Illustrator Contest Rules

The purpose of the L. Ron Hubbard’s Illustrators of the Future Contest, administered by Author Services, Inc., (“Contest”) is to encourage and teach persons interested in becoming science fiction and fantasy illustrators.

This contest evaluates an entrant’s ability to illustrate a science fiction or fantasy story, rather than simply create art with those themes. A strong illustration distills the essence of a story—conveying hundreds of thousands of words in a single powerful, evocative image that draws the viewer in and sparks curiosity about the narrative behind it. Entries that clearly demonstrate an understanding of and connection to a story through the artwork will score highly. Entrants are strongly encouraged to read short science fiction or fantasy stories for inspiration and to base their illustrations for entry to the contest.

1. The Contest is open to entrants from all nations. (However, entrants should provide themselves with some means for written communication in English.) All themes of science fiction and fantasy illustrations are welcome: every entry is judged on its own merits only. No entry fee is required and all rights to the entry remain the property of the entrant.

2. By submitting to the Contest, the entrant agrees to abide by all Contest rules.

3. The Contest is open to new and amateur artists who have not been professionally published and paid for more than three black-and-white story illustrations, or more than one process-color painting, in media distributed broadly to the general public. The ultimate eligibility criterion, however, is defined by the word “amateur”—in other words, the artist has not been paid for his artwork. If you are not sure of your eligibility, please write to the Illustrators of the Future Contest Administrator (“Contest Administrator”).

4. Each entry must include three (3) original illustrations created solely by the entrant. The entry must be original to the entrant and previously unpublished. Artwork must be in color or black & white and be original to the artist. Use of grayscale, mixed media, digital design or photo editing software, and photographic elements is permitted. Plagiarism, infringement of the rights of others, or other violations of the Contest rules will result in disqualification. The use of generative tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) or similar technologies is strictly prohibited. Any entry found to incorporate AI-generated content, in whole or in part, will be disqualified. Entrants must own the full copyright to the final illustrations and all individual assets used in their creation. If it is determined that AI was used, the entrant will be required to reimburse any award money issued. Contest organizers may request source files or reference materials at any time to verify originality and rule compliance. Each illustration must feature a different subject from the other two.

5. There will be three co-winners in each quarter. Each winner will receive a cash prize of US $500. All quarterly winners will also receive trophies at the annual award ceremony. Winners will also receive eligibility to compete for the annual Grand Prize.

6. Entries may be submitted to the Contest electronically or hard copy via mail:

a) Entries submitted electronically: Images submitted electronically must be a minimum of 300 dpi, a minimum of 5 x 7 inches and a maximum of 8.5 x 11 inches. The file can’t exceed 10 mb. Only .jpg and .jpeg files will be accepted. Electronic submissions will separately include the artist’s legal name, address, telephone number, e-mail address which will identify each of three pieces of art and the artist’s signature on the art should be deleted. Electronic submissions must be submitted to: writersofthefuture.com/enter-the-illustrator-contest and follow the instructions.

b) Entries submitted hardcopy: Entries should not be the original drawings, but should be color or black & white reproductions of the originals of a quality satisfactory to the entrant. Entries must be submitted unfolded and flat, in an envelope no larger than 9 inches by 12 inches.

All hard copy entries must be accompanied by a self-addressed return envelope of the appropriate size, with the correct US postage affixed. (Non-US entrants should enclose international postage reply coupons.) If the entrant does not want the reproductions returned, the entry should be clearly marked disposable copies: do not return. A business-size self-addressed envelope with correct postage (or valid e-mail address) should be included so that the judging results may be returned to the entrant. We only accept entries that do not require a delivery signature for us to receive them.

To facilitate anonymous judging, each of the three photocopies must be accompanied by a removable cover sheet bearing the artist’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and an identifying title for that work. The reproduction of the work should carry the same identifying title on the front of the illustration and the artist’s signature should be deleted. The Contest Administration will remove and file the cover sheets, and forward only the anonymous entry to the judges.

Hardcopy entries must be mailed to:

L. Ron Hubbard’s Illustrators of the Future Contest
7051 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90028.

7. The Contest year starts each year on October 1st and ends on September 30th of the following year.

8. The Contest year has four quarters: October 1st to December 31st; January 1st to March 31st; April 1st to June 30th; and July 1st to September 30th. To be eligible for judging in a quarterly contest, an entry must be postmarked or received electronically no later than midnight (Pacific Time) on the last day of that quarter. Late entries will be included in the judging for the following quarter and the Contest Administrator will so notify the entrant should this occur.

9. Winners for each quarter will be individually notified of the results by phone, mail, or e-mail as soon as possible after the judging of the quarter has been completed and received by the Contest Administrator. The winners of each quarter will also be announced in the Writers & Illustrators of the Future monthly newsletter. The above cash prizes will be paid to the winners of each quarter within sixty (60) days of the winners being announced.

10. Competition for the Grand Prize is designed to acquaint the entrant with customary practices in the field of professional illustrating. It will be conducted in the following manner:

Each winner in each quarter will be furnished a copy of a science fiction or fantasy story, to be illustrated by the entrant. This story will have been selected for that purpose by the Contest Administrator. Also furnished will be a Guidelines and Specifications Sheet from the Coordinating Judge giving details on the size and kind of full color illustration work required for Grand Prize competition. Requirements will be of the sort customarily stated by professional publishing companies. Thereafter, the entrant will work toward completing the assigned illustration.

In order to retain eligibility for the Grand Prize, each entrant shall, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the said story assignment, submit the entrant’s color page illustration of the assigned story in accordance with the Guidelines and Specifications Sheet. The entrant’s finished illustration shall be in the form and submitted in the way described in the Guidelines and Specifications Sheet. The Coordinating Judge may ask entrant to make one (1) round of revision to their submitted illustration, as is normal in publishing practices, and if this occurs entrant will resubmit their revised illustration within ten (10) days.

The yearly Grand Prize winner shall be determined by a panel of judges and the said illustration will be judged in competition for the Grand Prize on the following basis only:

Each Grand Prize judge’s personal opinion on the extent to which it makes the judge want to read the story it illustrates.

In the event of a tie for the Grand Prize, the deciding vote will be made by the Coordinating Judge based upon the illustrators’ professionalism and readiness to succeed in their career.

The Grand Prize winner will receive $5,000 cash prize and a Grand Prize trophy. The Grand Prize winner shall be announced and awarded their $5,000 cash prize and trophy at the L. Ron Hubbard Writers & Illustrators of the Future Annual Awards Ceremony held in the following year after the end of the Contest year. By entering the Contest, contestants are providing their consent to have their names, photographs and illustrations used for promotional purposes.

11. Entries will be judged by professional artists only. Each quarterly judging and the Grand Prize judging may have different panels of judges. The decisions of the judges are entirely their own and are final and binding.

12. All quarterly winners will be given the opportunity to attend the L. Ron Hubbard Writers & Illustrators of the Future Annual Awards Ceremony for the Contest year that they won in. The Contest will pay for the entrant’s travel and hotel to attend the ceremony and attending a free illustrator’s workshop in the week before.

13. Each entrant may submit only one set of illustrations in each Contest quarter. Winners of the quarterly contests are ineligible for further participation in the Contest. Entries submitted multiple times with no changes will become ineligible.

14. All entries for each quarter are final. No revisions are accepted.

15. Entries will be judged by a panel of professional illustrators. The decisions of the judges are entirely their own, and are final and binding.

16. Should the publisher of the Writers of the Future anthology decide to publish an edition of the anthology for the contest year completed, the winners will be contacted regarding having their winning illustrations included in the anthology.

17. This Contest is void where prohibited by law.

18. The Contest does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, political orientation, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, or mental or physical disability or any other status prohibited by applicable law.

19. The odds of winning the quarterly contests depend on the number of entries received for a particular quarter.

20. Visit the website for any Contest rules updates at: www.writersofthefuture.com/contest-rules-illustrator/