And The Winner Is… Not You
I have a love/hate relationship with writing contests. Actually, mostly hate. Okay, all hate. I rarely enter them. When I go to the trouble of printing out 6 submission copies and writing a synopsis for a book that I’ve only mapped out in my mind through chapter 2, it’s usually because there is yet another repeat of Lost on television (clearly the writers and producers of this show just don’t wants us to get hooked). There are two other main reasons for entering contests in my opinion - to try to grab the attention of the editor who is the final judge (see my previous tales of the non-violent stalking of Kate Duffy) or to test an initial chapter or two of a story idea and get an idea of just how much other people hate it (otherwise known as the "validate me" explanation). The second reason is ridiculous, really, since most contests aren’t all that great at feedback but if you accidentally get something useful, that’s a bonus.
Here’s a suggestion: don’t enter a contest because you have some extra cash and think entering a contest is easier than setting fire to it. Sometimes when you see all the emails announcing contest winners and finalists, it’s easy to think the "too much money and nowhere to spend it" reason is hard at work among our brethren. Certain names appear over and over, year after year, decade after… you get the idea. Part of me is impressed because, with the subjective nature of contests, repeated finals suggest these people really have talent, or at the very least have figured out the contest code the rest of us don’t know, which is another kind of talent.
But, and this is the strange idea - the part where I will likely get my butt kicked one more time in the blogosphere - a much bigger part of me thinks the repeated win/final thing is a little sad. Seeing the same finalist name in 14 contest over a span of 2 weeks can get old but is an amazing thing. That’s not what I’m talking about. I congratulate these people and secretly think how unfair life is that they suck up all the finalist spaces. The sad part is when I see the same names over the span of the next 3 years. The envy (bitterness, nastiness, whatever) goes away. My thought is always one of, how does this person keep going after getting win after win without the big publishing prize? That’s a lot of money spent and a lot of validation expended without ever getting to the big dance. That would suck, I think.
When has someone entered too many contests? When does someone lose perspective and need to back off the contests to figure out another way to get to a publisher? I don’t know. But, in the interest of disclosure, this year I entered one contest due to Kate Duffy being the judge (The Laurie) and one in a desperate attempt to get some honest feedback (the Daphne - something this contest is known for giving). I didn’t have a cp then so I was trying to figure out if the story ideas worked. Hell, who am I kidding, if I get a little validation you’ll hear me screaming for joy from wherever you are.
April 15th, 2005 at 6:02 pm
Sorry for the long post. Contests are strange animals. I’ve entered something like six and finaled in three. At least I think it was six, might be seven. Hmm…I can’t really remember. It’s been a while ago. ANYWAY, I’ve seen the same names through the years and have pondered some of the same questions you’ve brought up.
What I’ve realized is that we don’t have all the information about these entrants. For example, we don’t know whether these contestants have ever finished the books. There are people who write wonderful opening chapters. They polish them until they shine and then repeat this process again and again.
I met a girl at my first National who entered the same manuscript in the Daphne every year, thinking that there was something wrong with the judges. She refused to start her next book until someone recognized her masterpiece. I happened to be a finalist in the Daphne that same year. She asked me how many times I’d entered their contest. I told her this was my first time. She proceeded to call me a bitch. I laughed, but made a mental note never to fall into that kind of contest rut.
Contests are addictive. They’re also subjective and expensive. I think if you go into them with your eyes wide open, then you can get a lot out of them. Just don’t use them as your ONLY form of validation.
April 15th, 2005 at 10:02 pm
The lady you describe really scares me. She is sending in the same thing over and over and getting the same results - that might be the definition of crazy. The sad part I was talking about had more to do with seeing the same author finaling year after year with different manuscripts - ie, as if their job had become that of professional contest enterer. But the lady you talked to? Also very, very sad in my view.
April 15th, 2005 at 11:21 pm
There’s one writer who’s finaled in about a bazillion contests—I swear it’s been for at least 3 years now—and I used to be envious. I was nearly in awe of her obvious talent. Now I just wonder if chapters 4 through 22 even exist.
April 16th, 2005 at 1:13 am
Romance contests baffle me. Truly, I don’t understand the purpose of them. I suppose if you win there is validation, but, um, isn’t the goal to be published? Why not go for that kind of validation?
April 16th, 2005 at 8:44 am
I’ve learned that contest judges want something completely different from what editors want. As evidenced by the people who final in every contest for 3 years but don’t sell. And by people whose manuscripts NEVER final, but they sell.
And having judged a lot of contests, I can tell you that much of the time, the best manuscripts don’t final–simply because they break RULES.
I know people who actually have two versions of their manuscripts–the REAL one they send to editors/agents, and the contest one, which they’ve dumbed down and made Rule Nazi proof. No joke.
Tells you something about contests, doesn’t it?
April 16th, 2005 at 11:30 am
I sold because of a contest. I probably would have sold anyway, but I won the Great Expectations contest in, uh, 1992 and the editor requested the manuscript and bought it 6 days later. USE contests to woo editors, to get in front of them without going through the slush pile. Don’t use contests to win. I never entered unless I knew who was judging the final round. I almost sold another book via a contest to Denise Little, but then her line folded and the book is still languishing on the hard drive.
April 16th, 2005 at 11:38 am
USE contests to woo editors, to get in front of them without going through the slush pile. Isn’t that what an agent if for? To avoid the slush pile?
April 16th, 2005 at 1:41 pm
Many writers targetting the category market feel that, even if you can get an agent, there’s not much she can do for you in the category market other than take 15%. Of course, there are also many category writers who swear by having an agent.
I’ve seen writers use a contest in hopes of getting their work requested by a specific editor when they’re already ‘working’ with another editor and don’t feel they’re getting anywhere, but don’t want to appear unprofessional by skirting that one.
April 16th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
What really kills me is when you see someone final over a 2 year period repeatedly with the SAME manuscript. And I think, so you can final in a contest(ten or twenty times), but what’s the rest of the book look like? How come you haven’t sold?
April 16th, 2005 at 5:15 pm
Wendy - Since the general feeling seems to be that getting an agent is as tough or almost as tough as getting an editor to notice your work, I can understand the anything-to-get-an-editor-to-notice-me philosophy. But, I think there is an almost cult-like devotion by some folks toward contests. I’m thinking at some point, your job becomes to write for contests and you lose your perspective.
Alison I’ve heard about your sale. In fact, I’ve seen the movie thanks to your hubby. Very cool and I think it still happens but it’s a rare thing.
I do get the idea of putting something in front of an editor. I entered L. Foster’s Brava contest with that thought in mind. Kate Duffy hasn’t bought anything yet but she seems to have a vague name recognition for me, which I’m hoping might mean something someday. Like I said, any validation….
April 16th, 2005 at 8:49 pm
When I was agent shopping years back, I had Very Good Agents tell me outright they couldn’t do a thing for me that I couldn’t do for myself. In category, tis true.
HK - The tv sale was actually #2.
#1 was contest related and happened three years before.
April 17th, 2005 at 5:08 am
I know it’s an individual thing, but I hate contests. LOL I have no luck with them, and they kill my self esteem. If you decide you’re done with them, I’ll celebrate with you…cookies and champaign, served by today’s hottie.
April 17th, 2005 at 10:27 am
If I enter a contest, it’s primarily for feedback. Sometimes cps can get too used to your voice, so I look to contest feedback as ‘fresh-eyes’. And I’ve never entered a contest solely based on who is the final judge, because I never expect to final. gg. The exception being the GH, which I’d like to final in–but don’t really care about winning–just so I can slap the GH Finalist designation on queries letter to editors/agents.
Contests are subjective. As Larissa says, the winner isn’t necessarily the best. I’ve judged contests where one entry blew me away, and another was ‘pretty good’, yet when I tallied the scores, they were mere points apart. The score sheet breaks things down in a dry bones way: grammar, etc. But the thing that makes the biggest difference, is the thing that doesn’t get scored: voice. And voice is what a lot of editors/agents are looking for.
As for the perpetual winners, yeah, I’ve wondered about those ladies too. The real win is a sale, all the rest is a nice ego stroke.