L. Ron Hubbard Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast receives the eLit Gold Award

The 2024 eLit Awards recognized the L. Ron Hubbard Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast as the winner of the Interview/Author Hosted Format category. Fittingly, the event was held online earlier this month, enabling winners to participate from several countries worldwide.

Founded in 2009, the eLit Awards honor outstanding digital books, audiobooks, and apps that push the boundaries of innovation and storytelling. In a rapidly evolving publishing landscape, these awards recognize works that engage readers and promote learning, creativity, and growth. Whether through captivating narratives, interactive elements, or cutting-edge design, the eLit Awards celebrate the creativity and impact of digital media in shaping the future of reading and education.

The Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast was launched in April 2019. It was created to provide writing and illustrating tips and advice from contest judges, winners, and industry professionals for writers and artists, along with the inspiration needed to keep going.

To provide some perspective on the podcast environment, in 2019 there were over 819,000 podcasts. Today, there are over 3.2 million podcasts worldwide, according to ListenNotes. A podcast getting over 30 downloads per episode is in the top 50%, a podcast getting over 115 downloads is in the top 25%, and over 4,782 in the top 1%, per The Podcast Host. The Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast, now syndicated on the United Public Radio Network, gets just under two million listens to each episode,

The Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast was inspired by L. Ron Hubbard’s mission statement in 1983 when he created the Writers of the Future Contest:

“A culture is as rich and as capable of surviving as it has imaginative artists. The artist is looked upon to start things. The artist injects the spirit of life into a culture. And through his creative endeavors, the writer works continually to give tomorrow a new form.”

The Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast is one of several tools made available for aspiring writers and artists by the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contests. For over four decades—and nearly 1,000 writer and artist winners—L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contests have discovered and nurtured a steady stream of new talent who have changed the face of science fiction and fantasy.

Recent guests on the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast are episodes:

• 308. Andrea Flek-Nisbet, CEO of Independent Book Publishers Assn
• 307. Elise Stephens, Writers of the Future 35 winner and published author
• 306. Myke Cole, Writers of the Future 19 winner and award-winning author
• 305. Sean McManus, President Dreamscape and President Audio Publishers Assn
• 304. Scott T. Barnes, Writers of the Future 28 winner and published author
• 303. Jason Kelly, President of UK publisher Sounded
• 302. Cory Verner, co-founder of eChristian Audio

To see the complete list of podcast guests, visit writersofthefuture.com/podcast.

To view the list of eLit Award winners and distinguished favorites, please visit elitawards.com/blog/2024-medalists.

For more information on the Writers of the Future Contest, visit writersofthefuture.com.