SF Trivia contests aren’t a dime a dozen, but you’ve certainly seen them before. This one though, has a twist: You can win a free one year digital subcription to the magazine!
What’s more, we’re doing this Weekly, so there’s plenty of chances to win and
what’s even more, each weekly contest will have not one but Two winners!
We’re going to pick winners in two ways: the first person to answer the trivia question correctly will win and, a random participant from all of the other entries will win as well.
It pays to be first tthrough the door with the right answer, but it also pays to participate and participate frequently!
In the event that no one answers the question correctly, only the random draw prize will be awarded for that contest.
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This being our first contest, we’re going to lay out the rules. There’s a short and sweet summary below, and complete rules here. Please review them before participating.
A valid entry consists of a comment to the Trivia Question Post that offers an answer to the trivia question; comments that are unrelated to the trivia question answer will not be considered a valid entry. A “correct” answer will be determined by Amazing Stories staff at their sole discretion. Correct spelling is requested but not a determining factor. The correct answer to the trivia question will be posted when the contest closes.
Two different prizes, each consisting of a 1 year (4 issues) digital subscription to Amazing Stories, will be awarded in each contest.
One prize will be awarded to the Member who provides the first correct answer to the Trivia Question in the comments section of the Trivia Question post. The First Correct Answer will be determined by the date and time at which our server receives and posts the comment.
The second winner will be determined by random draw of all remaining contest entries, utilizing a program designed for that purpose. All selections will be final.
For complete rules and guidelines, please visit this page.
THE AMAZING STORIES SCIENCE FICTION TRIVIA CONTEST
CONTEST #1
The Oxford English Dictionary notes that Science Fiction was first used in print in 1851 in William Wilson’s A Little Earnest Book Upon A Great Old Subject.
However, that was apparently a one-off. The phrase would not appear again in print until some time in the next century.
Where and when did the phrase Science Fiction next appear in common usage, referring specifically to the genre we are all familiar with?
(The correct answer will contain a publication name and a year of publication. Bonus points for the month.)
Hugo Gernsback in Science Wonder Stories, 1929.
Amazing Stories, January 1927
How about “Science Wonder Stories”, June 1929?
Wonder Stories July 1929
🙂
Originally coined in 1954 as a play on “Hi-Fi” by Forrest J. Ackerman, the phrase “Sci-Fi” was first used in print extensively in Forry’s magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland, beginning with the first issue, February 1948.
When Harlan Ellison complained that it shouldn’t be called ‘Scifi’ but Science Fiction. (jk)
Amazing’s founder, Hugo Gernsback, is credited with using “science fiction” in an ad for Air Wonder Stories in 1929, though the hyphenated “science-fiction” was also common. Hugo’s original coinage, “scientifiction” never caught on.
Hugo Gernsback, editorial for June 1929 issue of WONDER STORIES.
(Google and the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction)
Amazing Stories, April 1926