"Lazarus presents a dizzying, clever, and complex tale and he lands a very tricky ending."
Lazarus Black, Larry Elmore, Todd McCaffrey, Robert Sawyer, Tim Powers, and V38 Golden Pen Winner Desmond Astaire
Writers of the Future was conceived and founded by the Robert Heinlein and L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard estate funds the contest as a legacy to promote the future of great speculative fiction. His imprint Galaxy Press publishes the anthology and Author Services, manages the contest.
It is free to enter, attracts thousands of submissions every year, and is widely regarded as the most prestigious writing award for genre fiction in the world.
The list of judges, past and present, is a Who's Who of genre Best Sellers!
A short list of notable winners and place-holders includes:
“Some of the most excellent speculative fiction that you can find. They’re cutting edge.”
—Nnedi Okorafor
“These are the people who are going to be creating trends.”
—Brandon Sanderson
“Writers of the Future, as a contest and as a book, remains the flagship of short fiction.”
—Orson Scott Card
“The best new stories by new writers, anywhere.”
—Larry Niven
“See the best of the best culled for you, curated and selected in a single volume every year.”
—Robert J. Sawyer
“An absolute wealth of imagination, adventure, excitement, stimulation and joy, every possible human emotion.”
—Sean Williams
“A very generous legacy from L. Ron Hubbard a fine, fine fiction writer for the writers of the future.”
—Anne McCaffrey
“Writers of the Future is a terrific program for new writers, and goodness knows, there are few enough of those. It has my heartiest support and unqualified recommendation.”
—Terry Brooks
“The Writers of the Future Contest has not only provided a place where new writers could break into print for the first time but it also has a record of nurturing and discovering writers who have gone on to make their mark in the science fiction field. Long may it continue!”
—Neil Gaiman
“It all started when I won the Writers of the Future Contest. Without them, I can honestly say I would not be where I am today.”
—Patrick Rothfuss
“The Illustrators of the Future is an amazing compass for what the art industry holds in store for all of us.”
—Dan dos Santos
“The best-selling SF anthology series of all time.”
—Locus Magazine
“Writers of the Future collection is exciting and engrossing, with stories that range across the spectrum of SF and fantasy. Tried-and-true space opera and epic fantasy, these stories explore new mysteries and ideas.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Verdict: Speculative fiction fans will welcome this showcase of new talent.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review
“Writers of the Future Vol 38 is a literary smorgasbord where each new story comes with a feeling of excitement and mystery. With so many short stories one might imagine it easy to put down between breaks, but instead it's a binge read. Just one more, you think, and the next thing you know the entire book is gone! I truly enjoyed it. As each story comes up you never quite know what you're going to get, and it’s so delightful finding out. The illustrations alone make Writers of the Future Vol. 38 worth every single penny and minute spent!”
—The International Review of Books, (Gold Badge of Achievement)
“This anthology includes last year’s WotF winners, which is reflected by the overall high quality of the stories. This anthology contains thirteen original stories that are described as powerful, unpredictable, nicely crafted, appealing story with many twists, has an engaging balance, one successfully re-invents time travel stories, and another pulls the reader in from the mystery’s opening and zips along until the shadowy end.”
—Tangent Online