Free
Contests May Not Cost You Money, But They Can Still Cost You
If
there’s no entry fee, why not enter? If I don’t win, I don’t lose
anything. Many a new writer has been burned by thinking this way.
Free competitions may not cost you any money to enter, but they
can still cost you.
The
Big Beware: Are You Selling Your Rights by Entering?
Beware
of competitions that have no entry fee but a statement saying they
have the right to print your work, regardless of whether or not
you win. In some cases, these competitions also take the copyright
to your work. That means your story is no longer yours—whether or
not you win.
To avoid getting burned, read the contest guidelines and make sure
there is no statement that says anything like “all entries become
the property of XXX” or “by entering, entrants grant permission
for XXX to publish, edit, or sell the work.”
Is
Your Work Automatically Going to be Published?
Be
careful of free competitions where entries are automatically published
online. If they’re published online, that means you can’t sell them
as first rights anywhere else. Selling reprints isn’t easy and you
usually can’t sell reprints for much.
For these competitions, your entry can become your only chance to
sell the story. In these cases, it’s often better just to try and
sell it to a market. At least then, you get more than one chance.
The
BIG Prize Money
Some
competitions that require publishing rights to all entries have
large prizes to attract people. But if a lot of people enter, that
means your entry will have to be pretty good to win. If you can
write a story that will be better than 2000 others, it’s quite possible
you’d be able to sell it to a magazine for almost as much as the
prize money. And that way, there’s no risk to you. And what if your
story is almost good enough to win? You don’t win and you risk a
story that you could probably sell somewhere else. It’s not worth
the risk for a chance at the big prize.
Who
is the Contest Benefiting?
Katrina’s
Story: When a “Highly Commended” is Your Loss
“I
was really unhappy when a story I wrote got published online for
no pay. It was published as one of the “Highly Commended” stories,
with two stories published each month—none for any pay. Looking
at the competition now, I think it was their way of getting free
content. The first prize winner got paid $200. Another 24 got paid
nothing. The ezine got a year’s worth of content for $200. I got
nothing for it.” –Katrina, Creative Writer
Very
few contests are run only for the benefit of writers. But even if
the organizer gets something out of it, it still should be fair
to writers. Think about what the organizer is gaining and ask yourself
if they’re taking advantage of writers.
The
Impact on You
The
judging of free competitions isn’t always done so that the prize
goes to the best work submitted. Some competitions are judged by
people with no expertise in writing, some are judged by one person
who simply picks their favorite, and some just pick a winner almost
at random.
The
problem this can create is that you’re entering competitions, not
winning, and so assuming that you’re not that great of a writer.
This happened to Angela and it almost made her give up on writing.
“I
started entering competitions as a way of testing to see if I had
any talent. I entered about 40, didn’t win any, and was about to
give up writing. Then an experienced writer encouraged me just to
start submitting to magazines. Since then, I have sold over half
of the pieces I entered in competitions.” –Angela, Poet & Writer
The
lesson is to enter contests, but remember that even if the contest
is being judged fairly, there is only one winner. Not winning does
not mean that your work is not good, or that your work is not publishable.
It just means that your entry wasn’t the absolute best according
to the judges of that particular contest.
The
Final Call
Competitions
do offer a great opportunity and can be a positive part of a writing
career. But before you enter, read the terms and consider what you
have to lose. If the contest terms are asking too much and giving
too little, it’s time to move on and find a better way to get your
work out there.
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