@knyghtstyk congrats on entering! First competition - its a big milestone. Keep going. I also got rejected with my first submission to this competition. I've had 4 rejections this week! but not everything ends up a rejection as long as you...just...keeep...going 😉
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 115 submitted 8 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections
Another RWC for me. 
This is the most disappointing of my RWC collection because I felt this story captured my voice better than anything I'd ever written, and the critique response was very positive. Congrats to those who broke through to new levels and those waiting for another call from Joni.
V38: HM, R, R, HM
V39: RWC, HM, RWC, HM
V40: RWC, HM, SHM, R
V41: R, RWC, R, R
V42: RWC, RWC, P, WIP
@chwalter my second-favorite story, that I really thought I nailed, received an R. My favorite story, that I thought I really, really nailed, received an HM. I totally get that.
V33- SF
V38- SHM, HM
V39- HM,R
V40- HM
V41- Q2-SHM, Q3-SHM, Q4-SHM
You are one of the best cheerleaders we have around here. 
Thank you for turning my frown upside down. 
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, WIP
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
@knyghtstyk Be proud you mustered the courage to enter. I'm in my 50's (did I say that out loud? augh) and I just started entering several years ago.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, WIP
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
Looks like this one was a straight rejection. The next quarter's will certainly be, but maybe this quarter will be different.
Keep the faith. Keep thinking, keep writing, and keep entering.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, WIP
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
@chwalter My first entry to WotF was an R.
Try writing new stories for each quarter. I know it's hard, but it will help.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't look at your R and try to figure out what may be missing and update it.
Most my resubmission didn't go up in rating and some even went down. Focus on new ideas.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, WIP
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
for a revised RWC [started later in the story being the biggest change]. Congrats to all that entered, 
WOTF results:
Vol 42: Q1 SHM, Q2 SHM, Q3 P, Q4 ?
running totals to date:
WOTF: 6 Rs, 3 RWCs, 8 HMs, 2 SHMs
IOTF: 4 Rs, 3 HMs
Check out my new website: https://www.amyrwethingtonwriterofspeculativeworlds.com/
According to Winston Churchill, "success is going from failure to failure with enthusiasm"
Somehow I lost my Guthington profile, but it's me. Amy Wethington = Guthington = Physa
Just checked mail: Received my third HM, this one for a previously disqualified story (there was an objection to the first sentence).
You are one of the best cheerleaders we have around here.
Thank you for turning my frown upside down.
Happy to part those clouds, Todd!😊 Believe me, I remember what it was like. It’s why I spent so many years here writing those Super Secrets and teaching the year-long workshop—to make it easier for the rest of you. This is the Olympics of speculative fiction.
Stay the course.
Cheers!
Click here to JOIN THE WULF PACK!
"Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" won Best SFF Story of 2019! Read it in Writers of the Future, Vol. 35. Order HERE!
Need writing help? My award-winning SUPER SECRETS articles are FREE in DreamForge.
IT’S HERE! Many have begged me to publish the Super Secrets of Writing. How to Write a Howling Good Story is now a #1 BESTSELLING BOOK! Get yours at your favorite retailer HERE!
@wulfmoon thanks for this post of encouragement to all of us Wulf, keeping it positive is hard but essential in this game:) this post hits all the right notes
You’re welcome, Gideon. You know how long it took me to win, and I didn’t have all the tools you guys now have. Stay the course. Persistence is just as important as talent, perhaps more so for those that want a career in writing.
Stay the course! And keep writing fresh stories! 😊
All the beast!🌟
Click here to JOIN THE WULF PACK!
"Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" won Best SFF Story of 2019! Read it in Writers of the Future, Vol. 35. Order HERE!
Need writing help? My award-winning SUPER SECRETS articles are FREE in DreamForge.
IT’S HERE! Many have begged me to publish the Super Secrets of Writing. How to Write a Howling Good Story is now a #1 BESTSELLING BOOK! Get yours at your favorite retailer HERE!
All my rejections for the years before WotF were largely borne alone. Family and friends "understand," but not really. It's a real gift to be doing this alongside folks with similar aspirations and sharing the highs and lows, and to have prior winners sticking around (Knight, Ease, Wulf, etc. etc.) to encourage and enlighten everyone. I've got to think this community is a fortunate anomaly!
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.“ -C. S. Lewis
//
V40: RWC, HM
V41: HM, HM
V42: HM
//
"4 Laws of Storytelling" (YouTube reflections on the craft)
All my rejections for the years before WotF were largely borne alone. Family and friends "understand," but not really.
Preach away my friend. Been there, done that.
It's a real gift to be doing this alongside folks with similar aspirations and sharing the highs and lows, and to have prior winners sticking around (Knight, Ease, Wulf, etc. etc.) to encourage and enlighten everyone. I've got to think this community is a fortunate anomaly!
I second the statement.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, WIP
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
R for me this time around.
Beth Powers
-----
Silver HM x 6
HM x 23
Entries x 71
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Collected Stories:
Sorcery & Widgets
Runes & Rivets
Yowsa, yowsa here we go !Submission windows:
Q1: October 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023
Q2: January 1, 2024 - March 31, 2024
Q3: April 1, 2024 - June 30, 2024
Q4: July 1, 2024 - September 30, 2024Results are out!
@toddjones me too but I havent stopped entering since way back when Rachel Denk was the coordinating judge.
@physa Congratulations on your Honorable Mention ! 
@bethpowers There's always next quarter!
Writers of the Future stats:
V32: Q3 - R
V33: Q3 - R
V39: Q4 - RWC
V40: RWC, R, HM, HM
V41: R, HM, RWC, HM
V42: Q1 - HM, Q2 - HM, Q3 - sub'd, Q4 - sub'd
All markets submission stats:
253 Submissions
242 Rejections
31 Personal Rejections
1 Acceptances
R for me this time around.
R are emotionally tough, but keep trying. You have an impressive collection of certificates.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, WIP
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
@bethpowers Too bad. I really wish they had a hug emoji as well as just the thumb's up or down. Somehow it feels wrong to thumbs up someone's disappointment. I couldn't even find an emoji that didn't run the risk of seeming sarcastic. Maybe these two together? 
F x1
SHM x4
HM x12
RWC x1
R Dozens
(short term lurker, second time poster...)
I got an R this time around. In retrospect, the story wasn't speculative enough.
I'm several shorts past that one now, including my Q3 entry.
The distance I've come since I wrote Q2 helps dull the thump of hitting the ground.
@knyghtstyk Love the attitude! Congrats on your first submission, keep going!
2024 Golden Pen Winner for "Son, Spirit, Snake"
Vol. 40: Q1 - P, Q2 - SF, Q3 - HM, Q4 - First Place + Grand Prize
X (Twitter): @jnashstories
Writing advice: Substack.com/@jacknashstories
jacknashstories.com
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"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." ― John Steinbeck
@physa Love to see that a story improved after you put more work into it! Congrats!
2024 Golden Pen Winner for "Son, Spirit, Snake"
Vol. 40: Q1 - P, Q2 - SF, Q3 - HM, Q4 - First Place + Grand Prize
X (Twitter): @jnashstories
Writing advice: Substack.com/@jacknashstories
jacknashstories.com
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"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." ― John Steinbeck
@toddjones Second this. I struggle revising old stories because I'm too excited about new stories. And each new idea breeds more new ideas. At the WOTF workshop, Nnedi Okorafor talked about how pretty much all the stories she's written in her career are just building on the ideas of her first published finalist piece way back in 2002. So that one story birthed more stories that netted her some Hugos, some Nebulas, etc.
2024 Golden Pen Winner for "Son, Spirit, Snake"
Vol. 40: Q1 - P, Q2 - SF, Q3 - HM, Q4 - First Place + Grand Prize
X (Twitter): @jnashstories
Writing advice: Substack.com/@jacknashstories
jacknashstories.com
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.
.
"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." ― John Steinbeck
@p-d-fenton It happens. Maybe it'd be good in another market?
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, WIP
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
@jacknash My Q2 is one of those stories that the character is open to all kinds of adventures. I like that idea. Maybe I can create a series with that MC and turn it into a book.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, WIP
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
Congratulations, everyone! A pretty good showing for the forum. LOTS of HMs and SHMs. Really hoping a few finalists here a just keeping quiet until given the okay. It's always awesome when a forumite wins! Happens pretty much every year. Looking forward to seeing who the finalists are, and especially the winners! Til then, onto the next quarter, folks! You can win this contest. Just don't give up!
Preston Dennett
HM x 12
F x 1
Winner, 2nd place, Q1, Volume 35
42 stories published! (and counting!)
@knyghtstyk Great job submitting your first story! Just keep going! 😃👏
Vol 42: Q1 - R Q2 - HM Q3 - P
Vol 41: Q1 - HM, Q2 - SHM, Q3 - RWC, Q4 - HM
Vol 40: Q4 - DQ
@tiinag Congrats! 😃🥳
Vol 42: Q1 - R Q2 - HM Q3 - P
Vol 41: Q1 - HM, Q2 - SHM, Q3 - RWC, Q4 - HM
Vol 40: Q4 - DQ
@physa Congratulations! 😃🎉
And I hope you're feeling better and better healthwise, sending good thoughts your way 🌸
Vol 42: Q1 - R Q2 - HM Q3 - P
Vol 41: Q1 - HM, Q2 - SHM, Q3 - RWC, Q4 - HM
Vol 40: Q4 - DQ
