeed you have! Tim Powers was quite taken with you, I might add. ?May Dave’s critique help you give this story the edge it needs to be published in another fine market! Hold fast and stay the course! Congratulations!

Posted by: @ceciblack

Posted by: @madeline

First time submitting, received an HM!

I'm new to short fiction and the submissions process is pretty confusing--am I able to keep submitting this story to other magazines since it wasn't chosen to print?

Hi @madeline, I’m pretty sure we keep our rights and you can publish elsewhere, certainly if the work isn’t published in the WotF anthology. But maybe even in that case, not sure. Congrats on your HM!

To clarify, the moment you write a story, it’s your intellectual property, and you have copyright. Submitting to any market—and that’s what WotF is—does not give away your rights. It’s when a market sends you a contract  that you sell rights to your story, and normally only for a specific period. So send those stories out to other respectable markets! WotF is a great path to starting a career, but there are many other roads as well. Don’t restrict yourself to one. ?

To add to Dustin’s comment about number of entries. I talk to John Goodwin once a week on average. I know what the actual count is. But Joni likes to keep the exact number secret so as not to scare people off from entering. I respect that. But Dave has written in the intro of anthologies he receives “thousands” of entries every quarter. Fair game, that’s been published. 

You guys know it’s a lot. But you don’t have to worry about the “thousands.” You only have to worry about your story rising above four hundred. Those four hundred or so happen to be very good.

You have to be better.

Keep mastering your craft. Keep writing.

And you know my advice. Keep writing fresh stories. ?

@wulfmoon

Posted by: @wulfmoon

You only have to worry about your story rising above four hundred. Those four hundred or so happen to be very good.

So, is that like 400 or so reach the level of HM and above? Finalist?

Part of me feels like it doesn't matter, that a good story is a good story regardless of a single contest or market.

But another part of me wants to compare. Which beast do we feed?

Posted by: @axeminister

Posted by: @wulfmoon

Posted by: @patezell

Congrats to all FOUR finalists! Hoping you all get calls soon - three winners, one held as possible published finalist. There.  It's in the universe now.

 

Onward to the next quarter!

Congratulations on your HM, Pat! Are you new to the Forum? If so, WELCOME ABOARD!

And you're right. That's the perfect play this quarter. As Picard said to the universe,  "Make it so."

 

Pat is a wireless librarian, veteran of the Hatrack wars prior to its extinction.

 

@axeminister speaks the truth.

I do feel like I'm a new member here, even though this is my third incarnation at the forum. Entered a few times several years ago, faded away, and rejoined just before the platform changed. It insisted I didn't exist after the update, so I started over. Glad to be here, and thank you for the welcome, Wulf! Your amazing writing advice and words of encouragement are primarily why I'm back. Thank you!

Posted by: @babooher

@wulfmoon

Posted by: @wulfmoon

You only have to worry about your story rising above four hundred. Those four hundred or so happen to be very good.

So, is that like 400 or so reach the level of HM and above? Finalist?

 

Part of me feels like it doesn't matter, that a good story is a good story regardless of a single contest or market.

But another part of me wants to compare. Which beast do we feed?

I don't recommend feeding the comparisons beast, personally, because that route can lead to jealousy and bitterness. I'm a big fan of cheering other people on and helping when I can, because I learn from helping at least as much as by being helped. I've developed a lot of friendships this way, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Some of them may win this contest before I do--and that's okay! I may never win, because I'm in an eternal race with myself to win or pro out. That's just how I play the game, though.

Also, an important note: There are tons of good, even great, stories that still get rejections from markets simply because it's not what those markets are looking for at that particular point in time. Maybe they have a specific niche they need to fill and the story in question isn't the right shape; maybe they recentlh accepted or published something like it recently. This is why I'm stubborn about sending my stories everywhere I can for as long as I feel they're worth sending out. You never know when your story is the one to fill that niche.  

Posted by: @babooher

@wulfmoon

Posted by: @wulfmoon

You only have to worry about your story rising above four hundred. Those four hundred or so happen to be very good.

So, is that like 400 or so reach the level of HM and above? Finalist?

 

Part of me feels like it doesn't matter, that a good story is a good story regardless of a single contest or market.

But another part of me wants to compare. Which beast do we feed?

The first part of your feels is more sane. However, as you know, Bob, one must always quantify "good" with "market desire". WotF is looking for original, more than other markets that tell you exactly what they want.

My recent SF critique said this specifically. It didn't bring enough "new" to the table.

Posted by: @axeminister

The first part of your feels is more sane.

Sanity is in the eye of the potato.

In all seriousness, the numerical comparisons are only superficially useful but interesting nonetheless. I do compare stories in the WotF books with my own work. I look to see what did they better than I'm doing (and how did they do it) and see if there are things I'm doing as well or better than them (at least in my own estimation). 

Posted by: @babooher

@wulfmoon

Posted by: @wulfmoon

You only have to worry about your story rising above four hundred. Those four hundred or so happen to be very good.

So, is that like 400 or so reach the level of HM and above? Finalist?

 

Part of me feels like it doesn't matter, that a good story is a good story regardless of a single contest or market.

But another part of me wants to compare. Which beast do we feed?

You decide. 

But a humble aspiring writer does well to consider the fact that Kary English, first reader of this Contest and a First Place Winner, does have a good eye for spotting well-crafted fiction. It's why Author Services and David Farland chose her. And the coordinating judge who chooses the top 400 or so that get the honors each quarter for their writing? David Farland is not only an NYT bestselling author, he is an editing guru that has helped many writers become NYT bestsellers themselves. On top of that, the final judges that pick the winners are some of the biggest names in the publishing industry with decades of writing and publishing experience to their names. Doesn't mean the judges are always right. They all have their personal opinions and biases. You could have written a wonderful bestselling story that would have won the Pulitzer had it been published, and these industry giants were just too blind to see it.

But I'd ask myself, what are the chances of that? Considering my lack of experience compared to someone like David Farland, Kevin J. Anderson, Larry Niven, Tim Powers, and more, I'd at least go back and take a look at my story that didn't place. I might even go get someone with a lot more experience than myself to take a look at it to figure out if something I was doing in my writing needed improvement. 

That is by far the more likely answer. And the sooner an aspiring writer acknowledges that, the sooner they can start making those changes that will help their writing rise higher in the trained eyes of professional editors and judges. The sooner they will begin their career as published writers.

Posted by: @patezell

Posted by: @axeminister

Posted by: @wulfmoon

Posted by: @patezell

Congrats to all FOUR finalists! Hoping you all get calls soon - three winners, one held as possible published finalist. There.  It's in the universe now.

 

Onward to the next quarter!

Congratulations on your HM, Pat! Are you new to the Forum? If so, WELCOME ABOARD!

And you're right. That's the perfect play this quarter. As Picard said to the universe,  "Make it so."

 

Pat is a wireless librarian, veteran of the Hatrack wars prior to its extinction.

 

@axeminister speaks the truth.

I do feel like I'm a new member here, even though this is my third incarnation at the forum. Entered a few times several years ago, faded away, and rejoined just before the platform changed. It insisted I didn't exist after the update, so I started over. Glad to be here, and thank you for the welcome, Wulf! Your amazing writing advice and words of encouragement are primarily why I'm back. Thank you!

 

Glad the advice and encouragement helped you to come back! As I say, "Writing finds a way."

Find yourself a good writing partner here. Watch for one as you swap critiques. A writing partner will be your ally, and will help you stay in for the long haul. 

Cheers!

Posted by: @disgruntledpeony

Also, an important note: There are tons of good, even great, stories that still get rejections from markets simply because it's not what those markets are looking for at that particular point in time. Maybe they have a specific niche they need to fill and the story in question isn't the right shape; maybe they recentlh accepted or published something like it recently. This is why I'm stubborn about sending my stories everywhere I can for as long as I feel they're worth sending out. You never know when your story is the one to fill that niche.  

This is exactly right, as far as it goes. But there's no guarantee (unless you get a personal rejection) that your story ever made it out of a market's slush pile. It's one reason I'll keep submitting to WotF until I win, pro-out or stop writing. It's free and every story gets read. 

Posted by: @ceciblack

Okay, I’ve made a start. Here goes:

That's very good music Ceci. I listened to timebomb and the starts of a couple more, well done.

@aliciacay That is fantastic! Congratulations! You get an edit by David Farland. So Jealous!!

Posted by: @madeline

First time submitting, received an HM!

I'm new to short fiction and the submissions process is pretty confusing--am I able to keep submitting this story to other magazines since it wasn't chosen to print?

I don't know if someone else already responded to this effect, but it's also worth noting that the Writers of the Future contest doesn't prohibit you from revising and resubmitting a story that previously placed a Silver HM or lower. I didn't realise this when I first joined the contest, and ended up selling (oh, boo-hoo, I know) my first SHM, which I may well have liked to revise and resubmit. By all means submit it elsewhere--but also know that if you find you've made improvements to this version of it, the contest doesn't exclude it from being submitted for another go around.

With that said, as a rule, I agree with @WulfMoon on this point--it's better to write new stories, and submit those, if you can manage it. However, I've also had times when for one reason or another, I either wasn't happy with what I'd managed to do, was running out of time, or was dealing with stresses that were otherwise interfering with me--and in those circumstances, it's good to have either flash fiction stories that you can expand out, or prior R/HM/SHM entries that you can perhaps polish and improve and resubmit.

No matter the outcome, it's always better to be entered into a quarter than not entered.

Posted by: @rschibler

I started writing in January 2017. The first community of writers I found was this forum, and I’ll never stop being grateful for that little piece of serendipity. I’ve made lifelong friends, found mentorship and support, and grown as a writer and a human being because of the people I met right here. 

Writing is a weird journey. It’s intensely personal, yet public. It’s largely subjective, but based in precedent and skill and study. It’s just putting words down, but it’s also incredibly hard. Some days you’re sure you can’t and some days you’re sure you will. 

Well, today is one of those latter days for me because after four years, 700k words, and more tears than I’d like to admit, I get to post this sign:

I could not, would not, have made this journey alone. To everyone who supported me and believed in me, especially when I didn’t believe in myself, thank you. All I ever wanted was a finalist - that was in my control. What happens with the judges and the results is not - but by God, I did it!

Congratulations!!