The Value of a Contest
The thing about writing, for me, is that it is at once intensely personal and completely public. This dichotomy makes for some interesting dynamics. The issue of compensation is one of these for me. I want people to read my work, so the simple fact of getting it out there is some reward. On the other hand, it’s very personal stuff, so I’m hesitant to put it out there. What constitutes an appropriate incentive for me to flop my story out there for the audience?
Consider, if you will, the issue of contest pieces. Now, as a writer, I want people to read my work. Really, I do. However, I also would like to have some kind of reward for my work. Because, hey, it’s really personal stuff, it took a lot of work to write, and if the reader enjoys it, I’ve accomplished my goal. But what constitutes a reward here? In the contest world, it can be money, merchandise, or a simple pat-on-the-head-ya-done-good. All of these are perfectly fine rewards. Depending on how much publicity the contest generates, the atta-boy prize may be more lucrative in the long run than the cash prize. It all depends.
Consider two contests. First – Karin Tabke’s first line contest (which has as it’s reward a read of the first ten pages by Amy Pierpont at Grand Central) and the Better Sex Erotic Fiction Contest (which has as it’s reward a cash prize). These represent two different aspects of the contest world, and it’s worth a look at what you get for your entry.
In the Karin Tabke contest, you are putting up a few lines (I think ten over the course of the contest) and then submitting the first ten pages of work to the editor. This constitutes a fairly small amount of a whole piece (though you should have a whole piece – otherwise what happens if there is a request for a full?!), and the possible reward is pretty high – a read by an editor and a possible request for a full manuscript. Sweet.
In the Better Sex contest, you’ve got a lot of effort – a complete story of around 3000 words for each entry, and the risk you could put the entire thing out there and get nothing. The grand prize is $3000, so it’s not chump change, but it’s also a fixed amount, and 3000 words isn’t far off what some anthologies will take. And, interestingly, this contest is partially dependent on voting by readers (which is interesting, since it gives direct feedback about how your work is received). So it’s a big investment by the author for a possible immediate payoff. Also sweet.
Now, how is a writer to decide what contest to do? I think it hinges on what kind of story you have. Is the story something appropriate for Grand Central? Is it a good fit? Or do you have a full manuscript you think is good, but you want some feedback from an editor on the beginning? Then Karin Tabke’s contest is probably a good choice for that piece. On the other hand, if you have a short, but complete piece, then a contest more like Better Sex (assuming its erotica) might be a better fit.
What’s my point here, aside from rambling? The point is that as a writer, you make trade offs in order to get your work read, but that you also have a responsibility to yourself to think about the tradeoffs you are making.
Don’t sell yourself short.
