Orem resident fulfills dream by winning Writers of the Future contest

Courtesy Jefferson Snow
Jefferson Snow, of Orem, was one of 12 winners of the 2024 Writers of the Future contest.The Writers of the Future contest has long been on Jefferson Snow’s radar.
In his childhood, the Orem resident and fantasy writer collected the contest’s winning paperback short stories, which were selected by the most prestigious authors in the fantasy and science fiction realm, and longed to be a published author himself.
Snow, 39, fulfilled his dream this year, becoming one of 12 winners of the 2024 contest for his short story “The Rune Witch.”
The story will be a part of Writers of the Future Volume 41, becoming Snow’s first published story. As a reward, he will travel to Los Angeles for a weeklong workshop conducted by top names in the fantasy industry.
“I was really pumped,” Snow said. “There have been a lot of people who come through the contest who’ve kind of used it as a launching pad, so it gives me hope that maybe I can do more with writing as I go on. But life only gets busier and busier, so we’ll see.”
As a husband and father of three kids who works as a developer at a startup company, there are higher priorities in Snow’s life than writing.
But he still has found time to continue his passion as an adult, writing a number of stories and tales. Though tentative to share much of his work, the Writers of the Future contest, one of fantasy writing’s most prestigious competitions, offered an avenue to him.
“I was too afraid to send my novels to publishers, but I wasn’t afraid to send my short stories to this contest and see if I could maybe break in somehow or get some confidence to push me to the next level,” Snow said.
Started in 1983 by the late author L. Ron Hubbard, the contest is judged by notable writers such as “Ender’s Game” author Orson Scott Card, “On Stranger Tides” author Tim Powers and “Dune” prequel writers Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert, among several others.
The 559 winners and finalists of the contest have churned out over 8,000 published novels and short stories in the last 40 years.
Snow started submitting short stories in 2020, and among the over 1,000 applicants each year got a few honorable mention nods. This year, he broke through with the 9,500-word “The Rune Witch.”
This story’s premise?
“When tragedy befalls the last member of a magical sisterhood, she must choose between forgiveness and unleashing a vengeful demon. Her choice will determine the fate of her people,” Snow said.
Like any fantasy writer, Snow builds his stories by leaning heavily on his creative gene, which has been forged over his life through his pursuit of a number of hobbies.
As a high schooler in Delaware he had a band called “The Sounds” and said he had a “pretty good following.”
When he was an undergrad at Brigham Young University — his move out West broke up the band — Snow dabbled in stand-up comedy, performing for the Humor U club.
“I did a lot of stand-up, but my stories aren’t really that light-hearted,” he said. “But I think comedy kind of taught me setups and payoffs and economy of words, and you have to be brief. It can help you with tone, as far as, like, an engaging voice.”
Fantasy writing, though, has persevered as his favorite hobby, something Snow tries to fit into his nights after a day of coding and raising kids. As he’s gotten older, the ideas don’t flood in as easily, but he is always observant, writing his impressions in a notebook based on experiences he has or shows he watches. An episode of “The Sopranos,” in fact, was a key inspiration for his award-winning story.
Whether winning the award is his big break into the industry or just the crowning achievement of his writing hobby remains to be seen. For now, Snow is fully invested in his day job.
He does recognize, though, that the impressive accolade, and the upcoming workshop, may serve as a chance to get in the door with agents and other people in the industry.
“I really do want to pursue getting more published work,” he said. “I have a lot of fantasy book ideas. I’ve got some horror story ideas. I kind of think it’d be a dream come true to get a full novel published. I mean, this is already really cool. This might be the farthest I get as far as writing things go with this contest, and that’s a pretty good bar compared to what happens to a lot of other writers.”