Real world article
(written from a production point of view)
Strange New Worlds was an annual anthology publication of short stories written by fans and amateur writers. Published by Pocket Books between 1998 and 2007, the anthology's stories were chosen from a writing contest, and included a selection from each of the live-action television series: Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and (from 2002) Star Trek: Enterprise.
Books[]
- Strange New Worlds (1998)
- Strange New Worlds II (1999)
- Strange New Worlds III (2000)
- Strange New Worlds IV (2001)
- Strange New Worlds V (2002)
- Strange New Worlds VI (2003)
- Strange New Worlds VII (2004)
- Strange New Worlds 8 (2005)
- Strange New Worlds 9 (2006)
- Strange New Worlds 10 (2007)
- Strange New Worlds 2016 (2016)
Background information[]
- The concept of the contest was developed by Pocket editor John Ordover, who had been trying to find ways for amateur writers to gain experience and bring in new voices to the Star Trek fold. (Voyages of Imagination, p. 471) Ordover worked with Paramount Licensing head Paula M. Block to overcome the legal issues which arose – Block having been keen to run something in the veins of the Star Trek: New Voyages books previously – and then approached established anthology editor Dean Wesley Smith to sift the contest entries. (Voyages of Imagination, pp. 471, 486)
- Each year's contest (except the inaugural one) was announced in the back of the previous year's anthology. In time, the contest also featured on the website of Pocket's parent company, Simon & Schuster. [1]
- Submissions were open only to residents of the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec) over the age of 18 who were not professional writers. The stories – which had a word limit of 7,500 words – had to be original and not formally published elsewhere, and their main characters had to be established Star Trek characters (major or minor). Each published story would receive a word rate payment of 10 cents a word; Grand, Second and Third Prize winners received an advance in addition to the word rate payment.
- In January 2007, it was announced that Pocket Books would be discontinuing the contest, with Strange New Worlds 10 being the last anthology.
- On 8 October 2015, it was announced that, as part of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the contest would once again be held for residents of the United States only, with a submission deadline of 16 January 2016, winners to be announced on 31 March 2016. [2]
Contest winners[]
- 1997, SNW1
- Grand Prize – Landon Cary Dalton
- Second Prize – Franklin Thatcher
- Third Prize – Phaedra M. Weldon
- 1999, SNW2
- Grand Prize – Ilsa J. Bick
- Second Prize – Melissa Dickinson
- Third Prize – Ken Rand
- 2000, SNW3
- Grand Prize – Sarah A. Hoyt and Rebecca Lickiss
- Second Prize – Kim Sheard
- Third Prize – Robert T. Jeschonek
- 2001, SNW4
- Grand Prize – Steven Scott Ripley
- Second Prize – Ilsa J. Bick
- Third Prize – Kevin G. Summers
- 2002, SNW5
- Grand Prize – Mary Scott-Wiecek
- Second Prize – Steven Scott Ripley
- Third Prize – William Leisner
- 2003, SNW6
- Grand Prize – Robert T. Jeschonek
- Second Prize – Geoffrey Thorne
- Third Prize – Juanita Nolte
- 2004, SNW7
- Grand Prize – Julie A. Hyzy
- Second Prize – Brett Hudgins
- Third Prize – Kelly Cairo
- 2005, SNW8
- Grand Prize – Derek Tyler Attico
- Second Prize – Geoffrey Thorne
- Third Prize – John Takis
- 2006, SNW9
- Grand Prize – R.S. Belcher
- Second Prize – Susan S. McCrackin
- Third Prize – Ben Guilfoy
- 2007, SNW10
- Grand Prize – Gerri Leen
- Second Prize – Randy Tatano
- Third Prize – Carolyn Winifred
- 2016, SNW2016
External links[]
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (short story collection) at Wikipedia
- Strange New Worlds contest at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works