Writers and Illustrators of the Future
Notable past winners include Robert Reed, Dave Wolverton, Nancy Farmer, James Gardner, Scott Nicholson, Ian McHugh and Randy Henderson.
At the end of the contest year, the four quarterly first place stories compete for a separate annual grand prize, the "Gold Award," which includes an additional $5000.
The first, second and third-place winners and often a selection of the other finalist stories are published annually, for which the writers receive additional compensation for publication rights.
The rules state: "The Contest is open to those who have not previously published more than three black-and-white story illustrations, or more than one process-color painting, in media distributed nationally to the general public, such as magazines or books sold at newsstands, or books sold in stores merchandising to the general public.
While the art is judged according to standard artistic considerations (composition, draftsmanship, consistency of lighting, sense of wonder, facial expressions, etc.
These include the present judges in addition to a famous and generally elderly writer given a Lifetime Achievement Award.
While it is not required to attend the week-long festivities and seminars, it's thought by some that those in the running for the Gold Award may advance their cause by displaying professionalism and hard work at that time, judges for the contest, however, refute (/rɪˈfjuːt/ verb 1. prove (a statement or theory) to be wrong or false; disprove.
Notable writing judges have included: Kevin J. Anderson, Gregory Benford, Algis Budrys, Orson Scott Card, Brian Herbert, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, Frederik Pohl, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Brandon Sanderson, Robert J. Sawyer, K. D. Wentworth, and Jack Williamson.
[6] Prominent art judges have included: Ciruelo Cabral, Edd Cartier, Echo Chernik, Leo and Diane Dillon, Bob Eggleton, Will Eisner, Frank Frazetta, Frank Kelly Freas, Stephen Hickman, and Stephen Youll.
Stories by the grand prize winner, the quarterly top-three, and selected others ("published finalists"), are collected into an anthology each year.
Winners and published finalists in the contest have included the writers Robert Reed, Dave Wolverton, Nancy Farmer, James Gardner, Scott Nicholson, Ian McHugh and Randy Henderson, and the artist Frank Wu.
[52][non-primary source needed] According to Director of the Writers and Illustrators Contests Joni Labaqui, the funds to underwrite the contest—including the cash prizes, the gala awards ceremony and the weeklong pre-awards festivities—come from the Hubbard estate.
