I recently discovered a new book and fantastic program that I want to share with you. Helping others is part of a healthy lifestyle. This program deserves a shout-out. The Writers of the Future anthology and contest. This program is dedicated to discovering and nurturing new authors and illustrators. That’s right, only NEW authors and artists can enter their work.

It turns out that it has been running for over 38 years. It was started by the author L. Ron Hubbard to provide “a means for new and budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged.” You may know of him from Battlefield Earth, one of the science fiction classics.

Shortly after the launch of the contest for authors, the Illustration contest was added.

The winning stories are published in an annual anthology, and illustrated by the winning artists making it a debut publication for the next generation of great talent.

Here are a couple of the winning stories in the latest volume that you can read for free: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/coaekak2ip

What makes this so cool?

The judges that select these stories and help the next generation of authors and artists are what make this program so cool. The judges include some amazing fantasy authors like Brandon Sanderson, Nnedi Okorafor, and Jody Lynn Nye, and iconic sci-fi authors like Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven, and Kevin J. Anderson (you can see the complete list of the writer judges here: https://www.writersofthefuture.com/writer-judges/).

It’s like Briton’s Got Talent or American Idol for authors and artists.

The other thing I like about this program is that the judging is done blind. That means everyone entering is on equal ground, regardless of race, gender, or age. Real diversity.

It is free to enter, so anyone with a story to share can enter.

The winning stories are selected every quarter, so you don’t have to wait a year to find out if you won.

The winners not only win a cash award, but the publisher also pays them to be in the annual anthology. And one author and one illustrator are selected as the Golden Pen and Golden Brush winners and given another $5,000.

Just before the book release with the winning stories, the winners and judges are flown to Hollywood for an exclusive workshop and a black-tie Oscar-type awards ceremony. Impressive.

Several great authors you are likely familiar with were discovered by the contest. For example, Brandon Sanderson was a finalist and considered this encouragement helped to keep him going. Nnedi Okorafor, Sean Williams, Patrick Rothfus, Ken Lui, Jo Beverly, Eric Flint, and many others were winners or finalists in the program, and this helped to jump-start them on the road to success.

The book

The newest in the series is Writers of the Future Volume 38.

In addition to the winning stories and their illustrations, this year’s collection includes short stories by Frank Herbert, David Farland, and L. Ron Hubbard. That is the Frank Herbert of Dune. He was a judge for the contest, and this volume has his last essay with advice for new writers and one of his rare short stories. Also, the cover inspired the story by the late David Farland, and the mammoths are very cool.

The stories are diverse, from post-apocalyptic to high fantasy and space opera to magical realism. Fun stuff.

From monster hunters to a technology that prevents crime by stealing people’s memories of the crimes they committed. Strange and original.

Watch the book trailer below:

I recommend you check it out!

But it HERE on Amazon!

Here are a couple of the book reviews:

“A literary smorgasbord where each new story comes with a feeling of excitement and mystery. With so many short stories, one might imagine it easy to put down between breaks; instead, it’s a binge-read. Just one more, you think, and the next thing you know, the entire book is gone! Illustrations alone make Writers of the Future Vol. 38 worth every single penny! My favorite line in the book: ‘Everyone’s got a story to hide, and I enjoy stealing it out of them.’” —The International Review of Books

“This anthology includes last year’s WotF winners, which is reflected by the overall high quality of the stories. This anthology contains thirteen original stories that are described as powerful, unpredictable, nicely crafted, appealing stories with many twists, with an engaging balance; one successfully re-invents time travel stories, and another pulls the reader in from the mystery’s opening and zips along until the shadowy end.” —Tangent Online