The Word Cloud

13 Comments

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  by Autumn 11 months ago

  Any in particular you are worried about? The myslexia one looks interesting - publication not the prize but £5k and agents reading them would be great.
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  by Caducean Whisks 11 months ago

  Which comps in particular, Weens? Publication as a prize is just about feasible - Terry Pratchett offered that - but unless they're a known entity, I'd wonder. The small print about the prize ought to give a clue - if there isn't any small print, I'd be wary.
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  by Weens 11 months ago

  No particular one in mind, but I have come across a few, and have shied away from them. I've looked up the publishers, and they are small print publishers in the main, but I'm still not sure if they are covers for vanity publishers. Ones like Mslexia, I would have a great deal of faith in, but the small publishing houses, I've never heard of them.
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  by Caducean Whisks 11 months ago

  On the one hand, one wants to support small publishers - who may become big publishers; on the other hand, one doesn't want to squander one's precious opus (because of all the others clamouring to publish it :) ).
  Publication of a winning short story in an anthology is par for the course, but a whole novel? That is surprising, if they can't be sure of enough entries to provide at least one that might be up to it. I assume Sir TP thought he'd get enough entries to give at least one a shot; and there was a serious advance offered as well, which made entry very appealing.
  Being cynical, offering publication as a prize, is a way of not paying any advance at all.
  What would they offer in the way of marketing your book? Would you ever see a royalty? That's why the small print should be there and should be read.
  If it really is covert vanity publishing, this is another reason to read the small print - you shouldn't be committed to spending large amounts of money if you win a competition, for crying out loud.
  But they may be bona fide. Read the small print :)
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  by Weens 11 months ago

  Thanks Autumn and Whisks. My mind was going down the same train of thought, I just wanted to know what other's thought. Thanks again.
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  by EmmaD 11 months ago

  I'd look very hard at what the publisher is like separate from the prize, as you say, Weens. In my experience they're usually vanity presses, or self-publishing outfits. The latter may be a perfectly legitimate business, but won't actually be able to Publish your book in the sense that we all mean by that word.
  
  And, frankly, I'm all for supporting small publishers in lots of ways, but when it comes to getting a contract for your own book, I think you have to be ruthlessly self-interested. Your debut is too important: you must do what's best for the book and your writing.
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  by Kate7 11 months ago

  I've not come across one that offers publication myself. However I'm all for competitions in a general sense, it looks good to agents if you can say you've come 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc etc. When you say publish, do you mean in a magazine or as a seperate book?
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  by Weens 11 months ago

  Thanks for the advice everyone. You have clarified my thoughts. I'm trying to win a competition so that I can put it on my CV, but I don't want to enter any dodgy ones. I thought it was too good to be true. Thanks a lot.
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  by Bren 10 months ago

  Didn't SecretSpi just win a competition where the prize was to be published? That is going through now.
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  by Caducean Whisks 10 months ago

  Bren, that's true, she did indeed! Ah well, it can happen, Weens!
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  by Weens 10 months ago

  I think I'll give them a miss, at least for the time being. Emma makes a good point about your debut being too important. I imagine if I'm at the same stage in a couple of years, then I would consider them. Thanks for your thoughts everyone.
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  by SecretSpi 10 months ago

  I agree with the others that you need to look very carefully at the publisher and the competition itself. In my case, I'd just been through six months of an agent sitting on first one, then a revised version of my ms and finally giving me the heave-ho with the "market conditions" excuse. It put me in the mood to enter a competition, just for the hell of it!
  
  The competition I entered was run by a small press (NOT self-publishing/vanity) and I checked out their website carefully, googled them and all the rest. The website is modest and not flashy or hi-tech but it was the competition details that swung me to enter. First of all, they had lined up an impressive array of judges including a reader from David Higham, several well-known children's authors and a lady from Orion publishing. Secondly, there was a choice of prizes - either small press publishing and a cash advance (not huge) OR a larger cash prize plus editorial advice/help in putting together a submission package. It was also clear that if the judges saw none of the entries fit for publication, then the cash would be divided out. So, all-in-all a professionally put-together competition.
  
  It was a competition for children's novels, but we only had to send in the synopsis and the first 4,000 words (much less than my 1st three chapters) but I guess the level of experience of the judges was such that they could assess the potential of the whole ms from that.
  
  I know that for many of us, the holy grail is mainstream publishing and it's easy to be a bit sniffy about small press publishing but from my own point of view I'm so glad I entered the competition, still amazed that I won and I couldn't be happier with the advice and editorial guidance that I've had from my publisher so far.
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  by AlanP 10 months ago

  Spi's is a special case of competitions I think and she has struck gold. There's not a doubt in my mind about that. I have heard of competitons promising publication where the publication is merely an anthology of entries that goes no further than the entrants and their families. Which is vanity in sheeps clothing, of course, as one or two have mentioned.
  
  I think Ween's mentions the best, and for me the only reason for entering competitions in the responses. It's bragging rights. Plain and simple. I have never won one, but I was a runner up once and boy do I put it in their faces whenever I write in. Hope for no more than that and disillusion may be kept at bay.
  
  Does anyone know whatever happened to the Ian St. James short story comp?