An editor at an alternative weekly in Texas and a young woman from Bulgaria were awarded top prizes at the 18th Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards, part of the International Writers and Illustrators of the Future contest, held August 17. Dylan Otto Krider, who has won numerous awards for his science fiction, received the $4,000 writing prize for his short story "Eating, Drinking, Walking," and Irena Yankova Dimitrova was singled out as Illustrator of the Year and also received $4,000. Their work, along with the stories and illustrations of 32 other winners, appears in Writers of the Future Volume XVIII, the first book to appear under the newly formed Galaxy Press mass market imprint spun off by Bridge Publications (News, Aug. 19).
According to Galaxy president and publisher John Goodwin, the Galaxy imprint is expected to strengthen the sell-in of new titles by separating speculative fiction from the more ideologically driven Bridge books and eliminating any confusion about them in booksellers' minds. "All major chains have pretty much doubled their orders for this anthology, with orders of about 10,000 books on an overall print run of 45,000," Goodwin said.
Bookstore confidence was bolstered by numerous events planned in support of the title, Goodwin said, including approximately 50 bookstore signings. In addition, in January the Biography Channel will air a 24-minute Writers of the Future documentary, based on last year's weeklong workshop held in conjunction with the awards and including the awards ceremony as well. In September, floor displays will go to various bases of the armed forces both here and abroad.
