I think that I'll probablly get QFed again. As much as I was in love with the story I sent out, crits reveal several structural flaws, some credibility issues, and where I basically lost creative energy in the last scene. Not to mention 3 typos that I want to kick myself for--I'm the world's worst proofreader!
As evidence of that, I submit the following:
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited March 19, 2007).]
Otherwise, I'll have to admit that I thought you were using creative acronyms to swear.
The Writers Of The Future contest for the first quarter of 2007. The Deadline for quarter 1 was 12/31/06 and the results are beginning to roll in.
I wouldn't worry too much about the typos. I don't think they come into play all that much, as everyone makes mistakes, and only three within a several thousand word story isn't all that much. The reason I believe that is that the critique I got for my semifinalist finish from Kathy Wentworth didn't point out any of mine, and I know I had a few. As long as the entire story isn't filled with them, I don't think it matters much.
KayTi, the Writers Of The Future Contest, or WOTF, is a contest for unpublished authors that is well worth entering and paying attention to. It's judged by some of the most successful authors and icons in the fields of SciFi and Fantasy. Winning it can (and has) catapalted many unpublished authors into the professional ranks. If you want to check it out go to the following link:
http://www.writersofthefuture.com
I would suggest this contest to any aspiring author who is eligible. It is completely fair, unbiased, free to enter, and offers great opportunities.
Chris, if you ever want me to look at a story of yours before sending it, just drop me an email. I'd be happy to look at it.
This time, I forced myself and my wife to comb 2 printed pages a day for a month. Having done that, I'm doing my final rounds of revisions and proofing, and hopefully it'll go out next week. I'm in love now, but after I'm sure after a few months, all the problems will come back to haunt me.
After this, I've resolved to try to stick to shorter stories.
Kathy Wentworth wrote on March 22nd
"I've finished with the first reading, sorted out the finalists and semifinalists, and sent the last box back. There were some really classy stories in the pile and I had some serious thinking to do when making my final selections."
For those of you that don't know who K.D. Wentworth is--all WOTF submissions are judged by her first. Only a few select stories get past her to be judged by the panel of judges.
I like to write, but I hate waiting. Bad combo.
ChrisOwen: I'm stil waiting too. I sent out a Q2 entry a few weeks back. As to the proofreading, I looked back at my Q1 entry and now see a few errors. I even had had a friend proofread it for me one last time and she missed them too. I don't think I will ever be perfect in this regard. I hope that the judges will overlook a few grammatical errors if the rest of the story flows.
If a writer has to be perfect in this area then I might as well hang-up my keyboard now. Whah.
How many stories come in a quarter is top secret; I've heard 2000 as a guesstimate. Half those are said to rejected because WOTF is the inappropriate market for the story. And the remaining 35% who are nonplacers are probablly riddled with beginner problems, such as the wrong formating (not using Courrier, not doublespacing, ect), or POV issues, or adverb-mania, ect...
Thus, it's probably very easy for 300 writers to churn something out that's better than the 85%, but exponentially harder as you approach the top 1% (the 18 or so finalists & semifinalists). It's like approaching the speed of light.
I was just rereading Eric James Stone's blog on his seminar and read about not using overused words like 'smirk'. D'OH! In the story I sent out, I use it 4 times. And one of those in the first sentence. Double D'OH! Next go round, I'll have to reread his blog before my final revision.
quote:
Kathy Wentworth wrote on March 22nd
Where exactly on sff.net does Kathy Wentworth talk about the Writers of the Future contest, GalaxyGal?
http://webnews.sff.net/read?cmd=xover&group=sff.writing.writersofthefuture
In general, of all the responses, the semifinalists I think are usually the last to know, because Kathy Wentworth does a critique of all of them, and being so busy, it takes her a little while to get to them. On my semifinalist entry, I found out after almost all the finalists had been contacted, and through an email.
Now, it might depend on when you submit, as what happens is that they send out the entries in a series of boxes to Kathy Wentworth (according to Kathy Wentworth's posts on the above mentioned link). She reads the stories, and holds back ones she likes, and sends the rest back right away. This means that if your story isn't one of the final few stories (probably less than fifty, but I don't know for sure) kept for the final cut for quarter finalists, semifinalists, and finalists, you could hear back quicker for a story that didn't make the final selections. From previous posts, I think Spaceman sends his out quicker than I do. I usually tend to send mine out during the last week of the deadline, and usually hear back later too.
The only thing I wish is that they'd tell us which stories were in that last fourty or fifty. It's seems a bit disproportionate to have 250 or so quarter finalists and only eight semifinalists and eight finalists. If you have a good story that placed 17th, you only get back a quarter finalist and would never know for sure just how close you came.
FYI: Still waiting to hear back for the first quarter.
"Your entry did not place in the final selections in the 1st quarter 2007 Contest . . ."
This was my second try with WOTF. My first one got a QF, so I guess that I'm going downhill 
.
One of my best stories submitted (in my own and many other people's opinions), was also a reject. At first I thought it was because the opening paragraph didn't show clearly the genre of the story, so I rewrote it and submitted it again.
Guess what, it was rejected again! The reason for that I believe (since only Kathy Wentworth knows) is that it was a story about lucky pennies that multiply when wishes are granted, and the consequences of that. Using lucky pennies is an old idea, and that's another reason something may get rejected at WOTF, even if it is a fresh and unique take on it.
The best bet is to write about a fresh, new, idea about something. It's easy to write the safe stuff, but that doesn't win for WOTF. Unusual and unique are more likely to grab the attention of a tired editor reading a couple thousand openings, and a couple hundred complete stories. This applies to most Pro level mags as well.
Anyway, never give up and never think your next story might not win. There's been lots of writers who have gotten a reject on one story, only to win on the next. Just continue to write the best stories you can, and sooner or later you'll win.
Persistence is the most important thing for any writer who intends to make it as a professional, published author, so don't give up and don't ever think that your writing is getting worse. It's only that something didn't click for Kathy Wentworth, that's all. Many Hugo and Nebula winning stories and novels have been rejected before being accepted by someone else. It's par for the course.
At this same time last year I was thinking the same thing as you are now, and found out that I had made semifinalist, so it could still be good news. Also, it might be even better than that, since I haven't seen one single post by anyone anywhere of any finalists.
I'm sure a lot of people still have their fingers crossed for you. You should too.
Anyway, I never intended for this to be the "all about me" thread. Surely there were more than the three of us that sent something out...
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited April 13, 2007).]
WOTF used to be a hot topic, as a good number of members seemed to be entering, but it might just be because a lot of newer members don't know about it. Since that might be the case, I can't help but to give the contest another shameless plug, since it's one of the few contests that is free and can have a huge impact on a writer's career. So anybody reading this who hasn't entered, or doesn't know about the contest, would have their time well spent by checking it out and entering. If you're interested, there's an earlier post on this thread with a link to the site of the contest.
Chris, I still have high hopes for you and the previous quarter. And if not, then you've still got your next story, which is likely even better. The waiting is the hardest part!
[This message has been edited by luapc (edited April 14, 2007).]
It came down to adding a scene more in line with the character's personality and the plausibility of a major plot element. Once I'm done rough drafting my current WIP and can find the right angle, I'll get back at it, and send it to Asimov's or F&SF.
Meanwhile--I'm holding my breath for the Q2 story that I sent. My entry recieved email came on April 10, two weeks to the day of sending it out. If I have a favorite child, it was that one. Just don't tell my other stories...
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited May 15, 2007).]