Finalists Announced in International Contest for Writers

HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ — In what is known as the largest contest of its kind in the world, finalists for the 3rd Quarter of the 26th year of the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest were announced today by Joni Labaqui, the contest Director.

The finalists for this quarter are from Denmark, United Kingdom, Canada and throughout the United States.

    THIRD QUARTER FINALISTS

    Adam Colston of Devon, United Kingdom
    Jakob Drud of Denmark
    Brent Knowles of Alberta, Canada
    Geir Lanesskog of Washington
    Dwayne Minton of Hawaii
    Robert Pritchard of California
    Brad Torgersen of Utah
    Tom Waters of New Mexico

The 8 finalists stories are sent to 4 of the contest judges. Of those 8 stories, the 3 with the highest points are the 3 winners of the quarter. There is a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner every quarter. The 3 winners of each quarter are awarded cash prizes, a week long intensive workshop, an awards ceremony and are also published in the annual L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future. The judging process, once the finalists are determined by the coordinating judge, takes a little over a month.

A Grand Prize winner is announced at the annual awards ceremony and is selected from another panel of judges. The 4 first place winners from each of the quarters are eligible for the Grand Prize of $5,000.00.

“The Writers of the Future Contest is the most effective means for aspiring writers to make their break in the publishing industry, an industry well-known for being closed to the newcomer,” Labaqui said. “That’s because our winners are judged by professional writers from a pool of thousands of entries worldwide.” Well-known contest judges include multiple Nebula and Hugo Award winners and finalists such as Kevin J. Anderson, Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Silverberg, Dave Wolverton, Sean Williams and K.D. Wentworth.

“The chance of being published elsewhere in the publishing industry is much, much smaller,” Labaqui said. “Only three out of every 10,000 manuscripts submitted in the United States each year get published–1,800 are science fiction and fantasy novels–and most of them are written by established authors. This is one very effective way to get in the door for the newcomer.”

For more information about the contest, go to www.writersofthefuture.com. Or call the contest at 323-466-3310.

SOURCE Writers of the Future