Dave Wolverton is a prolific SF/F writer, former Grand Prize winner of Writers of the Future, and current editor of the "Writers of the Future" contest.

Dave, how did you become involved in WOTF?

Shayne Bell, another writer and friend of mine, heard about it at WorldCon when it first started up. He came back excited about the contest. He got everyone else excited, too. A bunch of us in the local writer's group sent in stories. In 1986 I won the grand prize in the contest.

Algis Budrys, editor of the WOTF contest at that time, came to BYU as a guest of "Life, the Universe and Everything" in 1988. Shayne and I were sitting around a table with AJ discussing what we liked and didn't like about the various science fiction magazines and their editors. AJ listened for a while and said, "I know who's going to take my place." He didn't expound on it at the time, but later, he asked me to be one of the judges of the contest. After a while, I was asked to be first reader. A few quarters later, AJ stepped down and asked me to take his place as editor of the WOTF anthology.

And it just went from there.

How are manuscripts handled?

There's a contest administrator who receives all the manuscripts. The administrator makes sure all the stories are anonymous (no names on manuscripts, etc.) then sends the stories to me. I pick out the ones that will be the finalists. Usually about six to ten stories. Then I return them to the administrator who sends the finalist stories to the other judges. They determine who gets first, second and third place.

Who are the judges?

The number of judges changes. Usually there are around 12 to 13 judges. Some of the ones right now are Algis Budrys, Greg Benford, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournell, Kevin Anderson, Fred Pohl, Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey, Jack Williamson and Tim Powers. Roger Zelazny was one before he died. I can't think of any others right now. I try to get a good mix of science fiction, fantasy and horror writers.

What kind of story will never win the WOTF?

Badly written stories. We take just about everything. Science fiction, fantasy, horror. In the last few years the anthologies have been half science fiction and half fantasy. Writers tend to go in spurts. Some years we'll get a lot of one type of story. Like child abuse, etc. The contest doesn't change. I pick the best of what I get. If there seems to be a theme, it's just because of what's turned in. Recently, I've read a lot of dark fantasy. A few years ago we had a quarter heavy in dark fantasy, too.

Comedy is, by nature, harder to write. I don't get enough good comedy.

I get a lot of stories where the author tries to disgust me- and suceeds admirably. I usually don't read farther. I won't read exceptionally vulgar stories. Other than that, there are no limits to what I'll take. There is one thing to remember. These stories are going to be published. I have to limit the stories to those that are in good taste so the anthology won't get kicked out of schools and stuff. I sometimes get stories that are pornographic in nature. Those I won't take. Even if the story is good. I have to keep the reader in mind.

This is something that has to be published within the bounds of society. The winners are authors of the real world. The stories could be published in other good magazines like "Fantasy and Science Fiction," "Asimov's," "SF Age," etc. If the story is written for "Hustler," I won't take it.

How often do you comment on a story that doesn't get selected?

I tend to limit comments to the semi-finalist and finalist stories. In any given quarter there may be 6-10 semi finalists, 6-10 finalists, and quarter finalists. The rest are returned with a form letter. Finalists that don't win are ones I considers publishable, but have some minor things that could be changed. I will generally comment on those.

What happens if you get a lot of stories one quarter with the same theme?

Sometimes its harder for a story with the same theme as other stories submitted that quarter to win. If there are several stories with the same theme that make it to the finalist stage, they can split the judges votes. Sometimes good stories don't even make it to the anthology. Things like that can happen. So the story may not do as well.

What is a story makes it to finalist, but doesn't get into the anthology? Can you rewrite it and resubmit it another quarter?

No. Once I comment on a story, it's ineligible for further consideration. Otherwise I'd have too many stories that kept coming back as finalists. You can sbmit another story. But you can't submit the same story again.

Any other comments you'd like to make?

The "Writers of the Future" contest has prizes as well as money for publication. Each quarterly contest has three prizes. $1000 for first place, $750 for second, $500 for third. Each year, there's a grand prize winner selected from the four quarterly first place winner. That person gets an additional $4000.

Then, the winning stories are bought for the anthology. The twelve winners get 20 cents a word up to $1000.

Finalists get 15 cents a word up to $500. Around three finalists get their stories published in the anthology each year, in addition to the winners. So, if you make grand prize winner, you could earn around $6000. It's about the highest paying market in the field. It should be the first place writers look at.

In addition to the money, if your story is published in the anthology, you get to attend a writing workshop.A lot of writers come each year who are close to breaking into the pro market. The workshop helps them figure out what they need to do and where they need to go.

About Dave Wolverton

Dave has written a number of well-received novels, including, The Golden Queen, The Courtship of Princess Leia and On My Way to Paradise. He is currently working on a fantasy novel. He has other SF novels and children's books that will be coming out soon.If you haven't read any of his works, you should pick up one from your local bookstore. You can also pick up a copy of Writers of the Future and see what the contest is all about.

About Charlene C. Harmon

Charlene is a member of the SFFWA, and has published a number of poems in various magazines including The Leading Edge, Midnight Zoo, Amazing Stories, and Sunstone. She has also published a novella in an anthology entitled, Washed by a Wave of Wind: science fiction from the corridor. She is also a housewife and mother of three.

Copyright © 1996 by Charlene C. Harmon. All Rights Reserved.