Writers of the Future

[senseiseth]

Hey guys,

I wasn't entirely sure of the Writers of the Future contest given obvious controversies regarding patriarch founder it's associated with. And I wanted to see what you guys thought of it.

 

[Chilari]

Never heard of it. What is it? What are the problems you've heard about? Got any links to articles?

 

[Steerpike]

It is a well-known and legitimate contest. Looking at a partial list of past winners (from Wikipedia) you see:

Stephen Baxter, Karen Joy Fowler, James Alan Gardner, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Jay Lake, Michael H. Payne, Patrick Rothfuss, Robert Reed, Dean Wesley Smith, Sean Williams, Dave Wolverton, Nancy Farmer, and David Zindell.

List of judges for the contest has included a bunch of prominent names as well.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I looked up the founder. Turned out to be L. Ron Hubbard (the Scientology guy.) The company that runs the contest has no employees who aren't Scientologists.

Is Scientology even something we're allowed to discuss here, or does it fall under the no-religion rule?

 

[Steerpike]

Religious discussion isn't forbidden so long as the discussion is respectful of the religious viewpoints at issue.

 

[Devor]

If the question is about whether to support or participate in something that supports values you oppose, for me, it depends on the degree of separation and the severity to which they violate those values. The company supporting something is different than the owner or founder supporting something with their own paycheck, for instance. Contributing to an organization run by scientologists is different than giving money to a scientology church. Whether that difference matters in any particular case, sometimes it might, sometimes it might not.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

You'll have to make your own judgement on whether or not to enter based on the scientology bit... But the contest is well known, well run, and reputable. Winning, or even being a finalist, is noteworthy and stands out as a good bit for the resume for any spec fic novice. It's one of the only spec fic contests even worth considering as a novice writer.

 

[Tirjasdyn]

The judges aren't necessarily Scientologists. It is a very legit contest. I've submitted a few times. Received honorable mention once.