Hey all, so happy to post here and use this button!
Got the call and the confirmation by Joni, 3rd place. So happy and stunned I can't believe it.
I started with WOTF in 2013 and have been writing and being rejected ever since.
Congrats to the other finalists!
Keep on keeping on, it's the only way.
Whoop whoop 🙌 another win
Small steps add up to miles.
V38: R, R, HM, HM
V39: RWC, HM, HM, SHM
V40 : HM, RWC, R, HM
V41 : RWC, P
"Amore For Life" in After the Gold Rush Third Flatiron Anthology
"Freedom’s Song” in Troubadour and Space Princesses LTUE Anthology
"Experimenting with the Dance of Death" Coming in Jun '24 in Love is Complicated LUV Romance Anthology.
In case it's of interest ... my Q1 story had been entered into this contest 3 times.
The first time was: Sept 2017, and garnered me an Honorable Mention
The second time was: June 2019, and garnered me a Silver Honorable Mention
The third time was: Dec 2020, and garnered me a Semi-Finalist
----
each time I submitted it, the story had been reworked with significant changes.
I believed in the story and so I took the time to send it to my writing/critique groups and listened to the feedback, and also took some time in between the different versions (there are actually 5 versions of this story) to let it rest and for me to come back to it with fresh eyes.
My finalist story from Q2 of last year was also a (very heavily) re-written story. The first version of it was my second ever submission to this contest, in 2015, and got me an Honorable Mention back then.
Many years of writing new stories, and studying, and learning craft, and writing groups, etc., and I fixed it up all pretty and sent it back in and got my very first Finalist certificate.
Both of these stories, the Finalist and the Semi-Finalist, are no longer eligible to be entered in the contest (only Finalist stories and Semi-Finalists are not longer able to entered, all Silvers and HMs are), and so alas, I must move on to other stories.
There is absolutely merit in writing fresh each time, I just wanted to share this perspective, to say it is absolutely okay to continue to work on and send in those stories we love. Both of my re-written ones were special to me. My writing ring calls them 'heart stories'. ♥
~A.
V32: HM (Q4)
V33: HM, HM, SHM, HM
V34: R, R, HM, HM
V35: HM, HM, R, HM
V36: R, R, SHM, R
V37: SHM, FINALIST, HM, SHM
V38: SF, X, SHM, SHM
V39: SHM, tbd, tbd
https://aliciacay.com
@aliciacay I have a couple of these already
Small steps add up to miles.
V38: R, R, HM, HM
V39: RWC, HM, HM, SHM
V40 : HM, RWC, R, HM
V41 : RWC, P
"Amore For Life" in After the Gold Rush Third Flatiron Anthology
"Freedom’s Song” in Troubadour and Space Princesses LTUE Anthology
"Experimenting with the Dance of Death" Coming in Jun '24 in Love is Complicated LUV Romance Anthology.
A rejection for me this Q. Honestly - I'm not surprised. After a critique, I became aware that my manuscript formatting was NOT up to scratch (despite my checking several websites a number of times). Sadly, my Q1 was already sent in. Can I encourage any new forum users/new folk entering the contest:
Get someone else - someone who writes more professionally than you - to check your formatting.
(It's even the very first 'Super Secret' 
)
Here's to Q2 that was submitted with correct manuscript formatting!
"If writing is easy, you're doing it wrong." -Bryan Hutchinson
V36-37: R x6
V38: R, HM, R, HM
V39: HM, HM, HM, HM
V40: HM
Well done Brittany. Does this mean you will have a story in two anthologies in a row? Has that ever been done before?
Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships
Indeed, two quarters in a row.
Eric James Stone did it. He punched two tickets to Hollywood before stepping foot on the first plane.
Now Brittany has also done it. Personally, I couldn't imagine anything cooler.
Career:
1x Win
2x NW-F
2x S-F
9x S-HM
11x HM
7x R
@axeminister
Yes he did! Volume 20 and 21!
And there’s one more, Dustin! I found out this morning Ron Collins did it too for Volumes 14 and 15.
So it has been done before! Twice that I can find. Just doesn’t happen very often. I am absolutely astounded.
Brittany Rainsdon
R-SHM-HM-R-HM-R-F-F-HM-HM-SHM-HM-HM-SF-PF-2nd place!
Published Finalist Volume 37 Quarter 4
Second Place Volume 38 Quarter 1
First publication was "Perfectly Painted Lies" published in Deep Magic Spring 2021 and reprinted in the anthology, Best of Deep Magic Volume 2.
Learn more about me at rainsdonwrites.com
Gahhhh!!! Congratulations! I can’t wait to meet you this spring!
Brittany Rainsdon
R-SHM-HM-R-HM-R-F-F-HM-HM-SHM-HM-HM-SF-PF-2nd place!
Published Finalist Volume 37 Quarter 4
Second Place Volume 38 Quarter 1
First publication was "Perfectly Painted Lies" published in Deep Magic Spring 2021 and reprinted in the anthology, Best of Deep Magic Volume 2.
Learn more about me at rainsdonwrites.com
Ah, I finally am able to get back in the forum! Just want to congratulate everyone here. Especially our two winners, J.A. Becker and Brittany Rainsdon. How awesome for you guys. So happy for you. I'm really looking forward to reading your stories! I've got every WOTF volume so far. I really miss entering this contest and especially those magic Thursdays when results come out. Keep entering guys. Never forget. You can win. It only took me 47 tries, ha!
Preston Dennett
HM x 12
F x 1
Winner, 2nd place, Q1, Volume 35
40 stories published! (and counting!)
Hey all, so happy to post here and use this button!
Got the call and the confirmation by Joni, 3rd place. So happy and stunned I can't believe it.
I started with WOTF in 2013 and have been writing and being rejected ever since.
Congrats to the other finalists!
Keep on keeping on, it's the only way.
Congrats!!!!
v35: Q4 - HM
V36: R, R, R, R
V37: SHM, HM, HM, SHM
V38: SHM, HM, HM, HM
V39: HM, R, SHM, HM
Indie author of The Lex Chronicles (Legends of Arameth), and the in-progress Leyward Stones series--including my serial, Macchiatos, Faerie Princes, and Other Things That Happen at Midnight, currently available on Kindle Vella.
Website: http://ccrawfordwriting.com. I also have a newsletter and a blog!
Short story "Our Kind" published in DreamForge Anvil, Issue #5, and also "One Shot at Aeden" published in DreamForge Anvil, Issue #7!
LO AND BEHOLD, WE HAVE TWO, COUNT THEM, TWO WINNERS FROM THE WRITERS OF THE FUTURE FORUM IN Q1, VOLUME 38!
BRITTANY PERRY RAINSDON, AKA Thegirlintheglasses!
And JABecker!
Thanks for starting the first quarter of the Contest year out with our winners' average for each year! And we still have three quarters to go! What a great way to kick off the start of our new Forum!
BESIDES PURE AWESOMENESS, THIS IS WHAT WE WORK AS A WRITERS' GROUP TO ACHIEVE!!!
SEE YOU BOTH AT THE WORKSHOP, AND ON THAT GORGEOUS STAGE IN HOLLYWOOD NEXT YEAR!
CONGRATULATIONS!
WULF MOON
Click here to JOIN THE WULF PACK!
"Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" won Best SFF Story of 2019! Read it in Writers of the Future, Vol. 35. Order HERE!
Need writing help? My award-winning SUPER SECRETS articles are FREE in DreamForge.
IT’S HERE! Many have been begged me to publish the Super Secrets of Writing. How to Write a Howling Good Story is now a #1 BESTSELLING BOOK! Get yours at your favorite retailer HERE!
@thegirlintheglasses
YAS! You did it! Congratulations 🎊🎉 
V37: R, R, R, R
V38: R, R, HM, R
V39:
Author of The Otherworld Trilogy
Book 1: In the Name of the Otherworld (https://www.amazon.com/Name-Otherworld-Hermione-Lee/dp/1955086362)
Book 2: Marvels of the Underworld (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1956788689?ref_=dbs_m_mng_wim_calw_tpbk_1&storeType=ebooks)
Book 3 I&II: War of the Chaotic Worlds (TBA)
Recipient of the Literary Titan Silver Award in September 2021
Recipient of Best Sci-fi and Fantasy Novel and Best Young Adult Book in the 24th Critters Annual Readers Poll (2021-2022)
Winner of the 2021 Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers’ Choice Awards (Best YA/NA Novel)
Huge huge huge huge congratulations to you both! My heart feels so warm for the both of you and I didn't even do well this quarter. No wonder this was voted best forum.
V36:Q3 HM V37: Q3 R, Q4 SHM V38: R,HM, F, HM V39: HM, SHM, SHM, SHM V40: SF, RWC, ?
Guys!!!! I’ve been around for 4 years. I haven’t missed a quarter for 16 straight entries and I am beyond thrilled that I finally get to use this button...
Joni told me my story took second place!
I can hardly believe it.Congratulations to the other finalists! This has been one crazy ride!
I assure you, Brittany, the ride has only begun!
Preston Dennett
HM x 12
F x 1
Winner, 2nd place, Q1, Volume 35
40 stories published! (and counting!)
@jabecker Congratulations! 
If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn't expecting it. ~ H.G. Wells
If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. ~ Mark Twain
R, SF, SHM, SHM, SHM, F, R, HM, SHM, R, HM, R, F, SHM, SHM, SHM, SF, SHM, 1st Place (Q2 V38)
Ticknor Tales
Twitter
4th and Starlight: e-book | paperback
Holy crap, I'm late to the party, but TWO forum winners!!! Congratulations, you guys!!!!
And well done on the results, everyone - it seems to me like the trend of results has gotten better and better on the forum every quarter!
R, 3rd place Q4 v36!!!
Stories in Apocalyptic, Cossmass Infinites x2! PodCastle, Spirit Machine; forthcoming in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Apex Magazine, Human Monsters
Congratulations to the winners! I'm so glad I found this forum when I did. It's been amazing to see such dedicated work rewarded so visibly!
I just wanted to give an update on my entry since a number of you were kind enough to commiserate and offer advice when I didn't hear about its status right away. I got in touch with Joni once it was clear that winners had been decided. She found my entry. It had slipped between the cracks during the course of a systems change. In the end it received an honorable mention which I am satisfied with. I expected it to be a polarizing story, it's long and reaches for a humorous tone which is always risky. It's a narrow and shifting margin of error when anyone tries to be funny. But I feel that by receiving an honorable mention I can consider that it is at least comprehensible and built fairly well. Beyond that, I have confidence in it and think it does what I am trying to accomplish with it. I think that when it finds its correct audience it will connect.
Congratulations to Brittany and JA Becker! Can't wait to read your stories in #38. It is so inspiring to hear about your individual journeys to this moment. Entering the contest since 2013? Entering every quarter for years? Wow. I am doffing my stovepipe hat to both of you right now and getting some weird looks from the students in the library for doing so. Wait. Could the side-eye glances be because of the hat?
The murky past: 2 HM, 2 R
V38: HM, SHM, R (arrgggh!), HM
V39: P
Could it be because of the hat?
Why would it be the hat?
2012 Q4: R
2016 Q3: SHM
2019 Q2: HM, Q3: HM
2020 Q2: HM, Q4: SHM
2021 Q1: HM, Q2: SF, Q3: SHM, Q4: SHM
2022 Q1: SHM, Q2 RWC, Q4 RWC
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3:Nope Q4: WIP
In case it's of interest ... my Q1 story had been entered into this contest 3 times.
The first time was: Sept 2017, and garnered me an Honorable Mention
The second time was: June 2019, and garnered me a Silver Honorable Mention
The third time was: Dec 2020, and garnered me a Semi-Finalist
----
each time I submitted it, the story had been reworked with significant changes.
I believed in the story and so I took the time to send it to my writing/critique groups and listened to the feedback, and also took some time in between the different versions (there are actually 5 versions of this story) to let it rest and for me to come back to it with fresh eyes.
My finalist story from Q2 of last year was also a (very heavily) re-written story. The first version of it was my second ever submission to this contest, in 2015, and got me an Honorable Mention back then.
Many years of writing new stories, and studying, and learning craft, and writing groups, etc., and I fixed it up all pretty and sent it back in and got my very first Finalist certificate.Both of these stories, the Finalist and the Semi-Finalist, are no longer eligible to be entered in the contest (only Finalist stories and Semi-Finalists are not longer able to entered, all Silvers and HMs are), and so alas, I must move on to other stories.
There is absolutely merit in writing fresh each time, I just wanted to share this perspective, to say it is absolutely okay to continue to work on and send in those stories we love. Both of my re-written ones were special to me. My writing ring calls them 'heart stories'. ♥
It's the help I've gotten from critiquing and getting feedback that's helped those stories grow. So, if anyone wants or needs fresh eyes on your Q3 submission, I'm happy to try and help with your first 5,000 words or so. PM me and we'll chat.
~A.
Alicia, thank you so much for sharing the progression of your Q1 story. It is encouraging to know that the stories we just can't abandon do have the potential to evolve - provided we take the time to gain some objectivity and then put in the work to make it grow.
The murky past: 2 HM, 2 R
V38: HM, SHM, R (arrgggh!), HM
V39: P
There is absolutely merit in writing fresh each time, I just wanted to share this perspective, to say it is absolutely okay to continue to work on and send in those stories we love. Both of my re-written ones were special to me. My writing ring calls them 'heart stories'. ♥
It's the help I've gotten from critiquing and getting feedback that's helped those stories grow. So, if anyone wants or needs fresh eyes on your Q3 submission, I'm happy to try and help with your first 5,000 words or so. PM me and we'll chat.
~A.
I totally believe in this approach too. Of my entries to date, including the pending Q2, eleven were new to the contest (some revisions or rewrites of older pieces, others brand new and written for the contest), while two were revisions (with no result change for either of them--one went HM to HM with significant revisions, the other SHM to SHM with only polish and minor improvements. At least it's consistent.)
I've just pegged on the story I think I want to write for my Q3, but I also have two other pieces that I have simmering for rewrites and resubmissions here. Neither would go in again without significant alterations, but I also keep trying my luck with other markets--so the availability of those stories will likely play out in my decision. Either way, I'll write the Q3 story, as I'm becoming increasingly fond of it as the day goes on.
The one area where I'm different is that I tend to be a very insular writer. I obey my instincts more than my rules, and I submit a lot of my entries (80%+) without them ever being proof-read by another person. It hasn't exactly failed for me, but whenever I've solicited feedback, I've been happy with it--so I think it's more habit than design at this stage. Also, because I do follow my gut more than any sense of exactly what makes a good story, I tend to question just how good my feedback for other people's stories might be--which often makes me hesitant to do exchanges.
Definitely something I could improve on, right there.
DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex
What does R mean in terms of the contest results?
What does R mean in terms of the contest results?
Really, really good. 
Nah, it's rejection.
R:6 RWC:1 HM:9 SHM:3
My Blog
Results for Quarter One are now on the blog. Wow, what a list! And so many forum members! Like 100 silvers. More than 350 HMs. Biggest list ever, I think. Congratulations, guys!
Preston Dennett
HM x 12
F x 1
Winner, 2nd place, Q1, Volume 35
40 stories published! (and counting!)
Remember when Q1 was the slow quarter? Ha!
Original post updated.
Career:
1x Win
2x NW-F
2x S-F
9x S-HM
11x HM
7x R
A couple months ago I got the idea to reread recent WOTF anthologies. I started with v30 and read it cover to cover. I then wrote a fresh story with a near future setting. It's a lot easier writing in a world that's growing around us on a daily basis. Another trick I've started doing a lot is virtually living the life of the MC.
I bought a digital recorder and a copy of On Being a Dictator by KJ Anderson and Martin Shoemaker with the intention of learning to write while walking or driving. It's not as easy to do as I thought it would be, but its a new approach for me.
Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships
learning to write while walking or driving. It's not as easy to do as I thought it would be
Last week, I was working with my class on a template for a thesis statement for a particular type of essay. When I tried to verbally do it, it was terrible. When I just wrote it on the board, the sentence became so much better. There is something about composing by hand versus by mouth.
2012 Q4: R
2016 Q3: SHM
2019 Q2: HM, Q3: HM
2020 Q2: HM, Q4: SHM
2021 Q1: HM, Q2: SF, Q3: SHM, Q4: SHM
2022 Q1: SHM, Q2 RWC, Q4 RWC
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3:Nope Q4: WIP
I never received an email for Q1 and was just thinking about writing to Joni when I saw the blog post for the winners. It was nice to see my name in the Silver column. If nothing else, it saved me that email to Joni. 
Probably an old question, but are the results within each section ordered in any way?
E.g. Is being at the top of the honourable mentions list a sign that you're getting closer to silver or is the order random?
