Worldwide Writers of the Future Contest Announces Second Quarter '09-'10 Annual Winners

Worldwide Writers of the Future Contest Announces Second Quarter '09-'10
Annual Winners
26-Year-Old Contest Hailed as 'American Idol' for Sci-Fi, Fantasy Writers By
New York Times Best-Selling Author

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The second quarter winners of the
2009-10 worldwide L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest for fledgling
science fiction and fantasy writers -- including new authors from Australia,
Ireland, and the United States -- were announced today by Joni Labaqui, Author
Services' contest director.

The quarterly winners are: Jason Fischer, first place, a South Australia
Health Department records manager; Simon Cooper, second place, a professional
gardener from Glenarm, Ireland; and Jeff Young, third place, a bookseller from
Manchester, Pennsylvania.

"The Writers of the Future Contest is like 'American Idol' for writers long
before there ever was an American Idol," said New York Times best-selling
author and Contest judge Kevin J. Anderson (Dune prequels, Star Wars,
X-Files). "It's amazing to me that a good 60 to 70 percent of the winners go
on with successful careers in writing, and several have become best-selling
authors themselves."

Throughout the Contest's 26-year history, more than 250 writers have been
named as quarterly winners, gone on to publish over 500 novels and 3,000 short
stories. Former Writers of the Future Contest winners that have appeared on
the New York Times Bestseller's list include: Patrick Rothfuss, Jo Beverley,
Nancy Farmer, Karen Joy Fowler, Dave Wolverton, Sean Williams and Tim Myers.
Let's also mention highly popular Dean Wesley Smith (Men In Black), Leonard
Carpenter (Conan), to name just a few of the winners who have entertained
millions with their stories.

Each year, the Writers of the Future contest presents all winners with cash
prizes, free travel and accommodations, a week-long professional writing
workshop, and inclusion in the best-selling annual speculative fiction
anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future. The Grand prize
winner is announced at an annual awards ceremony held next year in Hollywood.

"Our winners are judged by professional writers and illustrators from a pool
of thousands of entries worldwide," Labaqui said. Well-known contest judges
include multiple Nebula and Hugo Award winners and finalists such as Kevin J.
Anderson, Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, Robert J. Sawyer, Larry Niven,
Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Dave Wolverton, Robert Silverberg and K.D.
Wentworth.

Inspired by multiple New York Times' best-selling author L. Ron Hubbard, the
merit-based Writers of the Future Contest was initiated 26 years ago to
discover and encourage talented beginning writers of science fiction and
fantasy.

For more information on the contests and a free e-book on the craft of writing
from Science Fiction Grandmaster Anne McCaffrey, go to
www.writersofthefuture.com

SOURCE Writers of the Future

Joni Labaqui, +1-323-466-3310, contests@authorservicesinc.com, for Writers of
the Future