Writers Workshop

Note: The workshop is now closed to submissions. Look again in 2004.

One-Day Writers Workshop For Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Fiction

Send $50 check payable to "ArmadilloCon" along with your manuscript to:
FACT / Writers Workshop
PO Box 27277
Austin TX 78755

Get your unpublished original work of science fiction/fantasy/horror fiction in front of a pro! Sign up for the ArmadilloCon25 writers workshop! Get invaluable critique and feedback from at least one pro writer or editor, plus small-group critiques from fellow attendees. Includes group sessions and panels or presentations throughout the about the craft and profession of writing. All at a terrific reasonable cost of only $50. You also get admission to all three days of the convention!

Submit your original work of science fiction, fantasy, or horror fiction along with a $50 check to ArmadilloCon postmarked no later than July 1, 2003. (Only one submission, only your own work, and only fiction, please!) It can be a short story, or the first chapter(s) of a novel, but maximum length is 5000 words. Manuscripts longer than the maximum will be shortened at the ArmadilloCon25 offices. Format your manuscript professionally -- print double-spaced on one side of a letter-sized white sheet of paper, using 12-point Courier or Times typeface, and indicate new paragraphs with a 5-space tab (not an extra line). Most writing books and many on-line sources describe what professional formatting looks like if you have questions.

With the work you submit, you will also need to provide us with permission to photocopy your story for distribution to the other workshoppers. You can add a sentence to the first page, or include a separate page, that says: "For the purposes of the ArmadilloCon25 writers workshop only, I hereby give permission to the representatives of ArmadilloCon25 to photocopy my original work of fiction entitled _____ ." And then sign the release.

You will receive the manuscripts of the other students in your group about two weeks before the workshop for you to review and critique ahead of time. The bulk of the workshop time will be taken up by breaking into smaller groups for in-depth critiques of your manuscripts. The balance of the workshop will include lectures, discussions, writers' exercises, handouts, etc. from the pro writers/editors.

Below are biographies for the workshop's coordinators:

• Jennifer Evans, a founding member of the Writers League of Texas, member of the SlugTribe, co-coordinator of the DilloCon Writers Workshop and other writerly events, has published fiction in Asimov’s, 50 Crafty Cat Stories, etc. and is shopping her modern fantasy novel, Schmooks, to several editors.
• Wendy Wheeler, co-coordinator of the DilloCon Writers Workshop, has had fiction selected for The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror (ed. Datlow/Windling), and short stories in Analog, Aboriginal SF, Gorezone and other magazines. She's been published in theme anthologies such as Snow White Blood Red, Silver Birch Blood Moon, and the Crafters series (Ace Books). She also writes screenplays and teaches fiction classes for the University of Texas.

Hope to see you August 8th!

--Wendy Wheeler and Jennifer Evans, for the ArmadilloCon25 Writers Workshop.

Cancellations: If you miss the workshop on Friday, August 9, we will mail your manuscript and the critiques we can gather to you. No refunds once manuscripts are mailed to the pros.

The Fandom Association of Central Texas, Inc. (FACT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit literary/educational corporation.