Writers of the Future Volume 37 Cover Reveal

The cover for L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 37 was revealed to an international audience in a special online event. Watch the Cover Reveal Event here. Echo Chernik, Illustrators of the Future Coordinating Judge, and the cover’s artist, along with Jody Lynn Nye, Contest judge and author of “Phoenixes War,” a short story inspired by the cover art and included in the upcoming volume, made the presentation. As the President of Galaxy Press, I was fortunate to be able to host the event.

Winners of Writers of the Future Volume 36 were unable to attend the annual workshop and gala awards ceremony in Hollywood last year due to the pandemic. As a result, this year we will see a combined awards event for Volumes 36 and 37—the first time in the history of the Contests!

So Echo used the same cover elements for both covers in recognition of this unique occurrence.

As the event rolled out, Jody Lynn Nye (epic fantasy series The Dreamland), discussed the inspiration of Echo’s art for both Volumes 36 and 37 and the writing of the short stories they inspired. Jody stated in the reveal event, “As a judge, I get to see stories that are submitted by people from all over the world, over 150 countries, and the quality of the stories I get is surprisingly high, surprisingly delightful…. I wanted to have a crack at writing something that went with one of Echo’s beautiful pieces of art. And I have been privileged to be included in what’s coming up for Volume 37…. I could never have foreseen when I did the story for [Volume] 36 based on that piece that I’d have the chance to follow the characters forward and have such an awesome inspiration.”

In Writers of the Future Volume 36, Jody’s story, “The Phoenix’s Peace,” the Phoenix has always been the guardian of Dembia. Now there’s trouble in the land, and mysteriously, the Phoenix has left two golden eggs.

In Volume 37, “The Phoenixes’ War,” Priestess Melana and the two Phoenixes face a test that will decide the fate of two realms when a lover’s gift to her king turns out to be a perilous trap.

Echo Chernik, specializing in art nouveau-influenced poster design, advertisements, package design, and book covers spoke of the diversity of talent included in the upcoming anthology. “The best part is the illustrations in the book because the entire obligation of the cover artist is to get people to pick up this book and flip through it and then see the amazing art inside…. The work for this year and for [Volume] 36 is just phenomenal. I get to art direct and work with the artists on each of their pieces to try to get them to be the best that they can be. I really believe in inspiring and working with each artist to get their own personal style to be strong and to really strengthen that.”

Awesome eBundle Offer

The event concluded with a special announcement of an awesome eBundle for free for  anyone pre-ordering L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 37. It includes various desktop and mobile screen savers, a free eBook for Writers of the Future Volume 31, and an eTips booklet with essays from seven bestselling authors/Writers of the Future judges.

Event Feedback

Following the event, several guests wrote in showing their excitement for the upcoming release:

M.O. Muriel—one of the very few in 37 years to win both the Writer and Illustrator Contests and the only one to win them back to back—watched the online event and stated, “Each year, there are several ‘reveals’ associated with the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests, as they celebrate the release of their next new anthology full of winners. My favorite set of ‘reveals’ has always been those featuring the Contest artwork—both external cover art for the anthology, as well as the 12 Illustrators of the Future winner’s internal art for the 12 winning stories.”

Elizabeth Chatsworth, Writers of the Future winner and author of The Brass Queen, stated, “As a British author, I truly appreciate that this contest welcomes submissions from writers across the globe. The diverse tales in every volume reflect the international sci-fi and fantasy community at its finest.”

André Mata, Illustrators of the Future winner from Portugal, wrote, “It’s great to be a part of the cover reveal, to meet other artists, interact and learn with this community.”

Barbara Lund, Writers of the Future winner from Utah, commented, “What an absolutely beautiful cover! I feel so lucky to be included in Volume 37. I can’t wait to read all the stories and see all the art inside!”

John Haas, Writers of the Future winner from Canada, wrote, “I look forward to seeing the cover art every year. It never disappoints.”

Be sure to take advantage of this special eBundle offer for pre-ordering your copy of  L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 37.

For more information about Writers and Illustrators of the Future, visit www.writersofthefuture.com.