- You left your name on your entry.
- Your entry exceeded our length limit.
- Your entry was not in English, or was in a format or genre that the contest does not accept. Mostly this means poetry, screenplays, scholarship essays, erotica, excessive profanity, children's stories, or stories that don't contain a speculative element.
- Failure to Launch - your opening went on too long, was too unfocused, or did not engage us
- Didn't Stick the Landing - your ending was weak or didn't fit the story
- Content issues - too much violence, sex, or profanity
- No speculative element - your fantasy or sci-fi element was not present, introduced too late, or was insufficient
- Your story was for children - We're OK with YA, but you sent us something for middle grade or lower
- Politics and Religion - Your story depended too heavily on real-world politics, was better suited to a devotional market, or spent too much time trying to advance a particular religious or political agenda
* Except for your name. If you get DQed for leaving your name on it, fix it and resubmit it.
WOTF: 1 HM, 1 Semi, 2 Finalists, 1 Winner
Q2,V31 - Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
Hugo and Astounding finalist, made the preliminary Stoker ballot (juried)
Published by Galaxy's Edge, DSF, StarShipSofa and TorNightfire
The wait was already worth it but this REALLY makes all the waiting worthwhile. Thank you for these amazing changes! I know this means so much more work for the staff but wow am I super grateful, especially for the potential at getting comments on rejected stories!
V36:Q3 HM V37: Q3 R, Q4 SHM V38: R,HM, F, HM V39: HM, SHM, SHM, SHM V40: SF, RWC, ?
That's amazing, Kary. I can only imagine how much this is going to help folks in the future. 
WotF Results:
R:6
HM:17
SHM:1
SF:3
F:0
Last: SF, Q2 v41
Thank you Kary. I love the new guidelines.
Small steps add up to miles.
5 R, 4 RWC, 6 HM, 1 SHM
"Amore For Life" in After the Gold Rush Third Flatiron Anthology
"Freedom’s Song” in Troubadour and Space Princesses LTUE Anthology
"Experimenting with the Dance of Death" in Love is Complicated LUW Romance Anthology.
@karyenglish These a great new features to story returns, and should be very helpful to aspiring writers. Thanks, Kary!
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 been 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!
This is awesome!
Vol. 36: 3rd -- R, 4th -- R
Vol. 37: R, HM, HM, SHM
Vol. 38: HM, HM, HM, HM
Vol. 39: SHM, RWC, RWC, HM
Vol. 40: HM, R, RWC, R
Vol. 41: R, HM, HM, HM
Vol. 42: 1st -- pending
Amateur published stories:
"The Army Ration That Saved the Earth" -- Accepted for publication, waiting for contract
"The Tell-Tale Cricket" in The Murderbugs Anthololgy
"Follow the Pretrons" in Martian Magazine, and a Critters Award
"Eyes and Hands" in Galaxy's Edge Magazine
"The Last Dance" in Parliament of Wizards, LTUE anthology
"My Ten Cents" in Sci Fi Lampoon
Professional Publication:
"Invasion" in Daily Science Fiction
Wow, this is fantastic! Thank you!!
v35: Q4 - HM
V36: R, R, R, R
V37: SHM, HM, HM, SHM
V38: SHM, HM, HM, HM
V39: HM, R, SHM, HM
Indie author of The Lex Chronicles (Legends of Arameth), and the in-progress Leyward Stones series--including my serial, Macchiatos, Faerie Princes, and Other Things That Happen at Midnight, currently available on Kindle Vella.
Website: http://ccrawfordwriting.com. I also have a newsletter and a blog!
Short story "Our Kind" published in DreamForge Anvil, Issue #5, and also "One Shot at Aeden" published in DreamForge Anvil, Issue #7!
Too cool!
Thank you
WOTF Stats
(2014) V31 – R
(2018) V35 – HM
(2019) V36 – HM, SHM
(2020) V37 – R, HM, SHM, Finalist
(2021) V38 – SF, SHM, SHM, HM
(2022) V39 – HM, SHM, SHM, SHM
(2023) V40 - HM, SF, tba, tba
WTH did I just read? Whatever it was, don't submit it again."
That's brilliant. Had me laughing out loud.
Thank you kindly for this update, Kary. Very generous. I'm sure it will help many new writers.
"If writing is easy, you're doing it wrong." -Bryan Hutchinson
V36-37: R x6
V38: R, HM, R, HM
V39: HM, HM, HM, HM
V40: HM, HM, SHM, HM
V41: RWC, P
Thanks, Kary. I appreciate you making the extra effort required for this.
?
Thank you Kary! It really helps new writers a lot
V37: R, R, R, R
V38: R, R, HM, R
V39:
Author of The Otherworld Trilogy
Book 1: In the Name of the Otherworld (https://www.amazon.com/Name-Otherworld-Hermione-Lee/dp/1955086362)
Book 2: Marvels of the Underworld (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1956788689?ref_=dbs_m_mng_wim_calw_tpbk_1&storeType=ebooks)
Book 3 I&II: War of the Chaotic Worlds (TBA)
Recipient of the Literary Titan Silver Award in September 2021
Recipient of Best Sci-fi and Fantasy Novel and Best Young Adult Book in the 24th Critters Annual Readers Poll (2021-2022)
Winner of the 2021 Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers’ Choice Awards (Best YA/NA Novel)
Thanks for the information Kary.
Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships
Thanks Kary! We really appreciate the work you do to help the contest entrants. These new categories will be really helpful.
Death and the Taxman, my WotF V39 winning story is now a novel! (Click Here >).
Death and the Dragon launches on Kickstarter August 27th. (Click Here >)
Subscribe to The Lost Bard's Letter at www.davidhankins.com and receive an exclusive novelette!
New Releases:
"The Missing Music in Milo Piper's Head" in Third Flatiron's Offshoots: Humanity Twigged
"To Catch a Foo Fighter" in DreamForge Magazine
"Milo Piper's Breakout Single that Ended the Rat War" in LTUE's Troubadours and Space Princesses anthology
"The Rise and Fall of Frankie's Patisserie" in Murderbugs anthology
"Felix and the Flamingo" in Escape Pod
"The Devil's Foot Locker" in Amazing Stories
Nice improvement! I can see this being extremely helpful.
Thank you for the continued support.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: WIP
2024 V41: RWC (Resubmitted "HM"), 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--
These are great new categories! Thanks Kary!
Volume 41 Q1 Illustrator Winner!
4x Finalist Illustrators
5x Semi finalist Illustrators
1x HM Illustrators
7x HM Writers
3x SHM Writers
https://clforsauthor.com
Author of the Primogenitor series: Cradle of Mars, Adaptation, Reunion, Schism: Available on Amazon under CL Fors
@karyenglish, that sounds like a lot of extra work! You guys are crazy!
Now the question is, for those with the rest of the alphabet soup (R, HM, SHM, SF, F, and P), will you be tempted to deliberately collect a DQ and an RWC?
VOL 40 2nd Quarter: Third Place ("Ashes to Ashes, Blood to Carbonfiber")
Past submissions: R - HM - HM - HM - HM - HM - SHM - SHM
www.jd-writes.com
Kindle Vella - Ashes to Ashes, Earth to Kaybee
This will help so many people! You all are awesome!
Victoria Dixon
Author of Mourn Their Courage
a 2010 Sandy Writing Contest Finalist
A Tribble Ate My Lunch: a Star Trek Cookbook (unpublished)
R=24
HM= 8
SHM=4
Finalist=1
@karyenglish, that sounds like a lot of extra work! You guys are crazy!
Now the question is, for those with the rest of the alphabet soup (R, HM, SHM, SF, F, and P), will you be tempted to deliberately collect a DQ and an RWC?
That seems a bit extreme to me, but the prospect is amusing. 
If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn't expecting it. ~ H.G. Wells
If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. ~ Mark Twain
R, SF, SHM, SHM, SHM, F, R, HM, SHM, R, HM, R, F, SHM, SHM, SHM, SF, SHM, 1st Place (Q2 V38)
Ticknor Tales
Twitter
4th and Starlight: e-book | paperback
This is a clever and efficient approach. When rejecting a story, you will in the moment have an idea what it lacked, and putting the most common reasons for rejection in a list you can place a checkmark next to gives an excellent ratio of valuable feedback:extra work.
Always remember that the crowd that applauds your coronation is the same crowd that will applaud your beheading. People like a show.
Terry Pratchett
How very nice. Thanks.
Chuck Thompson
6 Rs, 5 HMs, 2 SHMs
@karyenglish, that sounds like a lot of extra work! You guys are crazy!
Watching from the outside, I can say that they designed it for the LEAST extra work possible. That’s why you don’t get a specific cause of failure, you get a list of the most common causes of failure. (It’s up to you to decide which cause applies to your story.) They don’t do this for every story, just stories that show promise. So the extra work is something like, “Oh, so close! Put this in the comment folder instead of the rejection folder.”
The extra work is more than zero; but they really thought about how to minimize it.
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
That's an absolutely awesome addition to the contest. It can totally help people improve. Form R's are so hard to learn something from.
It's almost like a bronze honorable mention, in a way.
This is so helpful and so very generous, especially considering all that the contest does for entrants already. Thank you very much for this addition.
Write without fear.
Edit without mercy.
......................................................................................................................
V38 1Q NA 2Q SHM 3Q R 4Q HM
V39 1Q NA 2Q SHM 3Q HM 4Q RWC
V40 1Q SHM 2Q SHM 3Q SHM 4Q HM
V41 1Q TBD
That's an absolutely awesome addition to the contest. It can totally help people improve. Form R's are so hard to learn something from.
It's almost like a bronze honorable mention, in a way.
Definitely! RWC means we saw something promising, something we wanted to encourage in addition to whatever caused us to flag it for RWC.
WOTF: 1 HM, 1 Semi, 2 Finalists, 1 Winner
Q2,V31 - Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
Hugo and Astounding finalist, made the preliminary Stoker ballot (juried)
Published by Galaxy's Edge, DSF, StarShipSofa and TorNightfire
Doing my quarterly forum lurk and I’m really excited for these changes
SHM: 1
HM: 9
R: 1
www.reynichols.com
@karyenglish Thank you for all the helpful information!
I looks like I got the new category a RWC. Maybe I should run the by my writing group.
Small steps add up to miles.
5 R, 4 RWC, 6 HM, 1 SHM
"Amore For Life" in After the Gold Rush Third Flatiron Anthology
"Freedom’s Song” in Troubadour and Space Princesses LTUE Anthology
"Experimenting with the Dance of Death" in Love is Complicated LUW Romance Anthology.
I got a DNP (did not place) and an offer to purchase the anthology.
Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships
I know this isn't quite on topic exactly, but this change which is great by the way, got me thinking about what has changed in the time I've been submitting and part of my brain insists that it has just been a couple years since you @karyenglish started being the first reader. But then I questioned whether it is just that weird time compression/time expansion thing that has marked the last couple of years. And also questioning whether I remember an announcement about that or if I'm mixing it up with something else.
So do you mind sharing when you started as first reader?
(Also I admit I have a re-worked story I'm thinking about submitting but might use something else if you would have definitely seen it before)
v36 Q1, Q3 - HM; Q4 - R
v37 Q1 - R; Q2 - SHM; Q4 - HM
v38 Q1 - HM; Q2 - SHM; Q3 - HM; Q4 - HM
v39 Q1 - SHM; Q3 - HM; Q4 -RWC
v40 Q1, Q2 - HM; Q3 - Pending
Extra! Extra! Read all about it:
https://writersofthefuture.com/writers-of-the-future-taps-kary-english-as-new-first-reader/
(I'm not really so old I remember those times or anything. Just sounded like a fun thing to write)
Career: 1x Win -- 2x NW-F -- 2x S-F -- 9x S-HM -- 11x HM -- 7x R
Like me: facebook/AuthorTJKnight
