Newsletter October 2024: Announcing the Seattle Worldcon 2025 Short Story Writing Contest!

Announcing the Seattle Worldcon 2025 Short Story Writing Contest!

Seattle Worldcon 2025 is excited to announce that we are holding a short story writing contest with adult and young adult entry categories. The winners in each category will be recognized at the convention, receive free memberships to the convention, and have their stories published in an upcoming anthology by Grim Oak Press. Stories must draw inspiration from our Worldcon theme: Building Yesterday’s Future–For Everyone. This theme was selected to invoke nostalgia for the hopeful science-fictional era of the early 1960s, when Seattle held its first (and until now, only) Worldcon, followed up by the Century 21 Exposition (a.k.a. 1962 World’s Fair), showing the world a vision of its technological future, complete with freshly built Monorail and Space Needle.

Seattle Worldcon 2025 Short Story Writing Contest header graphic using mid-century modern fonts and design cues.

Submissions will be open January 5–20, 2025. The submission must be a standalone, short fiction story.

Prizes will include a membership to Seattle Worldcon 2025 for the winners (and for the guardian of the YA winner) as well as publication in a forthcoming anthology by Grim Oak Press.

Full writing contest rules and details, including word count and submission guidelines, may be found on our website.

Ad Sales Rates Now Available

The Seattle Worldcon has published advertising rates for its souvenir program book. The program book is a memento and collector’s item, filled with artwork and engaging features and information about the convention and guests of honor. Individual rates are available for fan, semi pro, and professional organizations. In addition, ad swaps and no-cost ads are available in newsletters and progress reports. Space in the souvenir book must be reserved by May 1, 2025. Please contact ad-sales@seattlein2025.org to reserve yours.

Attending Membership Rates to Rise October 21, 2024 (after OryCon)

Seattle Worldcon 2025 will have a fan table at OryCon 44, where we will be talking about our plans for 83rd Worldcon next August, answering questions, handing out stickers and ribbons, and recruiting volunteers. Come say hello! This is a good time to purchase an attending membership, because after midnight on Sunday October 20 (Pacific time), the adult attending membership price will rise by $30 to $230 (combined WSFS membership+attending supplement). Why wait? Purchase your membership today!

Five people dressed in retrofuturistic clothing, of varied apparent races, genders, and ages. One is in a hover chair, and one is using a jetpack.

Come work with us!

Volunteer positions are currently available and many more will be opening up as the convention approaches. Let us know you are interested by filling out the volunteer form early! Let us know you are interested by filling out the volunteer form early, and keep an eye on this page as more roles become available.

Seattle’s program will feature a lot of hands-on and interactive content. Want to be a panelist? Here’s the form: Panelists and Presenters. Have panel suggestions? Tell us: Panel Suggestions.

5 thoughts on “Newsletter October 2024: Announcing the Seattle Worldcon 2025 Short Story Writing Contest!”

  1. Hi there! Would I be right in thinking I need to purchase an Attending Membership if I’d like to participate in the voting process? I’m in Australia, so not going to be able to really attend, and wondered how it would work.
    Thanks for all you’re doing for SF!!

    • Hi Melissa! Nope — if you won’t be joining us in person (understandable!), there’s no need to buy an attending membership. A WSFS-Only Membership ($50 USD) lets you vote in the Hugo awards and the site selection process, or you could get a virtual membership ($85 USD), which has voting rights plus the ability to stream whatever content we put online.

      • Thanks Michael for getting back so quickly, much appreciated.
        Would the virtual membership allow me to stream the nominated entries, books novellas etc or should I purchase these? I’d like to be an informed voter and for me that means looking at the entire field!
        This is hilarious, but I’m so excited!!!
        Melissa

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