Writers & Illustrators Contest

[Stormm]

Kaber, I'm aiming this one particularly at you as your artwork is as fine as any I've seen in the professional market... BUT... this contest occurs quarterly for Writers and Illustrators of the Future. Here is the link to it...

www.writersofthefuture.com/index2.htm


L.Ron Hubbard's Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contest

A little about this... it's about as prestigious a contest as any aspiring writer or illustrator could hope to make a mark in and you can enter as much as 4 times a year.

For aspiring writers (like myself), getting anything you do printed in their anthology will be your first and biggest point in getting membership in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Guild which includes just about anyone good you've ever read. The rules and formats for your material is posted on this site. Big awards and recognition and no entry fees (which is rare in most writers and poetry contests).

For illustrators (like Kaber) there are equally coveted awards to win, recognition to be had and the terrific possibilities of being an illustrator sought out for cover art to some really big name authors. The techniques, styles and tools are as far ranging as the artists themselves, but I have to tell you there are some seriously talented competition to pit yourself against... but I've seen theirs and I've seen some of yours... I think you have some good chances. The rules and requirements are posted at the site.

For the record, I do not represent this contest or organization in any way, but I *do* enter some of my best works in it as often as possible as I would very much like to obtain guild membership as a fantasy writer. There's some good raw talent here in writing and illustrating, I would encourage you as a friend to show your stuff and open your sizeable futures to greater possibilities.

-Stormm

[MjolnirH]

WHOAH!!! DUDE THAT'S GREAT!!!!

hmmmmm..... do I submit somthing I've already written ooooorrrr write an entirly new story

<does the Ray Bradbery(sp) thing and looks round the room for inspiration>

[Stormm]

You *really* should. If it's never been published or viewed by more than 5000 people, you can submit it.
Polish it up for spelling and puctuation errors and follow the format they give you in the guidelines. I'm mailing out "Blood Moon Rising" to them this week, as soon as I hear back from Black Gate Fantasy (I'm expecting them to reject it as it's not exactly the kind of story they publish most... but it's good on its own merits). I've sent out 4 stories this week.

If you want to try your hand selling the occasional short story you can search the Market List at this site...

www.marketlist.com/index.asp

Before you fork over the cash to mail some of these, I need to warn you that this list is slow on the updating and some of the publications are no longer in print. Check out their websites for guidelines and formats and just to see what editor to mail to or email to. I like the e-mail submissions like Black Gate Fantasy and Strange Horizons as it costs nothing to mail and I hear back from them quicker. It can take 3 months to hear back from an editor. They get hammered with stories. Get an award from Writers of the Future or an honorable mention, and they'll pay more attention to your work and you can get a higher price. For me, I'm 52 years old tomorrow and I'm not going to spend another 20 or 30 years getting seniority in some firm to qualify for retirement. So this writing gig is my retirement program. When I can make enough with this to support myself, I tell the day job to make a big leap at the moon and I spend my golden years slaviing over a hot keyboard on the days I feel creative.