That’s in the past, though. Now, I haven’t those doubts, I believe in my dreams.

What brought on this change? I can tell you in an acronym: WOTF. It stands for L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of The Future Contest, and in the ten years since its creation by SF legend L. Ron Hubbard, it has helped launch a number of careers and given over 150 writers their first publication.

It’s a simple concept, but a powerful one. The publishing business is driven by the cold equations of name value and track record—not promising for the novice. What if there were a place where none of that mattered? What if someone would judge a new writer’s work on merit alone?