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Hi all,
I had forgotten this forum existed and shall have to participate in it more!
Something I've been wondering - why do short story writers pay to enter competitions instead of submitting to zines? I can think of reasons but I'm interested in personal perspectives. I've always favoured the zine route but wonder if I might be missing a trick!
Best wishes,
David
Comments
If you enter a competition there's a chance you'll win- hopefully- and you'll get some prize money. If you don't you'll still have the opportunity to use it for a potential paying market as long as you haven't given up the rights.
Many print magazines consider it published once it appears online and then won't consider your story.
Obviously for some genres, zines are a good way to build up a portfolio of work and fans, but that doesn't work for all genres.
Reasons for entering comps include - gives me more places to submit, winning or getting placed is good publicity (and often gives a chance to promote books, blog etc), possibility of high prizes, themes set can inspire ideas, deadlines help motivate me.
With poetry I like the challenge of a theme to work to and have produced poems that I might not have written before which have met with success and sometimes prizes.
I remember a poem I penned for the WM competiton on nursing. When I had finished it I thought maybe it wasn't quite right for what they were looking for as it was about a wet nurse in Ancient Egypt. It may have been, but I didn't enter it in the WM comp instead I sent it to Winchester Writers' conference last year and it won! I got £125.
I just find it fun to enter comps and prizes are the icing on the cake.
Best of all it encourages you to write stories you'd never consider if it weren't for the comps. I love 'em.
Also, a win or shortlisting adds credibility to my skill as a writer, showing that for that competition, the judges found something in my writing that was perhaps lacking in the other entries. It's also a great confidence-booster and waiting for results gives a certain amount of excited anticipation. I think any accolades can help a publisher or agent take a writer seriously.
Of course, a win can also bring with it dosh! When you think you might earn 35p for selling a Kindle book of poetry or £100 or more for a single poetry win, the maths is easy. Like others, I would never pay much to enter a competition. I tend to stick mainly, though not exclusively, with the WM/WN comps.
As others have said, although there is a certain amount of glory to be had in seeing your work out there, once it has appeared in public it is considered 'published'; so ends its life as a potential competitor from that point on. If it's not placed in a competition though, it's still a viable option for others.
Ten years ago I tried my hand at writing a travel essay and to my astonishment, I was shortlisted. It gave me the confidence to believe that maybe just maybe I was good enough and it turned out I was.
Our own OWC competition has been a fantastic way to learn how to write sharp, tight fiction and Ive had a number of short stories published in anthologies as a direct result.
So for me competitions are a valuable writing tool.
p.s. Zines seem to be ten a penny and badly paid - just doesn't seem worth the effort of spending hours scouring the internet to find ones I'd be interested in submitting to.
Plus, you never know where a win might lead. I got my first break by entering a competition to write a short story for children. The prize was a £25 book token. The company liked the story enough to turn it into a picture book and print 2000 copies. Since then I have co-written a further 3 books for the same outfit.
It's not a huge company and I don't make very much from it but my editor is always willing to look at my other work and give advice, so I've gained a much-valued and friendly contact as well as adding to my CV.
Never underestimate an opportunity. From little acorns.....