And the Winner Is...

 

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What are your thoughts on book contests? Do you believe winning one can further your career? Which ones, if any, do you enter?

I’ve never been considered what one would call lucky. I’ve yet to hit the lottery or win a jackpot at the casino. I’ve never even caught the boquet at a wedding. You can decide on whether that’s luck or not for yourself. So, it’s not surprising that I’m not the most enthusiastic believer in contests. However I can see their worth.

 

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I imagine that if I were lucky, or skilled enough to win a contest, maybe that might serve as motivation or validation to push me to write more, so I could enter and win more contest. Or maybe, just write more. Nothng says keep pushing like strangers recognizing that you wrote something worthy enough to stick a trophy on it, or cash. Yes, cash, is much better. But can it further your career? I say, yes.

When you’re a new, unknown writer, it can be daunting to try to build an audience when no one knows your name. According to a quick search on Google there are approximately 11, 000 books released per day. That’s one every seconds or so, if you’re counting. It’s not easy to stand out in that kind of crowd. Being able to say you won or even placed in a reputable writing contest may give your book that bit of an edge to land in a new reader’s hand or Kindle.

I’d imagine that would work well for querying writer’s too. There’s nothing more daunting than getting to the, tell me what you’ve done, section of your query letter, and find yourself staring at that white space of empty accomplishments. Imagine the joy of being able to write, I won this or that contest. Do agents give that manuscript a little bump up the food chain? I couldn’t swear on it, but if I had to place a bet, I’d say yes.

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So what’s the downside? Well, I’m not sure if there is a downside, necessarily. There is a debate on whether it’s okay to enter a contest that requires a fee. I stand firmly in the no column on that one. But other’s will argue that a nominal fee for reading and whatnot is acceptable. I think reputation of the contest is important. For instance Writer’s Digest holds an annual contest with entry fees from twenty to thirty dollars. They are very reputable in the writer’s community. I’m fairly sure I may have entered that contest at one point or another. I also entered L. Ron Hubbard’s writing contest a long time ago. There was no entry fee. But I didn’t know about the Scientology thing either.

 

So enter or not. Pay or not. It’s all up to the indivual in the end. But one thing that should not be up for debate or optional. Research! Pantsers and Plotters alike. Do your research or you might end up entering a contest you know nothing about and is totally against your values. Or lose cash. Never good to needlessly lose cash. Happy contesting or not.