Discussion: Q2 Volume 42

@theocarr congratulations!!!

Posted by: @laselby

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I got Finalist whoo hoooooo!!! 

Time to write the next story!!!

Love it <3    

Awesome news, LA! Your hard work has paid off. CONGRATULATIONS!!!  

@laselby Congratulations!! That’s amazing!

@theocarr Congratulations!! Third time? That’s rough. But I’m sure it that means it’s only a matter of time. I admire your resilience.

Posted by: @theocarr

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I got Finalist! This is now my third finalist with no win and I shall try not to have a big cry about it. It's a big achievement for me either way onto the next one we go.

And a huge congrats to the winners! 

Third finalist is HUGE. You are consistently hitting the bullseye. And you still have a chance at Published Finalist at the end of the year if you choose to hang on to it and wait and see. Well done!!!

Posted by: @stricklandia

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@laselby I got a call from Joni a short time ago that I'm a Finalist! I hope that's also the reason you haven't heard yet!

I thought I had congratulated you on being a Finalist, Michael, but I don't see it now. So ... CONGRATULATIONS! Thousands enter every quarter. To be Top 8 is a really big deal. Well done!!!

@laselby congratulations.

@theocarr congratulations

Posted by: @laselby

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I got Finalist whoo hoooooo!!! 

Time to write the next story!!!

Love it <3    

@laselby, amazing, congratulations!!

Posted by: @theocarr

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I got Finalist! This is now my third finalist with no win and I shall try not to have a big cry about it. It's a big achievement for me either way onto the next one we go.

And a huge congrats to the winners! 

@theocarr, that's both an amazing achievement and really tough. Hang in there, you must be writing some great stuff!

Posted by: @laselby

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I got Finalist whoo hoooooo!!! 

Time to write the next story!!!

Love it <3    

Congrats, that is awesome.

Posted by: @theocarr

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I got Finalist! This is now my third finalist with no win and I shall try not to have a big cry about it. It's a big achievement for me either way onto the next one we go.

And a huge congrats to the winners! 

Congrats.  Wow on the three finalist achievements. You must being doing great work that is consistent.

Have you tried to sell them in other markets? 

Congratulations to everyone who entered and to those who placed. To those feeling disappointed, hang in there. You never know if your next story will be the one. I had a streak of 5 HMs on the bounce with what I thought (each time) was my best story yet. The prize is so worth it, the community here is so supportive, it's just a great contest and I'm looking forward to hearing how the Fs in the forum got on  

Winners up on the blog!

I've edited the first post with the links. 

https://writersofthefuture.com/forum/postid/56741/

Posted by: @toddsjones

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Posted by: @theocarr

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I got Finalist! This is now my third finalist with no win and I shall try not to have a big cry about it. It's a big achievement for me either way onto the next one we go.

And a huge congrats to the winners! 

Congrats.  Wow on the three finalist achievements. You must being doing great work that is consistent.

Have you tried to sell them in other markets? 

 

Thank you! Yeah I've tried those stories in other markets, but they're quite long (closer to the 12,000 word mark) so that both reduces the number of markets that will accept them and makes them generally less appealing to markets that will accept them (that's what I'm blaming it on anyway haha). My latest finalist was around 8,000 words so that should be much more palatable for most markets. 

Posted by: @theocarr

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Posted by: @toddsjones

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Posted by: @theocarr

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I got Finalist! This is now my third finalist with no win and I shall try not to have a big cry about it. It's a big achievement for me either way onto the next one we go.

And a huge congrats to the winners! 

 

 

Congrats @theocarr - three finalists is impressive! And I think you are allowed a moment of sullenness if you've had three and not yet progressed (I was disappointed even at just one!). But clearly you are doing whats needed - bouncing back, so I applaud you for that.

 

Now I just hope you hang around the forum and tell us how its done!

 

"...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:
2026 Q1: TBD Q2: TBD Q3: TBD Q4: TBD
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: HM Q4: HM (resub of 2024 HM)
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: 163 submitted 10 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

http://www.gideonpsmith.com

 

Congratulations to everyone on the listing of winners, from true winners all the way down to HM. @theocarr, I can't even imagine the heady scent of success being so close three times. For me, I smile broadly to see my name in the HM list once again.

And for those not on the list—if you're reading this, then you're on the WotF Forum, and that means you likely also submitted. That in itself is a big success, because there are thousands of other writers who know of WotF but did not submit. Congratulations.

@stricklandia Super congrats! Third Place – Michael Strickland from Colorado is an awesome result. Well done! Sorry you had such a long wait, but it was obviously worth it.

@theocarr and @laselby Congrats on being among the finalists! You were so close!

And congrats to all finalists especially the ones who placed, all semifinalists, all SHMs, all HMs, and all of those of you who entered but didn't place.

Very first post here -- Okay, I did just discover that these forms even exist, so I guess post #1 has to go somewhere. I have to say, I wish I'd discovered these forums earlier -- it's nice to see such a supportive community around the contest.

Congratulations to everyone, to those who placed and to those who submitted but were rejected. Although this was my first time submitting a story to WOTF, I've had enough story rejections (including of earlier drafts of this story) from enough markets to know that even submitting a story for consideration is taking a risk and is a victory in itself.

I was lucky enough to discover last night that I made the semi-finalist list (YAY!!!!). It's a much longer story (just over 16,000 words), so still within the cutoff for WOTF, but longer than most anthologies are looking for. Nevertheless, I'll be continuing to submit the story to other markets, now with the knowledge that someone else out there (besides my long-suffering friends and family) thinks it's a reasonably decent story.

I'm hoping to make some further improvements before sending it on. Do the judges provide feedback to semi-finalists? I found out about the SF placement from the public announcement, and haven't received anything about my submission beyond the original "thank you for your submission" email (yes, I'm obsessively checking my spam folder!). I gather from the discussions that SF's are notified last, so I'm just wondering if others in the semi-finalist group are in the same boat...

Thanks for your insights and congratulations again to everyone!

Three Finalists from the WotF Forum and one made it to the winners’ stage? That. Is. Awesome! Congratulations!!! This is the largest talent search in the world for speculative fiction writers and thousands enter every quarter. Well done! Be proud! And kudos to Michael Strickland for his win! Enjoy Hollywood next year!

For the rest that placed in the various tiers, super-duper congratulations as well. We make it look easy in here, but it is not. Getting a certificate means your work has merit, and they are hoping to see your next. Don’t disappoint them! We grow with every story we write!

And to all that submitted and didn’t place, or got RWC, at least you wrote a story! You’re doing the work and completing what you write. Many writers never get that far, let alone send the story out to get its chance at getting published. You are on the path. Well done!

I have only one final bit of advice …

Cheers, everyone! 

@chs 

Really awesome result from your first submission here! Semifinalist is a top tier, and yes, they get later notices in the results. They also get a brief critique from the coordinating judge. So look forward to that and listen close to the advice—Jodi knows her stuff!

Best of success in finding a home for your novelette! 

Most of my stories submitted to this contest were of that length. You can win with those, but it’s harder. Don’t ask me how I know. 😁

Great job! Cheers!

@wulfmoon Thank you for the quick response! That's super helpful -- I'll be patient... And yes, I'm eagerly waiting to hear what they have to say. Free feedback from professionals is worth its weight in gold.

A follow-up question to anyone who's gone on to resubmit stories to other markets. Did you mention the contest results in your cover letter? WOTF doesn't publish the story or even mention the title in the results, so it wouldn't affect First Rights, but I'm not sure if editors would react positively or negatively to including that information. Thanks again!

Posted by: @chs

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Very first post here -- Okay, I did just discover that these forms even exist, so I guess post #1 has to go somewhere. I have to say, I wish I'd discovered these forums earlier -- it's nice to see such a supportive community around the contest.

Congratulations to everyone, to those who placed and to those who submitted but were rejected. Although this was my first time submitting a story to WOTF, I've had enough story rejections (including of earlier drafts of this story) from enough markets to know that even submitting a story for consideration is taking a risk and is a victory in itself.

I was lucky enough to discover last night that I made the semi-finalist list (YAY!!!!). It's a much longer story (just over 16,000 words), so still within the cutoff for WOTF, but longer than most anthologies are looking for. Nevertheless, I'll be continuing to submit the story to other markets, now with the knowledge that someone else out there (besides my long-suffering friends and family) thinks it's a reasonably decent story.

I'm hoping to make some further improvements before sending it on. Do the judges provide feedback to semi-finalists? I found out about the SF placement from the public announcement, and haven't received anything about my submission beyond the original "thank you for your submission" email (yes, I'm obsessively checking my spam folder!). I gather from the discussions that SF's are notified last, so I'm just wondering if others in the semi-finalist group are in the same boat...

Thanks for your insights and congratulations again to everyone!

Awesome job on achieving Semi-finalist.  You will receive some feedback about your story from WotF with the SF, so that is a huge bonus.

Thank you @toddjones for the info!

Posted by: @chs

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@wulfmoon Thank you for the quick response! That's super helpful -- I'll be patient... And yes, I'm eagerly waiting to hear what they have to say. Free feedback from professionals is worth its weight in gold.

A follow-up question to anyone who's gone on to resubmit stories to other markets. Did you mention the contest results in your cover letter? WOTF doesn't publish the story or even mention the title in the results, so it wouldn't affect First Rights, but I'm not sure if editors would react positively or negatively to including that information. Thanks again!

Some do. I never did. But I had decent pro credits (Science World with pro pay and 1 mil print copies per issue, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2). You might feel so inclined if you have none yet to cite. But don't be ashamed if you don't. Editors know we all start somewhere, and they want to be the first to discover and publish the next up-and-coming writer. 

In the end, your story will speak for itself as to its merits. 

Here's an excellent article on how to write cover letters from Alex Shvartsman who was my editor at Future Science Fiction Digest. Worth the read.

How to Write a Proper Short Story Cover Letter | Alex Shvartsman's Speculative Fiction

Best of success in finding it a home! Congrats again!

Posted by: @wulfmoon

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Posted by: @chs

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@wulfmoon Thank you for the quick response! That's super helpful -- I'll be patient... And yes, I'm eagerly waiting to hear what they have to say. Free feedback from professionals is worth its weight in gold.

A follow-up question to anyone who's gone on to resubmit stories to other markets. Did you mention the contest results in your cover letter? WOTF doesn't publish the story or even mention the title in the results, so it wouldn't affect First Rights, but I'm not sure if editors would react positively or negatively to including that information. Thanks again!

Some do. I never did. But I had decent pro credits (Science World with pro pay and 1 mil print copies per issue, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2). You might feel so inclined if you have none yet to cite. But don't be ashamed if you don't. Editors know we all start somewhere, and they want to be the first to discover and publish the next up-and-coming writer. 

In the end, your story will speak for itself as to its merits. 

Here's an excellent article on how to write cover letters from Alex Shvartsman who was my editor at Future Science Fiction Digest. Worth the read.

How to Write a Proper Short Story Cover Letter | Alex Shvartsman's Speculative Fiction

Best of success in finding it a home! Congrats again!

 

Thank you @wulfmoon and thanks for the info! The article's really helpful -- more tools in the toolbox...

@chs First time, and you made SF? Wow! That’s a huge accomplishment. Congratulations!

Posted by: @kz_richards

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@chs First time, and you made SF? Wow! That’s a huge accomplishment. Congratulations!

Thank you @kz_richards! Definitely unexpected and a little mind-boggling, tbh. Got a couple more stories in various stages of completion, but didn't submit for Q3. It's been a good learning experience, so absolutely planning to send something in for Q4.

@chs nice debut! 

You'll definitely get a critique, however, if you didn't get results via e-mail, you should contact Joni or Jason to confirm they have a working e-mail to send said critique. You could @ jason here and set up a PM or e-mail contests @ authorservicesinc.com (that's Joni). 

Thanks all for the congrats—this is all still rather hard to believe! Congrats to all SFs, SHMs, and HMs—and to everyone who finished and submitted a story, which already puts you in rarified company!

In case anyone's interested (and hopefully a shameless plug is allowed*), I wrote up my news in my newsletter this morning. Subscribe (free) if the subject matter interests you; I write about writing, including my current pursuit of a creative writing MFA (and I'm sure to write about my contest experience as next year's workshop approaches). 

https://stricklandia.substack.com/

* Looks like links to our personal websites are subject to moderator discretion according to the rules, so please feel free to edit my post (or ask me to do so) if this is too shameless LOL.