Ever wondered if the contests that are made available through many of the writer websites are worth the effort? Does substantial pay ever come from submitting an article or manuscript that competes with so many other individuals' submissions? Do we receive any notoriety from entering and hopefully winning these contests? I decided to investigate some of the writing contests that are currently available for “Aspiring Authors” like us.
Helium offers a wide spectrum of writing contests with normally a week long time period for submitting articles. There are normally twenty five titles per channel title for writers to choose from. Writers can enter these contests for free and compete each week for an opportunity to win $75.00 for first place, $25.00 for second place, $10.00 for third place and $5.00 for three fourth place winners.
Bookhabit is currently offering an Unpublished Writing competition for submission of manuscripts containing 50,000 words or more. This competition is free to enter as well, with a first place prize of $5000.00. There are three rounds for this competition:
Round 1
Submission began March 3, 2008 and ends May 11, 2008. Each week six winners are chosen to go through to Round 2.Round 2
This begins May 12, 2008 and runs through May 25, 2008. Ten finalists are chosen from the 60 books .Round 3
The winner as selected by the panel of judges will be announced on June 24, 2008
The winning selections per round are based on website members/readers who choose to download a selected chapter of the submission to read. If the selected chapter compels them to read further, they are able to download the complete manuscript at their minimal expense. The book submission is then ranked on how many times the manuscript has been downloaded. After Round 2 has been completed, and the manuscripts have gone through the process of elimination by ranking, the panel of judges will then select the first prize winner from the remaining ten manuscripts.
The Writing Show is currently offering a First Chapter of a Novel Contest. This contest however, is not free to enter. There is an early deadline date of May 20, 2008 with an entrance fee of $25.00. Then there is a late deadline date of June 20, 2008 with an entrance fee of $32.00. First through fifth prize winners will be announced on October 1, 2008. Ten critique winners will be announced on June 23, 2008 and the critiques will be awarded by September 1, 2008.
The first place winner receives $1000.00, an interview on The Writing Show, and a chapter posted on The Writing Show website. The second place winner receives $400.00 and a chapter posted on The Writing Show website. The third place winner receives $300.00 and a chapter posted on The Writing Show website. The fourth place winner receives $200.00 and a chapter posted on The Writing Show website. The fifth place winner receives $100.00 and a chapter posted on The Writing Show website. There will also be ten winners chosen at random to receive 750 words of feedback.
Associated Content offers an AC Sticker Placement Contest each month. The Content Producer (or writer) who sends in a photo of an Associated Content Sticker placed in a highly visible location will win $100.00
Now that we are more familiar with some of the contests that are currently available for us, the question still remains: are they worth entering? Monetarily, they seem to be fairly good deals. Most are free to enter, besides The Writing Show contest, and even then, the entrance fee doesn't seem to be costly enough not to enter. The main thing, then, is your time investment in the article. If you happen to be one of the authors that doesn't win a reward position, then all you will have lost will be the time you've spent writing your article. However, in my opinion, every time you write just gives you another chance to perfect your skills; your material gets visibility as well, so it may not be a loss after all.
Then of course, if you are a lucky one that receives a monetary prize; well, that's pretty awesome. Not only have you experienced another writing challenge, but you've won, or should I say “earned” payment for services rendered. Each time you win, your quality of work is challenged more and in turn increases your opportunity for full time, professional writing work, if this is your goal.
Do the publishers then benefit from all of us writers competing with each other? The answer is absolutely “yes”. They have a chance to see a large spectrum of talent. To the publishers our participation is a buffet and they're just waiting to sample and choose their favorites.
