The 2015 Alpha Worry Thread
It’s a few days late, but here’s a thread for people to fret, commiserate, encourage, and generally talk about worries. Feel free to talk about your application story, too– the judges don’t read this one.
Stay calm!
The Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Workshop for Young Writers
March 10, 2015 @ 3:21 pm
Applicants will hear back on April 15. The stories have their identifying names removed and then ranked by five judges. The top 20 get acceptance letters, the next six get wait-listed. The rest are sent best wishes with their writing and encouraged to try again next year. Let me know if anyone has questions about the procedure. I wish everyone could get in.
One of the judges is Lane Robins, a fantasy writer:
http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-lane-robins/
March 23, 2015 @ 1:46 pm
I can’t really tell anyone reading this how nervous, eager, and unsure of myself I am. I’ve never submitted anything to a writing contest like this before, and I’ve never had so much peer review and feedback before. After hearing about this contest last second, I spent two very intense weeks brainstorming my story idea, then writing it all out and revising. I submitted my story only hours before the deadline. I’m not sure if what I did was enough. I’ve never submitted a piece of my writing to anything that can respond with rejection before, although I’m prepared to receive it.
I don’t know. I’m just writhing in anxiety until the decision comes.
March 25, 2015 @ 9:41 am
Do you know how many applicants there are, currently?
April 14, 2015 @ 10:13 pm
We had 48 complete applications this year.
April 15, 2015 @ 11:35 am
Eeek. I’ve been checking my email obsessively since I got up. I think this is even more nerve-wracking than last year. Last year I was certain I didn’t get in, and didn’t know what I’d be missing. Now that I’ve experienced it, I’m really freaking out.
April 15, 2015 @ 12:11 pm
same, annelise! IIRC last year they didn’t get sent out until the evening, and yet I am still obsessively refreshing…
April 15, 2015 @ 12:17 pm
yeah, it wasn’t til the evening. Yet I keep hoping… I’ve been stressing this for a month now, I want the waiting to be over 😛
April 15, 2015 @ 1:44 pm
I hope you don’t mind if I pop into this conversation! You guys both tried last year? Good luck to you both! I wish I had that experience. I want to say that I’d be more calm if I had tried last year, but I fear I’d still be just as nervous as you both.
I woke up before my alarm clock to check my email, and my cell phone died during school because I kept refreshing my email, if that’s any indication about how nervous I am. Granted, I’m totally fine about receiving a rejection at this point because that means I have lots of room to improve.
April 15, 2015 @ 2:05 pm
John just wrote me that the emails would go out later today. Many years we send them the day before we said we would, just to avoid last minute checking and checking and checking. Sorry about that.
April 15, 2015 @ 4:54 pm
The emails have gone out!!
April 15, 2015 @ 6:05 pm
I got in! I’ve been worrying about it all day. My dad forwarded the email to me on the bus ride home from school and I practically started shrieking. I got it like three hours ago and I still can’t believe it.
Now I just have to wait until July…
April 15, 2015 @ 6:18 pm
Woo! I got in!!
After going in 2012 and then getting rejected twice, I finally got in again!
April 15, 2015 @ 7:04 pm
I got in too, I am so excited!
@Mallory I feel your pain, I went in 2013 and got rejected last year. It feels like such a victory now though.