I'm thinking about entering some contests. Well, two different contests where I seem to have just enough false hope to cough over the stiff entry fees. Every time I've entered a contest I am awarded by yet another form rejection. So, why bother, right? Or maybe I need some false hope about something. One contest is for a short story and one is for a book. The book contest has blind judging. I'm going to think this over some more. Do you guys do contests? Why or why not? Have any good contest stories or tips to make your submission stand out? Someone has to win, I figure. It can feel like every submission we make is a contest entry and it a lot of ways it is. But a publication can decide to take nothing from the slush pile and source all their content through soliciting. In a contest someone who sent in a submission will win. I'm not sure the odds are any better either way. Are there any contests that you regularly enter? Ever won? Ever lost? Let's compare some notes and talk contests.
Most years I enter the Wyoming Arts Council competition for the Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award and the Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award. One year I was given Honorable Mention, which basically means "you lost, suckkah, but the story is good enough to acknowledge." No fee to enter and a nice chunk of change offered as an award, so it doesn't cost me anything but some time to enter. Got my most recent rejections this week. Occasionally I've won small monetary awards. In return for winning one contest, I was awarded a residency at one of the national monuments: a small apartment and per diem for ten days in a beautiful location. I wrote a feature article for a regional magazine about the experience and got a very nice paycheck for that, as well.
@Catriona Grace -- The residency seems like a cool prize. And you can't beat a contest with no entry fee. The Raymond Carver contest is up to $17. And the other one I'm thinking of, Flannery O'Connor, is $30. Last night I made a non-contest submission to a publication and it cost $5. When did being a writer get so expensive?
If I have to pay to play, I don't play. Wyoming Writer's entry fee is $15; for another $5, you get a year's introductory membership in the organization, which is a pretty good deal, and a clever way of bringing in new members. I've belonged to the the organization sporadically over the last several decades, but currently do not.
I do a few but am trying to concentrate on competitions for Writing Magazine. Some of them are free to enter, others there is a fee. I read it every month and there are 1 or 2 competitions every month. I enter as many as I get inspiration for. I have been shortlisted 5 times for their competitions so they must like my writing. There are cash prizes for the winner and runner up.
I spend a pretty good chunk of change on submissions. But just selling one story seems to more than cover the cost. But I'm well aware selling stories is hard to predict. And I do like to submit to the publications I like to read many of which charge a small reading fee (or $5 -- five whole dollars!!!). I think most contests do charge an entry fee. I've only occasionally bothered with them. For some reason, I have this strange urge to enter a few. This is where things can really add up. And I don't have the money. I won't even have a place to live in a week. Maybe I should stop at those two contests I mentioned. I've been working on my submissions. I'm really throwing myself into these pieces. Knowing I'm paying this much is driving me to really polish my work and make it the best attempts I can make at this moment. I guess that's how I feel a lot of the time about submitting my work. I have to feel my story is worth the financial investment of putting it out there on submission. When I started submitting stories most places didn't have submission fees and contests were cheaper. Times have changed and so has my writing. I've got a better shot now than I ever have. Man, I'm just going for it.
If the journal throws in an annual subscription, I will sometimes enter contests. I've never won but I've been a finalist a few times. I feel like contests who have authors as judges can be a bit tough if you don't write in a similar style as the author or come from a shared cultural background.
Same here. I don't actually expect to win the Rattle Poetry Prize, but since the entry fee is just the price of a subscription to a magazine I enjoy, why wouldn't I give it a shot?
Not a rejection at all, but I just got my contributor copies of the latest journal to publish one of my stories. I'm reading the issue and quite impressed. So far, there are some killer pieces and great writing for sure. I'm definitely in good company with this one. Does anyone else immediately jump to the bios before reading an issue? A little guilty pleasure of sorts, I guess. Just can't help myself.
Congratulations on your publication! I don't skip to the bios as much as I used to, but I know the impulse. Of course when I did it, it often was hate reading. Like, which well-connected writer did they choose over an unknown like me? I try my best not to be so querulous these days.
Today I’ve had an acceptance from a place I’ve been trying for a while. I get paid £100, which is the most I’ve received for a story.
I know the money's not the point for most of us, but it really does feel good to actually earn something with your words, doesn't it? Congratulations!
Hello all, didn't realise it's been over a year since I last posted. Hope you are all doing well -- just submitted to this journal again. Really hoping I make the cut this time.
Entered the Cheshire Novel Prize comp, am fairly confident I’ve now not made it to the long list. Disappointing when I’ve had so many full requests (and then rejections). Really need to crack on, finish my new WIP so I can get querying again
I'm trying to get stuff together for a contest or two myself. I've never had any luck with them. Well, that's not entirely true. The city I lived in as a child had a young writers contest one summer. That was the summer I had to go to summer school. The English teacher I had that summer was all about creative writing. It was all new to me, but a lot more fun than a boring English class. I never say I've been writing since I was a child, but I always loved reading and it was fun to make up my own stories. So, my summer teacher told us we should enter this city contest for young writers and off my handwritten story went. I still remember it was about two ducks that wanted to get married. The lady duck had a bunch of ducklings from a previous duck lover, and on the wedding day things kept going wrong. Don't worry the ducks got married in the end and everyone lived happily ever after. I think I was in third grade, and I think the contest might have gone up through high school even. I only one an honorable mention. But that's the best contest outcome I've ever had. I didn't start writing then, but having written a story gave me a deeper appreciation for the stories I read. So, that's a pretty long into to say I'm planning to enter a contest or two. Thinking I'll do the Raymond Carver short story contest and maybe another one or two if I can come across another good one. Anyone else thinking about the Carver contest? Deadline is approaching. And any recommendations for some others? Thanks and good luck to all throwing a hat in the ring with any writing contest.