Entering Writing Competitions
Can Winning a Writing Prize or Award Kickstart a Writing Career?
Oct 15, 2008
First time novelist Aravind Adiga from India has won the prestigious Man Booker Prize worth 50,000 UK pounds (around 88,000 US dollars) for his novel, The White Tiger, and stated on BBC Radio that it won’t change his life.
It would be astonishing if this statement turned out to be true.
Quite apart from having money in the bank, Adiga’s books will be on the bookshelves of every bookstore. There will be publicity features about him in newspapers on television and radio. Add to this the fact that he will have no problem securing contracts for future books, and one can safely say that his life will not be the same as it would, were he just another author of a recently published first novel.
Benefits of Being a Prize Winner
The fact is that winning competitions. awards and prizes give a substantial boost to any writers career by offering all-important publicity, and the chance to stand out from the crowd.
Competitions for Every Level of Writing
The Booker Prize is restricted to published novelists from the UK and British Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland. However, there are writing competitions around for every level of writer and every type of writing: poetry, short story, drama for stage and screen and of course novels, published and unpublished.
Would-be Writers Are Easy Prey for Scams
But choosing the right competition to enter is not just a matter of finding your style and genre. The adage “Buyer Beware” should read “Writer Beware” for all writers who are looking for their first break in the business through entering a competition. There are countless individuals and organizations who are making a handsome profit from exploiting writers by charging high entry fees and offering paltry “prizes” in return.
It is all too easy for fraudsters to set up a website and reach an online world community who will provide easy pickings for their scams. The simplicity of signing up online and sending off a manuscript via the internet, means that writers can be too quickly tempted to part with large entry fees, which they don’t find out about until they have committed themselves.
Anyone thinking of entering a writing competition should make some checks before signing up.
- Don’t send your manuscript without finding out about the entry fee in advance. Legitimate organizations will be clear about the costs of entry.
- Do some research into the background and credentials of the organizers. What is their internet presence? Look for more than just their website. Find out if they are mentioned by any other publications.
- Examine the “prize” - what is it actually worth? Hard cash is one thing, but publication in an obscure newsletter, may not be worth the effort.
- Find out about previous winners. Have they achieved anything, or written testimonials about what the prize has meant to their careers?
Some competitions are free to enter, but most have to charge a fee to cover the costs of getting professional readers and judges, so not every competition which charges a fee is a scam.
Find out more about writing competition scams.
Buy that Lottery Ticket
You may think that your chances of winning a writing competition are as remote as winning the lottery. That may be true, but entering and winning a writing competition could be the start of successful writing career. And one thing’s for sure, if you don’t buy a ticket, you’ll never win anything.
Of course, you could always hedge your bets and buy a lottery ticket, as well!
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