User:NegaScout/Writers of the Future Contest Draft

Writers of the Future (WOTF) is a science fiction and fantasy story contest that was originated by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s. Hubbard characterized the contest as a way of "giving back" to the field that had defined his professional writing life. The contest has no entry fee and is the highest-paying contest for amateur science-fiction and fantasy writers. The winning stories are published in the yearly anthology L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of Future.

The contest enjoys a favorable reputation in the science fiction community, although its connection with the Church of Scientology has caused some controversy.

Contest rules and procedures
The Writers of the Future (WOTF) contest may be entered quarterly, and is open to authors who have no, or few, professional publications. The Contest rules state that entrants cannot have had published "a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Professional publication is deemed to be payment, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits." Eligible works are stories up to 17,000 words in length. Poems, screenplays, non-fiction, etc., are not eligible.

Manuscripts are blind-judged (with names deleted), and are separated out in Honorable Mention and Semi-Final award rounds by the Coordinating Judge (currently K. D. Wentworth, previously Dave Wolverton during much of the 1990s, and originally Algis Budrys). Eight to ten finalists are sent to four of the contest judges, who determine the top three awards. Prizes are $1000 (first place), $750 (second) and $500 (third) with an additional $500 payable upon publication in the anthology. The process is then repeated the next quarter. At the end of the contest year, the four quarterly first place stories compete for a separate annual grand prize, the "Gold Award," which includes an additional $5000. The first, second and third place winners and often a selection of the other finalist stories are published annually. Thus, a grand prize-winning author can make over $6000 for a single story - more than many writers receive for a first novel.

Some finalist stories not considered among the top three may be included in the annual anthology (usually a story by a writer who has placed as a finalist, but not won, twice in one year). These are called "published finalists." The writers are compensated for publication rights, but are not considered winners, receive no prize money and are eligible to re-enter the contest. Often writers will repeatedly enter the contest, quarter after quarter, until they either win or become ineligible due to publications elsewhere.

No official tallies are given for the number of entrants in either contest, but it is believed that thousands enter the Writers contest every quarter. Recently, the contest began accepting entries online, resulting in a far greater number of submissions.

Workshop
All winners and published finalists are invited to attend the annual week-long writers' and artists' workshops and Awards gala at the invitation and expense of the contest administration. The workshop is hosted by Tim Powers and K.D. Wentworth (the coordinating judge) and deals with topics that would help a neo-pro. The first few days focus on writing quickly, and winners are encouraged to read articles written by L. Ron Hubbard and other prominent science fiction writers. On the third day, writers are sent on the 24 hour story. They are given a random object, told to pick random books from the library, and then asked to engage with a complete stranger. That evening they are required to write a story that incorporates those three things. The following day, three of those stories are workshopped with the group.

Thursday night a barbecue is held to welcome the arriving judges, and winners are

Gala
Tuxedoes and gowns are worn by the judges, administrators, and winners for the Awards gala (but members of the general public are casually attired), and various Hollywood actors are generally in attendance, in addition to prominent science fiction authors and artists. These include the present judges in addition to a famous and generally elderly writer given a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Prominent judges

 * Algis Budrys
 * Gregory Benford
 * Kevin J. Anderson
 * Orson Scott Card
 * Jack Williamson
 * Nina Kiriki Hoffman
 * Brian Herbert
 * K. D. Wentworth
 * Tim Powers
 * Robert J. Sawyer
 * Frederik Pohl
 * Jerry Pournelle
 * Andre Norton
 * Larry Niven
 * Anne McCaffrey

Prominent winners

 * Stephen Baxter
 * Karen Joy Fowler
 * Carl Frederick
 * James Alan Gardner
 * Jim C. Hines
 * Jay Lake
 * David D. Levine
 * Syne Mitchell
 * Michael H. Payne
 * Brian Plante
 * Robert Reed
 * Bruce Holland Rogers
 * Patrick Rothfuss


 * Dean Wesley Smith
 * Catriona Sparks
 * Mary Turzillo
 * Sean Williams
 * Dave Wolverton
 * David Zindell

Connections to Scientology
thumb|121px|Cover of Volume 22 of the anthology series Writers of the Future, prominently featuring Hubbard's name

The original sponsors of the contest were Bridge Publications, Inc., the publishing arm of the Church of Scientology. Recently, the sponsorship moved to Author Services Inc. under the trade name Galaxy Press, which was spun off from Bridge to publish Hubbard's fiction and the contest anthologies.

The contest has also been characterized as a promotional vehicle for Hubbard himself, who returned to science fiction writing with Battlefield Earth at about the same time as he began the contest. On the covers of the annual WOTF anthologies, Hubbard's name appears "above the title", and in at least as prominent a font. The prominence of Hubbard's name and the lavish funding of the contest awards, publicity and ceremonies have led some to speculate that the contest is part of a campaign by the Church of Scientology to promote Hubbard's status in the science fiction and literary communities.

Entering or winning the contest does not require or imply endorsement or membership in the Church of Scientology, and the contest itself has been endorsed by a wide range of well-known speculative fiction writers (see Judges and Winners above) who have no relationship to Scientology. Additionally, no winner or contest judge has ever been identified as a Scientologist and the Church isn't mentioned by any Scientologist during the entire workshop week leading some winners to speculate on the existence of a "Firewall" that keeps them apart.

According to Director of the Writers and Illustrators Contests Joni Labaqui, the funds to underwrite the contest—including the cash prizes, the gala awards ceremony and the weeklong pre-awards festivities—come from the Hubbard estate. The Hubbard estate is separate from the Church of Scientology and earns royalties from sales of Hubbard's books, including his fiction. Labaqui also reports that staff of Author Services Inc. is entirely made up of Scientologists.

However, records with the United States Patent and Trademark Office show that the rights to the Writers of the Future name were transferred from the L. Ron Hubbard estate ("Family Trust-B") to the Church of Spiritual Technology in 1989, and under the 1993 IRS closing agreement with the Church of Scientology, the L. Ron Hubbard estate became part of the Church of Spiritual Technology, a "Scientology-related entity".