A HM is a nonwinning story that is better than 85% of the entries. The first reader, Kathy Wentworth, read the entire manuscript and thought it had one or more elements that she considered well done: setting, idea, characters, plot, prose, voice.

HM used to be called quarterfinalist, but that confused some who believed that meant they were a finalist for that quarter. To make matters more confusing, years ago, the term HM was used to mean something else--I believe, a story that was considered much better than quarterfinalist.

Also, when do you get the 'Sorry, you didn't win' message? After they gone through all the stories or when they threw up after they read the first page?

[This message has been edited by snapper (edited February 15, 2008).]

Many of your question have been answered at the forums.

As for the ['Sorry, you didn't win' message], IF you get a phone call from Joni asking to list your name as an "Honorable Mention" on the blog, you've been informed of this that quarter's results for your story. If you don't hear anything, they're still judging it. They will contact you (via a method you gave them) with the results.

I haven't heard anything yet, Chris. Have you?

Well, I haven't heard anything yet. Any other Hatrackers still in there?

Meanwhile, I entered (with my 11th hour drastic rewrite of the second half of the story) and haven't heard anything yet. My stats so far are 1 HM and one "thanks for entering, you did not win."

http://wotfblog.galaxypress.com/2008/02/drumroll-please.html

Neat to see all those names on the HM list, though. Gives some ... tangibility (is that a word?) to this random contest I keep entering much to my family's consternation.

KayTi, if you still haven't heard, it's likely it's the same kind of thing.

One of the things I've always disliked about the way WOTF is run is the big pile of Honorable Mentions and never knowing if a story was at the top or bottom of it. If it's at the top, like yours, then the story was considered for Semi or Finalist. If not, then the tag Honorable Mention doesn't mean nearly as much, at least not to me. It looks like you found out on this one.

When a couple of postings had gone by without any mention, I went back and re-read my story. I found like five last-minute-editing errors, and one thing that really bugged me about a story element. I've fixed most of the last-minute stuff, but not the element.

I'm sure the changes will only make it a better read. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm trying to be better prepared this quarter. And now that I'm saying that, I'm reminded of the fact that I'm delinquent in some crits I promised to other WOTF hopefuls. Shoot. I'm way behind on my fiction writing. The good news is, it's partly because I've been blogging for a few different tech things and getting some traction. Always exciting to fling your words out into the big wide open and actually hear back from people who read what you wrote. I heard this week that someone from Nova Scotia contacted someone I blogged about because I made the project sound so compelling. I live really far from Nova Scotia!

ANYWAY - enough about me, congrats Rich! That's great news.

Realize though, that writing is all a matter of opinion once you get past the writing mechanics part (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) What one person finds appealing in a story, another will reject, so don't try to write like I do, or compare yourself to my work too harshly. Heck, you could be writing much better stories than I do, so take it for what it's worth.

You can also check out my website if you want. I've posted my semifinalist story, and a rewrite there along with Kathy Wentworth's critique for anybody interested. Once there, just click the "My Stories" link on the left hand side. Here's the link to that site:

http://www.paulallancomstock.com

The HM story I'll send in a standard word document by the email you listed on Hatrack.

If you want to look at either my finalist or semifinalist story, you're welcome to do that too.

As Paul said, not to distrubute, and I'd ask, not not a detailed crit, but your thoughts on how to improve it. I've come to the sad realization that a nonwinning finalist story has little hope of finding a home in a pro mag, and unlike a semifinalist, you get no pro feedback telling you why it didn't place.

Can't you just change the story title and not tell anyone you sub it to that it was only a finalist in wotf? I would have felt certain it should sell with that pedigree.

In general, I think that the s-word, and f-word might very well get you rejected, but possibly not, as Kathy has commented that such things can be edited out easily for the anthology unless they are integral to the story. In those cases, though, I don't doubt that such words would weigh heavily on the decision of its placement.

Personally, I don't believe such words are necessary for a story. But then again, I don't write that way. Stephen King is a good example of an author who does write using such words regularly. He is often vulgar and poetic at the same time, and successful, so what do I know?

I am as always in doubt about entering. If I do it would be only my second try--but I always feel as though entering is a total waste for me seeing judges such as Tim Power express dislike for stories in a "medieval milieu" on the WotF forum and one of the other judges rip stories that have traditional races.

I mean I have what I consider the strongest story I've ever written in that horrible nasty milieu with a (gasp of horror) elf like being in it. His being somewhat "alien" is essential to the story as is the milieu.

I'll probably enter it anyway--even though I really thought I wouldn't enter again. I suspect it's just a poor market for what I write. But then I tell myself how do I know unless I try. I dunno.

Then I think that I'm just using that as an excuse for not having done well. But a number of the judges have expressed dislike for the type of "heroic" fantasy that I write--so maybe I'm not. And it never seems to win at least not in the anthologies I've read.

Maybe it depends on the judges who happen to get it. I can't see Wolverton being that prejudiced against the milieu since it's what he writes. Blech. Hard to decide.

I'm glad you liked the story. (It was crittered for those who are wondering and run on Baen's Slush.) It got excellent comments on both so I have some confidence in the story--but...

Edit: It's quotes like this that convince me that any fantasy with any epic trope wont win.

Tim Powers posted on their forum:

"Certainly it's possible to write a good story in the default-medieval pseudo-Tolkien world that we see so many novels set in -- but I'm going to approach it skeptically."

Notice he will be skeptical even if it's good. And if it's medieval then it must be "default" and "pseudo-Tolkien". Huh.

Even if it's good he isn't going to like it. And why? If it's good why is using a traditional trope a bad thing? It's like saying you can't have space in science fiction.

So after a good deal of angst over it (way more than was called for), I'm not going to enter. The other thing this little night of insomnia and angst has done is convince me not to write any more short stories. They come hard for me and when you get down to the bottom line, they're a waste of time and effort.

Sorry guys, I've had a rough night and I'm pretty depressed at this point about the whole short story thing.

A sincere congratulations to everyone who is doing well in WotF.

Yeah that was me, bringing up the rear. Not too bad for my first try, even though I thought it should have won the thing. (I'm sure everyone that entered thought the same thing)

Joni said she didn't have my number. So much for my cover letter. I better give it the once over and send it somewhere else.