Are Writing Contests for You? 10 Questions to Help You Find Out

by Catherine Chant

The following first appeared in the April 2006 issue of Write from the Heart, newsletter for From The Heart Romance Writers Online Chapter of Romance Writers of America. Use with proper credits.

Are you're thinking of entering a writing contest this year? There sure are a lot to choose from. Your copy of RWR can help you keep track of chapter contest deadlines, but there's more to think about than just deadlines when deciding if a contest is right for you.

Before you plunk that entry in the mail, here are ten questions to ask yourself:

1.) Can you afford it? Most contests have an entry fee of some sort. Organizations use them as income generator and count on entry fees to pay for any monetary prizes. Entry feels may be as low as $5 in some places, but RWA chapter contests usually run around $20-25. The benefit of the RWA contests (with the exception of the Golden Heart) is that you receive feedback even if you don't win, so you are getting something for your money. Other writing contests, such as the Writer's Digest's annual one, do not offer you any feedback. You are paying for the chance to win and nothing else.

2.) Is the contest legitimate? Not an issue with an RWA chapter contest, but if you're considering a writing contest outside the RWA organization, check around and find out if anyone else had any experience with the contest you want to enter, especially if it costs money to enter. Some contests may just be scams to get you to buy the book of the "winning" entries after the "contest" is over.

3.) What are you competing for? Make sure the prize is something worth investing your entry fee in. For example, a publisher may offer a contest where the prize is publication. But check what that means. Sometimes it might mean signing away ALL the rights to your entry. Do
you really want to do that? Always check the SMALL PRINT.

4.) Are you prepared for the feedback? Entering RWA chapter contests for feedback is a great way to get a wide variety of opinions on your work. BUT, it can also mean vastly different opinions of your work. Judging contests is subjective. What one judge hates, another may love. But then that's the way it is with editors, so in a way it mirrors the "real world" to some degree. At the same time, some judges may not have the level of writing skill you have and they could offer bad advice. Be prepared for both helpful and unhelpful advice from contest judges.

5.) Can you distinguish good advice from bad? When you look at the feedback you receive from any contest, always weigh it carefully and trust you own gut above else all. And to be sure that your ego is not conflicting with your gut, it's a good idea to put the feedback away for a while before you look at it to give yourself a chance to become more objective. Negative feedback can make you immediately defensive and unable to determine when you are seeing good advice. Likewise, lack of confidence can make it hard to determine when you are seeing bad advice. So put those score sheets away for a while before you decide to attack your manuscript and make any changes the judges suggest.

6.) Do you need a contest or critique group? Entering a series of contests can give you a large pool of feedback to learn from. If you see the same comments popping up more than once, maybe the judges are on to something. But again, trust your gut more than anything else. Only you know your story inside and out. However, entering contests as your sole source of feedback can be an expensive way to go. You should try to find a critique group to join instead. They're free and you still get a variety of opinions. Another drawback of entering contests solely for feedback is that it can be many months between when you send the entry off until you receive your scores. You may have already revised and improved your manuscript by the time the score sheets show up.

7.)Does the contests "fit" your manuscript? This means more than just choosing a contest that has the right category for it. Look at the guidelines and see what the entry length is. If it asks for first chapter of 25 pages or less and your chapter is 30 pages, don't hack and slash at your chapter just to fit the contest. Find a contest that allows a longer entry. You don't want to be writing your manuscript to fit a contest. You should be writing your manuscript to tell the best story you can. And keep in mind that plenty of manuscripts that would do poorly in a contest go on to sell to publishers.

Next, look at the score sheet for the contest you want to enter (many contests have them posted on their websites). If the score sheet is not favorable to your entry, don't enter it. For example, if the score sheet expects your hero and heroine to meet in the first chapter but they don't, you're automatically going to lose points there. Pick another contest.

8.) Do you have the time to spare? Preparing your manuscript for a contest requires a significant investment of time because often the rules are very strict. You need to check the formatting, check that you have the correct number of pages, an acceptable font, the right amount of copies, the SASE with correct postage, and then you need to drive to the post office… All this time and energy might be better spent writing and submitting to agents and editors. What you don't want to happen is you spend all your time entering contests and never finishing your manuscript to send out to publishers.

On the plus side, if you need something to motivate you to finish a certain chapter or complete a manuscript, a contest deadline just might be the kick in the pants you need to stop procrastinating.

9.) Is your manuscript really ready for a final judge (agent/editor) to see? While a contest may get your manuscript on someone's desk ahead of the slush pile, there is no guarantee it will help you make a sale any faster. Some people sell as a result of a contest, but just as many people sell through the regular submission-rejection-submission method. Also, as depressing a thought as it is, keep in mind that if you final in a contest, your manuscript may still not be polished enough to make a sale.(Your entry is at the top of those submitted, but who's to say how big that pool was or what quality was there?)

If an editor or agent saw your manuscript during a contest when it was mediocre and you send it to them after it's been revised later on, there's a chance they may remember the contest entry and not be interested in re-reading it. On the other hand, if you are confident your manuscript is the best it can be, winning a contest is a way to bypass the slush pile. While it's no guarantee of a sale, it can be a shortcut.

As always, it's the writing that will sell your manuscript.

10.) Do editors and agents care about contest finals? The verdict is still out on how contest wins are perceived by editors and agents. Some pay attention to them and others aren't swayed by the results, because they know that some winning manuscripts may still not be ready for publication.

Agent Kristin Nelson had a great piece of advice in her blog on March 10: "Contests aren't a bad way to get noticed but don't be seduced by their lure either. Finish that novel. Make it polished, and don't be afraid to go after the bigger prize—seeing that novel in print."

For more information about RWA chapter contests, consult the current issue of your RWR or Yahoo groups ContestAlert and ContestDeadlines.

Catherine Chant is a writer from the Boston area. Her young adult time travel manuscript had a positive run on the contest circuit in 2005 and she's now gearing up to submit it to publishers. When not working on her own writing projects, Catherine serves as an editor for Chippewa Publishing, and as a review coordinator, book reviewer and webmaster for Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine.

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