The Word Cloud

With all due respect, I have no idea where 'news' is - doesn't appear to be a forum?

Thought this might be of interest to some:

First Novel Competition

Category: Fiction
Closes: 30th June 2011
Fees: £16 for one entry.
Prizes: £400 for first place. Also publication.

Details: The aim of this award is to encourage new authors, enabling debut novelists/novella writers to achieve a first publication in this genre. The winning author has his/her first novel published and receives a prize of £400. The four runners up also receive a full appraisal of their novel. We have also commissioned other novels as a result of short-listing in the competition.

Website: http://www.cinnamonpress.com

Forgive me for any unwarranted cynicism, but a publisher running a competition to find new talent and asking for an entry fee doesn't sit comfortably with me. Am I just being over-sensitive, and a little bit paranoid?

There are dozens of these each year, including some quite prominent including the Luke Bitmead Bursary which is teamed with Legend Press. Mostly it's POD and e-publishing ventures that run them. Naturally it's a chance for publishers to pick out new talent and to offer an incentive (prize money) without losing money themselves. Useful in the current economic climate. Publishers, after all, are a business. It's also a way of controlling the number and quality of entries - if there's an entry fee, people often take more time over the piece they intend to submit. And, naturally, some choose to enter such comps and others don't - but the information's out there either way :)

Thanks Kasubi,

Much appreciated.