Unreality SF posted today Strange New Worlds: A Look Back, an article in which several authors look back on Pocket Books’ Strange New Worlds anthology contest.
Strange New Worlds was an anthology that was open to North American writers with less than three published credits, affording them the opportunity to write and submit Star Trek stories. The contest ran for ten volumes. I submitted stories to six of the first seven, though my submissions that final year were more about taking the piss than anything; that was the year I submitted only drabbles. I never sold a story to Strange New Worlds.
I was contacted and asked if I would be interested in answering some questions about the contest. Naturally, I said yes.
Other authors interviewed for the article are Terri Osborne, Dayton Ward, and Bill Leisner. Series editor Dean Wesley Smith was also interviewed. Dayton and Bill both sold three stories to the anthologies. Terri, like myself, never sold a story to the contest.
It was nice to be interviewed. Despite Strange New Worlds being a market to which I never made a sale, I learned a lot writing stories to submit, even if they never made the cut, and I had some unique perspectives on why the contest was important and why it lasted as long as it did.
I think the finished article is top-notch. It’s a unique look at a chapter of Star Trek literary history.