Mark Lefebvre to Speak at International L. Ron Hubbard Writer of the Future Contest Gala Awards Ceremony, 4/13

Hollywood, CA -- The 30th anniversary of the L. Ron Hubbard Awards for winners of the internationally-acclaimed Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests will be held in Los Angeles at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on Sunday, April 13th and contest organizers announced today that Mark Lefebvre of Kobo, Inc. will speak at the event on the future of publishing.

Celebrities and luminaries from around the world of science, science fiction and fantasy are expected to attend the gala event.

Founded in December 2009, Toronto-based Kobo has quickly become a global leader in eReading, offering a world-class platform for the most passionate readers. Their mission is to lead the global transformation in reading by inspiring people to read more and more often - anytime, anyplace, anywhere around the world. Kobo delivers the best digital reading experience to millions of users in 190 countries, offering one of the world's largest catalogues with millions of titles, world-class eReading devices, and top-ranking apps. Kobo is owned by Tokyo-based eCommerce company Rakuten.

Kobo's free top-ranking apps for Apple, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows platforms allow people to read anytime, anywhere, and access their libraries from any device they choose. Bookmarks sync across devices so they can easily pick up where they left off from one device to another.

Lefebvre, who oversees Kobo Writing Life, the platform that makes it easier for independent authors and small publishers to publish their work to Kobo's global catalog, will join contest judges and winners in the celebration which is also accompanied by dance interpretations of the winning stories and musical entertainment that enhances the celebration and provides a dazzling show.

"Cash prizes of $10,000.00 for the grand prize winners alone and inclusion in the 30th annual "L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future" anthology (Galaxy Press, 2014) make this a very special night," Joni Labaqui, director of the contest said. Presentation of the Gold Awards for the year's best story and illustration will culminate the evening.

The Writers of the Future Contest and the companion anthology were created by L. Ron Hubbard 30 years ago to help discover new, aspiring writers of speculative fiction and give their best work a high-profile publishing showcase
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To date, the Contests have given rise to scores of flourishing careers, including New York Times bestsellers Dave Wolverton (On My Way to Paradise) , Sean Williams (Star Wars - The Force Unleashed), Karen Joy Fowler (Jane Austin Book Club), Patrick Rothfuss (Name of the Wind,The Wise Man's Fear), Nancy Farmer (The Ear, the Eye and the Arm), Jo Beverley (A Lady's Secret), Lisa Smedman (Extinction), Tim Myers (Basho and the Fox), Tobias Buckell (Halo: The Cole Protocol), Eric Flint (1632), Dean Wesley Smith (Men In Black), and Elizabeth Wein (Code Name Verity).

The winners are chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges, famous authors in speculative fiction including; Tim Powers, Kevin J. Anderson, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Orson Scott Card, Robert J. Sawyer, Sean Williams, Dave Wolverton, Brian Herbert, Rebecca Moesta, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Gregory Benford, Doug Beason, Eric Kotani, Mike Resnick, Eric Flint, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Todd McCaffrey and Nnedi Okorafor.

The just as impressive illustrator judge roster has included in its history: Frank Frazetta, Frank Kelly Freas, Jack Kirby, Dave Dorman, Cliff Nielsen, Vincent Di Fate, Bob Eggleton, Stephen Hickman, Stephan Martiniere, Diane and Leo Dillon, Ron Lindahn, Val Lakey Lindahn, Judith Miller, Stephen Youll, H.R.Van Dongen, Laura Brodian Freas, Sergey Poyarkov, Robert Castillo, Gary Meyer and Larry Elmore.

For information and seat reservations, please call Joni Labaqui at 323-466-3310. For more information on the contest, visit www.writersofthefuture.com.