L Ron Hubbard Writers Of The Future

Writing for the L Ron Hubbard Writers Of The Future Contest

I entered this competition twice. Got past the first round once, didn't the other. It's a legitimate contest with real money on the line, but it has specific quirks that trip people up if you don't read the guidelines carefully. Here's how it actually works when you're sitting there with a Word document at 2 AM. The L Ron Hubbard Writers Of The Future is an annual speculative fiction competition. It's open to unpublished authors — or authors who have published no more than one book in any language. That means self-published books count against you. I learned that the hard way after checking my eligibility on a story I'd put up on a personal website years earlier. The current structure breaks down into two main categories: the Short Story Contest and the Novel Contest. There's also a longer-form category that sometimes appears depending on the year's rules. Short stories need to fall between 7,000 and 17,500 words. Novels need to be between 40,000 and 80,000 words. These numbers shift slightly from year to year, so always verify on the official site before you submit.

Entry is free. You submit through their website, and the deadline is usually around early February for that year's cycle. The winners are announced later that same year, typically in the fall.

What the Judges Actually Look For

Here's something most guides won't tell you: the judges aren't looking for polished prose the way a literary magazine would. They're looking for ideas that hit hard and fast. Strong concept, clean execution, a voice that doesn't apologize for itself. I've read winning stories that had clunky dialogue and rough edges, and I've read perfectly written stories that got cut in the first round for being too safe. The top three winners each receive $1,000. A second place prize exists too. Beyond the cash, there's mentorship from established professional authors in the spec fic field. The annual anthology gets distributed to subscribers and libraries. For new writers, the mentorship connection is genuinely valuable — not just the money.

Submission Mechanics

You submit through the official Writers of the Future website. The submission form asks for your contact information, genre classification, word count, and the manuscript itself in .doc or .docx format. There's a separate section where you certify that you meet the eligibility requirements. Don't skip that. Here's a problem I hit: the website can be slow with larger files. If your novel submission is pushing the upper word limit, don't submit it right before the deadline window. I've seen people lose spots because the page timed out at 11:58 PM on the final day. Upload it the morning of, or better yet, a few days early if they allow resubmissions. They don't accept simultaneous submissions during the contest period. If you have another story out elsewhere, you need to either withdraw it or pick which one to submit. I once accidentally submitted a story that had been posted as a serial on a fiction forum. The eligibility check caught it, but it wasted a whole cycle. Always clear your work before hitting submit.

Common Pitfalls

Most first-time entrants overcompose. They try to impress with world-building dumps in the opening pages or stack too many characters into a short piece. The contest rewards tight, focused storytelling. A 10,000-word story about one character making one difficult choice will almost always beat a 16,000-word sprawl about saving three galaxies. Another issue: genre confusion. The contest is specifically for science fiction and fantasy. Horror without a speculative element tends to get filtered out. Time travel, alternate histories, magical systems, alien encounters — these all count. A contemporary drama with no speculative hook doesn't. The mentorship program is real but not guaranteed. You get paired based on genre and availability. Some years the matching is excellent. Other years you get a mentor who doesn't read much in your subgenre. It's worth noting that the mentorship is asynchronous — email-based, not calls. Manage your expectations around response times.

A Word on the Eligibility Trap

This is the thing that costs people most: the definition of "published." Any publication counts. Magazine appearance, podcast reading, anthologies, even a single story posted publicly on the internet. I saw a writer get disqualified because she'd read her story aloud at a library event that was recorded and uploaded to YouTube. She didn't consider that "published." The rules say publication anywhere publicly accessible counts, and they enforce it. If you're unsure whether something disqualifies you, email the contest coordinators before entering. They'll tell you honestly. I've gotten replies back within 24 hours that saved me from wasting a submission.

Should You Enter?

Yes, if you have a speculative fiction piece ready and you meet the eligibility criteria. No, if you're entering hoping it will solve your rejection problems. It won't. The acceptance rate is low. But the feedback from editors and the anthology inclusion for winners give you something most new writers never get — a legitimate credential you can put on a query letter. The contest runs every year. If you don't place, you can enter again the following year with a new story. I entered again after my first attempt and adjusted my approach based on what I'd learned. The second time around, I submitted shorter, tighter, and with a concept that opened on page one instead of building toward it. Check the official site for the current year's rules, deadlines, and submission portal. The details change slightly each cycle.