contests

I’m going to post something here that I stumbled across while cleaning stuff off my poor, beleaguered hard drive. It’s part of an interview given online by a rather new, more idealistic than wise writer, almost five long years ago.
But I’m sure she’s learned to be more discreet since then. :wtfno:

When asked whether she had any peeves about publishing, she launched into the following rant about a contest she’d entered:

“…I know another editor who sponsored a national contest. (I entered). There were about 20 semi-finalists. (I was one of ‘em). After delay after delay, several weeks beyond when the winners were supposed to be announced, this editor finally posted the three winning contestants. She then proceeded to give a mass, public, on-line rejection to the other seventeen, which amounted to, “sorry, not interested—and no time for personal remarks, I’m busy, have a good day,” even though each semi-finalist was promised commentary on their manuscript. Need I say more?”

Well no, that was quite enough, lol. :roll: But the point stands.

Writing contests have probably been popular since people began sketching bison on the walls of caves. They probably always will be.
I’ve entered a few. I’ve found some of them to be positive in certain ways. But personally, I can’t say I’ve found them to be very professionally productive.

They’re all, naturally, subjective. Some of them amount to little more than popularity contests. And there are the ones with tokens for prizes, titles, small amounts of cash, opportunities to be read by those in important positions (if they follow through).

I suppose it all depends on what you’re looking for going in. Some are great for putting your presence and voice out there, or getting valuable feedback, or yes, possibly even being “discovered”.

But in the end, are they all pretty much a waste of time? Have you ever judged them? Why? Would you recommend them for writers just starting out? Have you had any positive or negative experiences with them yourself?