GIVING NEW ARTISTS A CHANCE: Science fiction great Frederik Pohl is one of the judges of the Writers of the Future Contest. Here he presents a trophy to a proud winner.

To ensure every entrant had the same opportunity to win, Ron created a level playing field where the new writer competes only against other new writers. Before the manuscripts are sent to any of the judges, the contest administrators at ASI log the name, address and title of the work and assign it a number. The judging remains blind from the initial screening right on through to the selection of the quarterly winners and the voting for the best story.

One winner, who has since gone on to achieve his dream of writing fiction for a living, voiced the predicament faced by every aspiring writer this way: “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? What if . . . Writers of the Future?”

	AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR: Anne McCaffrey is a member of the illustrious panel of judges for L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest.

While winners definitely earn hard-to-get recognition, the contest offers other attractive benefits as well. The cash prizes are substantial – up to $5,000 for the winner of the story of the year. Winners have their stories judged by the top authors of speculative fiction, participate in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers’ Workshop, and have their stories published in the annual L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future anthology. Finally, they get to celebrate their good fortune and mingle with the distinguished judges at a gala awards event held in their honor. In the past, the awards events have been held at such memorable venues as the World Trade Center, the United Nations, the National Archives of the United States, Celebrity Centre International and, most recently, at NASA and the Houston Space Center.