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Dear Editor, Should I Pay to Enter a Writing Contest?

Dear Editor | Should I Pay to Enter a Writing Contest?

There used to be a view that legitimate writing contests were free to enter, and that any contest that charged a fee was suspect.

That’s no longer true—but it doesn’t mean that all writing contests are created equal, or that all contests are legitimate. Unfortunately, just as there are too many vanity publishers out to separate unwary authors from their hard-earned money, so too there are vanity writing contests.

How do you tell the difference between a reputable writing contest and a vanity contest? Check out these 5 questions. #WritingContest #WritersLife Share on X

So how can a writer tell which contests are legitimate, and which are vanity contests?

Here are some questions to consider:

  • Who runs the contest?
  • How much does the contest cost to enter?
  • How many categories are there?
  • How quickly are the entries judged?
  • Who are the past winners?

Who Runs the Contest?

Many contests are run by writing organisations. For example, American Christian Fiction Writers runs the Carol Award for published authors, and the Genesis and First Impressions contests for unpublished authors. Romance Writers of America run the RITA Award for published authors. In Australasia, Omega Writers run the CALEB Award.

Other contests are run by chapters of larger organisations. For example, the TARA is run by the Tampa Area Romance Authors, and the MARA is run by the Mid-America Romance Authors.

Some contests are run by publishing organisations. For example, the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association run the Christian Book Awards for nonfiction, and now manage the Christy Awards for fiction. Others are run as part of a writer’s conference e.g. the Selah Awards are linked to the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writing Conference, or run by a not-for-profit e.g. Stories of Life.

These are generally legitimate awards. Sure, some are more expensive than others (it costs USD 125 to enter a single book in the Christy Award, plus the cost of providing paper copies for judging). But the purpose of the contests is to recognise the best in the industry, and the contest attracts entries from major publishers.

But some contests are run by less honourable organisations.

Some vanity presses run awards, with the prize being a free publishing package (“worth $10,000!”). Sure, the vanity press might sell that publishing package for $10,000, but there’s a lot of profit in that. These contests are simply a way for the vanity press to solicit sales prospects.

Other contests are run by for-profit organisations. Now, I have nothing against a for-profit organisation (after all, if organisations such as bookstores, publishing companies, and freelance editors didn’t make a profit, then there would be no bookstores, publishing companies, or freelance editors). But a writing contest run by a for-profit organisation means the objective of the contest isn’t to find and recognise the best writers in the genre.

It’s to make a profit. Let the buyer beware.

How Much does the Contest Cost to Enter?

Contests run by writing organisations will often have two rates—a member and a non-member rate. The non-member rate is often expensive, but that’s not because the contest is a vanity contest. It’s a not-so-subtle attempt from the organisers to encourage entrants to join the organisation. Some writing organisations only permit entries from members, but potential entrants can join and enter at the same time.

Other contests (such as the RITA) allow the first entry at a relatively inexpensive rate, but additional entries cost more per entry. This is because they’re disincentivising authors from submitting multiple entries—they want each writer to enter their best book, so the contest represents as many different authors as possible (given the contest is capped at 2,000 entries).

In contrast, vanity contests will often offer a discount on the second and subsequent entries—because they make money by having lots of entries, and because they use the number of entries as a marketing point. These contests range in price from very expensive to free. But free isn’t always good—some vanity contests claim copyright on entries, which means the entrant is effectively giving away that writing and getting nothing in return.

What is the Money Used for?

To properly gauge whether a writing contest is too expensive or not, authors need to assess what the entry fees are used for.

For example, some writing contests award cash prizes, so a portion of the entry fee will be used to fund the prize. The Indie Book Awards offer cash prizes. I can see that’s an attractive proposition for many authors:

  • $1,500 Cash Prize and trophy awarded to the best Fiction Book
  • $1,500 Cash Prize and trophy awarded to the best Non-Fiction Book
  • $750 Cash Prize and trophy awarded to the second best Fiction Book
  • $750 Cash Prize and trophy awarded to the second best Non-Fiction Book
  • $500 Cash Prize and trophy awarded to the third best Fiction Book
  • $500 Cash Prize and trophy awarded to the third best Non-Fiction Book
  • $100 Cash Prize and a Gold Medal awarded to the winner of each of the 70 categories
  • Finalist Medals will be awarded to up to five finalists in each of the 70 categories

$100 sounds relatively generous … except that it costs $75 to enter one book in one category of the IBA, and $60 for second and subsequent entries. That means the category winners only come out $25 ahead, and that’s assuming they only entered one book in one category.

Overall, IBA promises $12,500 in prize money across 70 categories, plus the cost of producing and sending six trophies and up to 350 finalist medals. Let’s say the trophies cost $50 each, and the medals are $5. That’s another $2,000.

But that means the contest expects to get at least 350 entries. At $75 per entry, that’s over $26,000. More if there are more than 350 entries.

That’s a lot of money for a “not for profit” contest with direct expenses of less than $15,000.

Where does the rest of the money go? Well, some will go to web hosting. Some will go to paying the person who emailed me about the contest. Maybe they pay the judges (you can apply to be a judge—you’ll be in the illustrious company of people like Terry Whalin, Acquisitions Editor for Morgan James Publishing, yet another vanity press).

Is that writing contest reputable, or is it a vanity contest? One way to decide is to check the entry fees and where the profit goes. #WritingContest #WriteTip Share on X

Other legitimate expenses include administration (the RITA has 2,000 entries, each of which are judged by seven judges in the first round. That’s a lot of administration), or prize trophies. Contests may also require specialised software, which will come out of the contest budge.

Some writing organisations don’t say what happens to contest proceeds, which probably means they go back into general funds to further the objectives of the organisation. Some say a portion of proceeds will be used to fund conference scholarships (e.g. the CALEB Awards from Omega Writers, or the Selah Awards from BRMCWC).

How Many Categories are There?

One way for-profit contests make money is by attracting lots of entrants and awarding lots of prizes—the Indie Book Awards above are one example. Reader’s Favorite are another, with over 100 categories.

Yes, everyone’s a winner in these contests.

In contrast, the RITA has 2,000 entries across 13 categories (including debut), and only 4% of entries final. The ACFW Carol Award and the Christy Award both have three finalists in each category. although they don’t specify the number of entries.

How Quickly Are Entries Judged?

I’ve recently seen an author say they published their book four months ago and have already been a finalist in three awards. My first reaction is that these are vanity awards: legitimate awards operate on a much longer timescale, and restrict entries based on copyright date i.e. their 2019 awards are for books with a 2018 copyright date. Books published in 2019 won’t be eligible for awards until 2020. Any annual contest that accepts books older than a year needs to be looked at carefully—do they only offer categories in alternate years? If so, it’s probably legitimate. If not … you can figure it out.

In contrast, legitimate awards usually have two or more rounds of judging over several months. After all, it takes time to send the entries to the judges, who then need a month or more to read and assess their entries, especially if the contest is a whole-book contest like the RITA. Even a contest that only judges the first five pages (such as the First Impressions contest from American Christian Fiction Writers) allows a month for first-round judging, and another month for the final round.

Who Are the Past Winners?

Most contests provide lists of past winners. Check those lists. What books have previously finaled and won this contest?

If it’s a major US or international contest, then the list of finalists and winners should include authors and books you’ve heard of.

They might be books you’ve read or want to read (depending on the genre). They should be books with professional covers that suit the genre, professional editing, and lots of reviews—including Amazon (or similar) reviews from readers.

If it’s a smaller regional or national contest, then you may not have heard of the authors if it’s a different country. But the winning books should still look professional. You should be able to read the Amazon sample and not see obvious errors.

But if you’ve never heard of any of the books, authors, or publishers and the book covers are ugly and the Amazon Look Inside shows obvious errors, then that tells you something about the legitimacy of the contest … and whether it’s one you want to enter.

Because that’s the key.

It’s great to win a writing contest. But only if you can tell friends and colleagues you’ve won without being given the side-eye because they wonder if you’ve been duped.

It's great to win a #WritingContest. But only if you can tell friends and colleagues you've won without being given the side-eye because they wonder if you've been duped. #WriterBeware Share on X

Author, beware.

Best of the Blogs

Best of the Blogs: 30 September 2017

Best of the blogs: the best posts I’ve read this week on writing, editing, publishing, and marketing. Okay, mostly on writing.

Writing

Writing Addictive Fiction

What is addictive fiction? It’s fiction that keeps the reader turning the page. In this guest post at Write to Done, Victoria Mixon shares The 3 Secrets to Addictive Fiction.

Writing Conflict

Is your conflict true conflict that’s necessary for the story, or is it just a temporary obstacle, an unimportant delaying tactic you’ve included because you know you need conflict in fiction? Janice Hardy visits Romance University to answer this question in 3 Ways to Tell if Your Conflict is Just a Delay Tactic.

http://romanceuniversity.org/2017/09/29/3-ways-to-tell-if-your-conflict-is-just-a-delay-tactic/

Writing Scenes

Orly Konig visits Fiction University to share tips on Using Seasons (not seasoning) to Deepen a Scene. I love the idea of considering the season as part of the setting. Seasons tell us something about location – is Christmas in summer or winter? Seasons can also be used to reflect characterisation—does the character call it fall or autumn?

Writing Subtext

KM Weiland offers 4 Ways to Mine Your Characters’ Subtext. Great subtext, to me, is the mark of a great novel. It’s when I can read a scene and feel I know something about the characters before they acknowledge it for themselves. Yet the author didn’t tell me. The author showed me, through great subtext.

I’d add one thing to KM Weiland’s advice: don’t worry about adding subtext on your first draft (although you might find it comes out naturally). Use your first draft to nail down your plot and characters, then consider where you could add subtext (or remove telling) in your second and subsequent drafts.

4 Ways to Amplify Your Characters’ Subtext

Writer Productivity

I don’t know about you, but I see a lot of “productivity hacks” online (although none of them have yet told me how to get more hours in the day). In particular, many writers find it difficult to carve out time for writing, especially those who have other roles: wife, mother, employee, homeschooler, church volunteer … (ringing any bells?).

Joanna Davidson Politano visited the American Christian Fiction Writers blog to offer Help for the Time-Starved Writer. She says:

The truth is, you don’t need more time to write—you need a deeper reserve of creativity and strength and ideas that can only be found in intimate relationship with the Father.

Not the productivity hack you were expecting, right?

Marketing

Finally, Nate Hoffelder at The Digital Reader give his tips on writing a regular link post (like this best of the blogs post). Author Blogging 102: A Practical Guide to Developing Your Weekly or Monthly Link Post covers both non-fiction and fiction link posts.

That’s a great idea: I hear a lot of fiction authors saying they don’t know what to blog about, so a weekly or monthly link post is a great idea. Fiction authors can link to book reviews or author interviews in their genre, or to posts that might interest their readers.

His best tip? Read all the posts first. It’s something I do, even with the posts I share on Twitter. You don’t want to unknowingly share something you fundamentally disagree with without some kind of comment.

What do you like in my weekly link post? What would you like to see more of … or less of?

Best of the Blogs

Best of the Blogs: 6 May 2017

Apologies for missing the last two Best of the Blogs posts. I had a long wifi-free weekend away with my husband, then I was at the New Zealand Christian Writers Retreat—I had a great time!

Congratulations!

INSPY Award Shortlist Announced

Congratulations to the finalists in the INSPY Awards—especially Kara Isaac, who made the shortlist in two categories with different books (Close to You in First Novel, and Can’t Help Falling in Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense). Now it’s up to the reader judges to decide! Kara’s next book, Then There Was You, is due out in June. If you like contemporary romance, you’ll love it.

ACFW Genesis Award Semi-finalists Announced

And American Christian Fiction Writers announced the Genesis Award semi-finalists—these are the names you’ll be seeing in Christian fiction in years to come.

Publishing

Updates on Tate Publishing

The Oklahoma Attorney General has filed charges against father and son Richard and Ryan Tate of Tate Publishing. This follows over 700 complaints from as far away as Europe and South Africa. The pair have been charged with extortion, embezzlement, racketeering, and extortion by threat. Further charges may follow as the investigation continues.

I’ve long been against vanity presses such as Tate, who claimed to be a traditional royalty paying publisher. Traditional royalty paying publishers do not require payments, do not offer a contract until they’ve seen a manuscript, and only publish the best manuscripts. In my experience, Tate scores 0/3 on this simple test.

If you published books or music through Tate, you can contact the Consumer Protection Unit at the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office to submit a complaint.

Blogging

Nick Thacker at WriteHacked shares nine tips for Writing a First Blog Post Perfectly. Actually, the tips work for any blog post—I guess the takeaway is to start as you mean to go on.

Shane Arthur at Smart Blogger teaches us How to Write Spellbinding Introductions. It’s a long post, but there are lots of nuggets to mine!

Inspiration

Karen Swallow Prior visits The Gospel Coalition to remind us that Only One Platform Will Last.

I don’t agree with everything in this blog post. Some of it I don’t even understand (I’ve never voluntarily listened to The Rolling Stones, and if I’ve ever heard “Mother’s Little Helper”, I don’t remember it and I have no idea what it’s referring to).

But there are some great quotes. Especially the last line. Check it out.

 

Best of the Blogs: 8 April 2017

Best of the Blogs from Christian Editing Services

Best of the blogs: the best posts I’ve found this week on writing, editing, and marketing your books. Plus two I wrote. In case you missed them.

Writing

Mike Duran has a new project in the works: a companion to his non-fiction book Christian Horror, this one examining Christian Science Fiction. I love shows like Star Trek, Stargate and Star Wars (see a theme, anyone?), and I’d welcome more quality science fiction that reflects Christian beliefs. What about you?

Donald Maass visits Writer Unboxed to share Casting the Spell—a new way to look at look at your opening lines and ensure they hook your reader.

James Scott Bell visits The Kill Zone blog to give us advice that’s halfway between writing and editing: Don’t Kill Your Darlings—Give Them a Fair Trial!

Editing

I guest posted at Seekerville this week, sharing steps in revising and self-editing your fiction manuscript: Creating Diamonds from Coal. The first step is putting on the pressure.

The second step is examining the stone—especially your use of point of view. I shared on Understanding Point of View here on Wednesday, and I’ll be looking at interior monologue and showing, not telling next week.

If you’re one of those readers who don’t like waiting for the end of a series, then I’ve got you covered: sign up to my mailing list via the link at Seekerville, and I’ll send you a free pdf with the full series of blog posts.

Marketing

Author newsletters. We all have one (or think we should have one). But what do we write about? In this week’s Business Musings, Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses what she sees as the two major types of newsletter—the chatty fan newsletter and what she calls the ad circular. Which do you write?

Perhaps more important, which do you prefer to read?

By the way, if you’re interested in my author newsletter, here is the signup link: Iola Goulton Author. I email about once a quarter.

Inspiration

Kathy Harris visits the American Christian Fiction Writers blog to ask Do You Have Unrealistic Expectations? She encourages us to focus on what we have achieved, rather than on the endless to-do list we’re stressing over.

http://www.acfw.com/blog/do-you-have-unrealistic-expectations/

Reader Question: How do I Find a Christian Literary Agent?

How do I find a Christian literary agent? And what does an agent do?

Many of the big name Christian publishers state that they only accept manuscripts submitted from recognized literary agents.  Unsolicited paper submissions are likely to be returned unread (or, worse, trashed unacknowledged and unread). Electronic submissions go to the virtual trash can.

How do I find a Christian Literary Agent? - via Christian Editing Services

 

What does a Literary Agent Do?

The role of a literary agent is varied. While they are best-known for their role in selling manuscripts to publishers, they have other responsibilities:

  1. Provides structural and developmental editing advice to clients in regard to new projects.
  2. Line edits and copyedits manuscripts prior to submission to publishers.
  3. Submits manuscripts to appropriate publishers and follow up as appropriate.
  4. Negotiates publishing contracts on behalf of clients
  5. Guides clients through the publishing process as required.
  6. Work with clients to develop and implement marketing plans.
  7. Offers career coaching for authors, determining the direction for their writing career and taking industry changes into account.
  8. Acts as liaison between the author and the publisher on any and all issues.
  9. Reviews royalty statements for accuracy and consistency with the publishing contract, and follows up any discrepancies with the publisher.
  10. Recruit new authors and agrees terms of working as per the agency contract.

Not all agents will undertake all these tasks, which should be no surprise. Agents have strengths and weaknesses, and you need to ensure you are getting the best possible advice. That might well mean paying a professional for additional support (e.g. an editor, or a intellectual property attorney).

How do you find a Christian literary agent?

Literary agents receive far more requests for representation than have time to accept, so they are selective in choosing new authors to represent. A reputable literary agent is unlikely to take on a writer who needs a substantial amount of coaching and nurturing, as this work is unpaid.

Agents are paid a percentage of advances and royalties on projects sold, usually 15%. This means agents often turn down authors or projects that might sell in favour of authors or projects they know they can sell. After all, they receive no payment for merely having an author on their books. Agents also need to balance their desire to take on new authors with their ongoing commitments to their established authors.

Check out Michael Hyatt’s List

Michael Hyatt has a list of literary agents available from his website (click here). You’ll have to sign up to his mailing list to receive it, but you can unsubscribe. The list isn’t completely up to date, but will provide you with a solid starting point.

Check out Books in Your Genre

You can also find a potential agent by checking the copyright and acknowledgements pages of your favourite books—many publishers include the agent’s name on the copyright page, and most authors thank their agent on the acknowledgements page.

Check out Books from Your Target Publishers

If your ultimate goal is to be published by Bethany House, you want an agent who has previously sold projects to Bethany House, and has a good working relationship with the acquisitions editors at Bethany House. You don’t want an agent who has only sold to small publishers who aren’t represented in the major Christian book stores, to digital-first or digital-only publishers, or to publishers who don’t require an agent. So check out new books from your dream publisher, and see which agents made those sales.

Check out Christian Writing Conferences

Another way to find potential agents is to review the list of agents who attend prominent Christian Writer’s Conferences each year. Many conferences feature agents as speakers, panel members, or offering agent appointments. Take note of the agent’s name, and their agency (if stated). The Seekerville archive has a list of Christian Writing Conferences (although the list is no longer being updated).

I’ve Created a List. Now What?

Once you’ve done your research and identified some potential agents, how do you go about getting their attention?

Interact on their Blog

Most reputable literary agents have some form of online presence, such as a website, so the next step is to Google the agent and/or their agency. Good agent websites contain a lot of useful information:

  • The names of the authors they represent.
  • The names of their agents (most agencies employ a group of agents, and they can range from new graduates to agents with decades of publishing experience).
  • Whether the agency or specific agents are open to new submissions, and their particular areas of interest.
  • How to submit to each agent. Some prefer email, others only accept snail mail.
  • The information the agent wants in the submission. This may be a query letter, proposal, or (less likely) full manuscript.
  • A blog, which will include information on how to write a query letter or proposal.

Follow and read the agent’s blog, and when you feel comfortable, comment on the posts. This will help you determine which agents or agencies could be a good fit for your books, and will give you an indication of the personalities of the individual agent: is this a person you want working for you?

Enter Christian Writing Contests

Writing organisations such as American Christian Fiction Writers conducts regular contests for unpublished authors. In most major contests, the final round entries will be read and judged by an agent or acquisitions editor, which can lead to an offer for agent representation or the offer of a publishing contract.

 

Attend a Christian Writing Conference

Meeting a prospective agent at a conference can be good way to get a ‘soft’ introduction so you aren’t approaching them cold. Many conferences offer formal pitch appointments with agents. Some agents will request submissions after getting to know you at a conference, whether through a formal appointment or an informal conversation over a meal.

If you’ve got a question you’d like me to answer in a future blog post, please email me via www.christianediting.co.nz/contact, or tag @iolagoulton on Twitter.