Contests

[InternetG33k]

I'm very new to the idea trying to sell my short stories, but in my cyber-travels, I've heard it said that potential agents and publishers like to see contest winning material on a resume. I know of one online publication called Glimmer Train Press (http://www.glimmertrainpress.com) that runs a monthly contest, and I entered (but didn't even place) for their February "Very Short Fiction" competition. Does anyone know of other reputable places that run contests like this?

[DanielScocco]

Good topic, I will try to run a compilation with them on the blog.

I will post my findings here as well.

[SherryBeth]

The magazine Byline has lots of contests. They recently changed ownership and the magazine has changed, not for the better, but they still have the contests. Their site is www.bylinemag.com

[Al B]

Should you desperately feel the need to have a competition win under your belt, magazines, such as Writer's Forum and Writing Magazine, regularly feature contests, in addition to letting you know about competitions run by other people.

But more importantly, you'll also find that magazines such as those often have articles by people such as the commissioning editors for submissions to magazines for short stories and articles. Such magazine articles invariably give you a lot of good tips for what and what not to focus on when submitting stuff to magazines.

By way of example, the current issue of Writer's Forum, has an article by Pat Richardson, who is the Fiction Editor for Best magazine (a women's general interest mag). In that article, she notes a lot of information about what she is looking for in fictional tales submitted for publication to Best. So, we learn that she wants to see articles of between 900 and 1200 words, and will automatically reject longer ones simply because she has not got the time to read them, and she wants stories which avoid certain cliches she lists. Info such as that is useful, because you might submit a brilliant tale which gets completely overlooked simply because of word count, and mistakenly feel you have to change your style, when all you really had to do was sub-edit the thing down a bit so it actually got considered.

Having a competition win on your CV is nice of course, but that's hardly a criteria any serious commissions editor will base their choice of what to publish on; the readers don't give a toss what you've won in the past, they want to read something good, and editors know this. Submissions editors want writing which they feel fits the editorial style of their publication, and is what their readers will like - they are just as keen as book publishers to discover a new talent, because it is in their interest to do so!

As such, writing in the correct style and with relevance to the publication you submit to, is far more important than showing off a previous gong or plaudit. After all, just because you wrote one good story which won a prize a years or so ago does not mean your current effort is also worthy of similar plaudits, each piece of writing stands on its own merits, and will be viewed as such by any editor worth their salt to whom it has been submitted.

Frankly, when I used to have to choose feature articles which were submitted to the paper I used to write for, one very important criteria which went a long way to getting the thing used, was that the article had to be in the right editorial style; of a suitable size too, was also a big help. Getting something which requires little or no editing is a godsend for editors who are up against deadlines, as it means the thing is an automatic shoe-in, and it certainly saved a lot of time for filling pages when I could simply go 'copy' and 'paste' to get a page filled if an unexpected gap in the publication appeared because maybe something like an advert got pulled at the last minute, leaving a big hole which had to be filled.

Sometimes it really was simple as that, which means sending stuff regularly is another good thing to do, as your stuff needs to be in the editor's mind at the time such emergencies crop up.

Hope that helps.

Al

[Ali]

I'd echo Al B's suggestion of trying out the competitions listed in writing magazines. I subscribe to "Writing Magazine" and read "Writers' Forum" quite regularly (I too thought the article with Best's editor was very useful!)

I'm not sure how much attention publishers pay to competition wins, but they certainly can't hurt! I've had a 2nd and 3rd prize from Writing Magazine and a couple of short listings, over the past year and a bit. The biggest advantage is the huge boost to your confidence ... if a judge awarded you a prize, that means you must have SOME talent! :-)

In terms of other competitions, the best comprehensive listing I know of is:

http://www.sallyquilford.co.uk/page25.htm

This only covers UK comps (or, at least, ones open to UK writers) so if anyone knows a similar US site, post it here!

Ali

[Falsafa]

The Sally Quilford website is where I go to, and it lists some contests in the US apart from the British ones. I signed up in one of those, even though I'm Polish, and they accepted me. So yay.

And winnning a contest certainly helps you ego - it's important to feel rewarded.

[--Deb]

Not only does Glimmer Train run those contests, but did you know that they also have a sister-publication which is filled with interviews with authors? It focuses on fiction, but I find it fascinating to read. The entire newsletter is interview questions on specific topics. It's called Writers Ask (http://www.glimmertrain.com/writersask.html).

(I just tested the website and got an error, so I'm guessing that they're updating it or their server is down. It IS a valid address!)

--Deb in NJ