On the Poets & Writers website, there is an article (click here to read it in full) about a contest that has some writers that submitted to it up in arms. Supposedly the sponsor promised that each manuscript would receive an individual, personal critique from him. The entry fees for the contest were $35 for poetry and $45 for fiction. He would publish the winning manuscripts.
But instead of giving the authors personal reviews, he decided to create several different form letters that he felt would address issues in any work submitted. This plan backfired when writers received letters with different titles listed and when some that had entered decided to compare notes and realized that their “personal critiques” were identical except for the name of the work.
On top of that, he sent some of the entrants a request for $300 in exchange for more critiquing. Some were told that their submissions would be entered into the running for another prize and would automatically move ahead in the first round of judging, even though that particular contest is supposed to be judged blind.
This article interested me because the subject of contest worth came up today during a free critiquing session I attended. Before we started giving feedback on one another’s work, one of the other writer’s asked about a contest that he’s never heard of (prior to a few days ago) but offers several thousand dollars as the prize. He’s going to look into it, figure out whether or not the contest is worth his money before he enters–which is probably the best anyone can do.
I think that there are some contests out there that are valid and well worth the money to enter, within reason (or budget…), but the problem sometimes isn’t just the cost. Some competitions, not unlike the one mentioned in the Poets & Writers article, seem to be a gateway for the sponsors to ask the writers for even more money or even all of the rights to the submitted work.
Years ago I overheard a one-sided conversation on a bus. The man was talking on a cell phone and said: “Yeah, I know I should feel bad that I’m probably taking the girl’s life savings, but if she’s stupid enough to pay for it, I’m going to take her money.”
That seems to be the way some of these sponsors operate. Maybe they start out with good intentions, maybe they don’t and feel a little guilty about that fact, but is the guilt going to stop them?
Payment aside (because there are some legitimate reasons for fees, such as administrative costs), what about simply not giving guarantees that can’t be kept, or at least letting the entrants know immediately when things turn out differently than expected? Such simple notice can help, and it doesn’t take anything away from the legitimacy of the contest. But something as complicated as making up form letters and sending them out as personal reviews does.
I try to always look into any contest I’m paying to enter. How many years it’s been around, how many people have won, and whether or not there have been issues like the ones mentioned above. It may not be a flawless system, but if there have been a lot of substantial and negative issues surrounding the contest, I’m going to do my best to not be “stupid enough to pay for it.”
anyone can write now, where to find the readers? It’s a contest for attention.
ggw
I don’t think the sponsor is a writer. He had success with the same one in the past but decided to change his method and it backfired.
WOW! what a scam… it seems like more and more scams are out there lately
with so my contests that are free to enter, why would anyone pay?
I think it’s better to polish your work yourself, and than send it out to publishers, rather than waste time on contests… my thoughts anyways
~~EK
I think contests are an unwise way to seek to move forward with one’s career. I have worked for a couple years on my town’s film festival screening committee. Things are chosen, according to the whims of the various opinionated members of the committee. It’s a pretty haphazard process. Very little time is given to the consideration of the merits of each film; some are not even fully watched, if it’s crunch time. A lot of excellent films are not chosen to be exhibited, at the festival. Some trashy films are chosen, because someone on the committee put in a few words for them, before anyone else had a chance to say anything. And, even if we took only the cream of the crop – there wouldn’t be enough slots to exhibit everyone’s film, which deserved to be shown.
So, in my opinion, to submit writing to a contest is to set yourself up for disappointment – even if your work is of a very high quality. It is as much, as to put the locus of control for your own future in someone else’s hands. The only real test is the market, itself. Do people want to pay money to read your work?
EelKat -
It does seem that way. I only submit to paid contests that really, really seem on the up and up, but even that’s not always a guarantee.
Christopher -
Not surprising at all. A few years ago there was a similar problem w/ a writing contest – only people that actually knew the judges were winning.
I’ve only submitted to a handful of contests in the past. I do agree though that time is better spent honing the writing. Contests can help when submitting to publishers, though, b/c it shows a time line as well as possible marketability of the work, I think. But contests really are a chance deal, and can based on so many factors that have nothing to do with the work. I have hope that its not the case with a majority of them.
We’re about to hold our second contest, this time with an entry fee, and I’m curious about the reactions I see here. First, EelKat, why do you say that contests are based on so many factors that have nothing to do with the work? Our contests are based entirely on the works themselves. Each judge reads the entries blind and votes and offers a critique based entirely on the text. There’s no politicking, no “who you know” stuff.
Second, if I understand you correctly, ggwfung, you are validating my conclusion that contestants enter partially because they are looking for feedback and attention. It seems to me that contests are just one more way to get both of those. It’s so hard to get noticed now, so hard to get good feedback on your work, that writers need to have many irons in the fire.
Last year we held our first-chapter-of-a-novel contest with no entry fee and were deluged with requests for feedback. The judges were volunteers and couldn’t spare the time to give contestants individual critiques.
I have debated about the entry fee, but in the end, I decided it’s the only way to get judges to spend the time necessary to do each work justice. For their money, contestants in this year’s contest will get 750 words of feedback as well as the chance to win prize money and a Writing Show interview. Otherwise, the administrators, in this case me, have to plead and cajole to get judges to give the works the attention they deserve. And of course, there are costs associated with administering contests as well.
So that’s my take on the situation now. I’d love to hear suggestions and ideas for improvement.
Thanks!
Paula B.
Hi Paula,
Entry fees can be necessary for admin. fees and similar expenses, like I mentioned in the post. But in the particular contest mentioned, the sponsor seems to have used the contest as a gateway to ask for $300 for a service that he promised to deliver for $35–and didn’t.
Also in P&W, a while back, there was an article about issues w/ a contest that either wouldn’t present a winner and gave no refunds in those cases, or when they did present winners they happened to be people they were familiar with. As Christopher mentioned, it can be like that sometimes, it seems. It isn’t the case with all, or even a majority of contests, but it’s something to research before writers enter.
Also, sometimes it has nothing to do w/ knowing the contestants or w/ the individual work, but the amount of entrants vs. the amount of time the judges have, and how many readers there are. Thousands of full length manuscripts to a handful of judges can be difficult and can result in some entries getting overlooked–not through neglect, but just regular human error.
I still plan on entering contests because they can be very helpful, but I weigh the pros and cons before I do. If I know it’s on the up and up, then the fees aren’t a problem if they’re within my budget. Sponsors can’t be expected to pay out of pocket for everything–they would go broke and some excellent contests would disappear! There are many contests that are worth entering, but some unfortunately make it necessary for writers to approach with a dollop of caution; in my opinion, it seems unlikely that writers would or should give up on paid contests all together.
Thanks for the clarification, Nancy. Too bad there are so many scammers, or at the very least, people who have no idea what they’re doing.
I have been concerned about the workload for our judges, and as a result I’m determined to recruit as many as I can. For this particular contest (the first chapter of a novel), I’ve deliberately kept submission length down for the same reason. I want to start small and work out the bugs before going on to larger things.
BTW, I have edited your wonderful interview, and we are on target to publish Monday.
No problem! It is too bad, but there’s still good ones out there.
I think that could work, both having a enough judges and a limit on the amount of submissions. I don’t know of many contests that limit the amount of entrants. That would probably alleviate a number of the problems w/missing manuscripts, etc.
And thanks, I can’t wait to hear it! I’ve been listening to Lyda’s interview and it sounds great.
We’re not actually limiting the number of entrants, Nancy. Just the length of the stuff they submit. I don’t know how anyone judges these full book awards, although I have some aspirations in that direction myself. So much to read! How do you convince a judge to spend all that time?