Writers of the Future Podcast

Michael Anderle is a top 30 Bestselling Amazon Author and CEO of LMBPN Publishing. He has used what he learned from his first two decades reading science fiction and fantasy to segue into writing Urban Fantasy and Military Fiction in the next decade. We discuss his Kurtherian Gambit, and one of my favorite characters of fiction--Bethany Anne, along with how he has grown as an author and helped so...

Irmak (Max) Cavun has been creating art all her life, using anything she could draw with on anything she could draw on. She now runs creative teams in creating games at USC and loves working with artists to bring out their best in creating art. Discover the art of Irmak at irmakcavun.com or email her at irmakcav@gmail.com.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman was a winner from the very first volume of Writers of the Future and later became a Contest judge. In this interview, she covers writer's block and how to deal with it. She also discusses how if you want to write short stories try taking characters from your novel and write something about that character before they got to the book, i.e. a right of passage before they became a...

Listen to the Writers and Illustrators of the Future podcast on writing with Writers of the Future winners Zack Be (WOTF 36), Storm Humbert (WOTF 36), and Luke Wildman (WOTF 37)on what winning has meant to them and how to become an author.

If you enjoy military thrillers as well as science fiction, you will love Jeff Edwards. Jeff served over two decades in the US Navy where he was an Anti-Submarine Warfare Specialist and Chief Petty Officer. He specializes in writing about ordinary men and women working together to do extraordinary things which was something he experienced in his military career. In his own words, Courage isn’t the...

Douglas E. Richards is a multiple New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of science-fiction thrillers that have sold over two million copies. I was initially introduced to him through his book “Seeker” which left a very refreshing view on the future of humanity. After reading Seeker, I asked him for a recommended next read and he suggested the newly released “Unidentified” a book that ope...

Tom Wood is a world-class fantasy art illustrator who is among the best-selling poster artists in the US and Canada. Art is hard work. If you want to be good at it, it’s an obsession. The “Tom Wood Fantasy Art” brand has sold millions of products since 2005. Tom’s creations of dragons and medieval, death-defying warriors have become iconic images of fantasy culture across America, Europe, and Asia...

Filipina – American author, artist, educator, and a new mother, Anj Dockrey, was recently published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 37 with her story, “Argentum.” She has been entering the Writers of the Future Contest for nearly two decades and now having won has a wonderful story of persistence and dedication to finally achieving her goal that I wanted to share with you.

Kary English was published in WOTF 31 and has since become the First Reader for Writers of the Future. The goal of this podcast is to cut down on Contest rejects so we discuss the do's, don'ts, and WTF for submitting to the Writers of the Future Contest.

A.G. Riddle has become a household sensation within our offices with his Origin Mystery Series series. Writing under a pseudonym, Gerry, along with his wife and partner Anne, are better known in the publishing world as AG Riddle. He released his first novel, The Atlantis Gene, in March of 2013. It became the first book in The Origin Mystery Trilogy. He also released his fourth novel, Departure, wh...

Brittany "Bea" Jackson discusses her career from aspiring artist, to winning the Illustrators of the Future Golden Brush Award, to multiple NYT bestselling children's books, and now Illustrators of the Future Judge.

Meet Jenna Moreci, bestselling author, and YouTube influencer. We discuss three important tips to reach GenZ and Millennials whether you are an author or marketer and you will soon realize why Jenna's YouTube platform is so popular! Learn more at www.jennamoreci.com/ and www.youtube.com/channel/UCS_fcv9kBpDN4WWrfcbCrgw

Dean Wesley Smith was the first writer to be awarded by Writers of the Future in volume 1. He has been a Contest judge and is one of the most prolific writers alive today. We discuss how he emulated L. Ron Hubbard's speed and ability to cross genres. In celebration of his 70th birthday, Dean is publishing 70 novels in one year!

Two of our most recent Gold Award winners, writer winner Barbara Lund with her story “Sixers” in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 37, and illustrator winner Anh Le with his illustration of “Stolen Sky” in Volume 36, discuss their career, the workshop week, what it was like to win the grand prize, and their plans for the future.

In this podcast Wulf Moon, a mentor, and Brittany Rainsdon, mentee, discuss the value of a good mentor and how it differs from writing groups and beta-readers.

Salt Lake City Fan-X is one of the largest pop-culture events in the United States. This year there were over 40,000 fans, hundreds of exhibitors and celebrities, several hundred panels and events, and a barrel full of protocols to deal with. And the man who oversees all of this is Blake Casselman, the Director of Programming. Listen as we discuss what goes into to making a successful convention a...

A feeling of anticipation hung in the air of the Hollywood Roosevelt as the Illustrator winners of L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests revealed their art to the writer winners at one of the special events during a week-long workshop attended by the annual winners of both Contests. In a world where new artists – whether authors or illustrators desperately in need of tha...

Over 250 fans joined us in Salt Lake City, Utah for FanX—one of the largest pop-culture events in the United States—for an hour-long Writers of the Future panel titled "Writers of the Future: Learn How to Engage Readers” featuring Contest judges Brandon Sanderson, David Farland, S.M. Sterling, and winners Eric James Stone and Darci Stone while I acted as the moderator. The first half was moderator...

While recently attending Dragon Con in Atlanta, I was able to meet up with the convention CEO and good friend, Pat Henry. I have known Pat since he was a comic store owner when he was first creating Dragon Con with several of his friends. In this podcast, we discuss what makes DragonCon different than other events, why it is so important to writers and artists, and how conventions help establishin...

Alexi Vandenberg is a marketing specialist with his company Rabid Fanboy Marketing. He has also created a traveling bookstore called Bard’s Tower that tours from convention to convention, bringing some of the hottest talent in pop culture entertainment to book lovers. We connected up in Atlanta at Dragon Con and again in Salt Lake City at Fanx. We discuss marketing and the value of conventions and...

So you can draw, paint and sculpt. But how do you turn that into a profession you can support yourself with? Award-winning artist and Illustrators of the Future judge Dan dos Santos and illustrator winner, Bruce Brenneise, discuss the Contest and tips on the business of art, from creating portfolios to working with art directors.

S.M. Sterling, Jody Lynn Nye, Kevin J. Anderson with moderator John Goodwin discuss how to become one of the 12 winners to be published in the annual anthology? Writers of the Future judges and bestselling authors discuss the Contest, tips on story prompts, and short fiction. Then in the 2nd half, enjoy Q&A.

In this episode, we tackle a very sensitive subject, often used, and more often misused in science fiction – politics. And to talk about it is Joe Montaldo -- the host of multiple award-winning shows: UFO Paranormal, News on the Flip Side, and the Centralist Radio Show. Science fiction is an inherently political genre, in that any future or alternate history it imagines is either a wish about how...

Todd McCaffrey is a multiple New York Times and indie bestselling author. His mother, Anne McCaffrey, turned over the Dragon Riders of Pern series to Todd and we have fun discussing the passing of that torch. As a successful indie author, we cover the pros and cons of traditional versus independent publishing and some tips on how to be a success as an indie author.

Robin Whitten is the Editor and Founder of AudioFile Magazine, the premier publication for the audiobook industry. Audiobooks is the fastest-growing segment in the book publishing industry which fact makes having Robin as a guest so special. I don’t know that anyone knows audiobooks better than her and in this interview, we will discuss the history of the audiobook industry.