how to look for competitions? - Writers Forum

Gauda · 01-04-2006, 10:12 PM

can anyone tell me where to look for short story competitions? how do I know if it's a scam or not? I don't really like submitting things on the web because most likely they're scams [I heard it SHOULD be free]

do I ask my local library or school? Usually there are not competitions avalible when I ask. I just don't know where to look.

I'm totally lost.

Shade53 · 01-04-2006, 10:18 PM

I subscribe to some great newsletters that might help you:

www.winningwriters.com
www.fundsforwriters.com
www.absolutemarkets.com

Hope those help

~S

mammamaia · 01-05-2006, 01:56 AM

not all good writing competitions are free... in fact, many of the scams are!... check w/ preditors & editors [ http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubctst.htm ] before entering anything... and be sure to read all the fine print before sending in your work...

Gauda · 01-05-2006, 05:36 PM

thanks!

maia, I was the one that thought the scams all charged money! That's a new thing to here. THanks for the advice/warning everyone!

mammamaia · 01-05-2006, 07:21 PM

most of the best competitions do charge a small entry fee, to cover expenses and to winnow out the unserious from the serious writers... in fact, 2 of the 3 most prestigious of all the screenwriting competitions [disney, nicholl, chesterfield] charge fees [$20 & $39.50]...

Icywind · 01-06-2006, 12:16 PM

Hmmm, my best advice is for you is to get the latest addition of The Writer's Market. All the competitions in the back are legit, and most are done annually.

So if you're looking for a competition...The Writer's Market is the answer^_^

cryptika · 01-08-2006, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icywind

Hmmm, my best advice is for you is to get the latest addition of The Writer's Market. All the competitions in the back are legit, and most are done annually.

So if you're looking for a competition...The Writer's Market is the answer^_^

I couldn't agree more. So many comps - ones I didn't know existed - and all in one handy reference book.

TheReMonstor · 03-05-2006, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cryptika

I couldn't agree more. So many comps - ones I didn't know existed - and all in one handy reference book.

Does The Writer's Market have every competition? Even Science Fiction/Fantasy contests? How often is it produced?

Shade53 · 03-06-2006, 03:36 PM

no it does not have *every* competition but it is a good resource and I'm fairly certain there are a handful of SF contests (Writers of the Future springs to mind). Writer's Market is produced annually unless you are a member of the online version in which case I believe there are updates in the meantime... I've found personally that for competitions, places like - Winning Writers have been much more useful for me, personally. Though I use my Writers Market regularly to search for markets.

~S

mammamaia · 03-06-2006, 05:35 PM

WARNING!... writer's market can't check all its listings for legitimacy, so always do your own checking of anything you find there, before querying or submitting work...

johnnywraith · 03-08-2006, 01:43 AM

[Comment removed. I'm not sure I'm ready to cast any stones.]

mammamaia · 03-08-2006, 06:23 PM

no... not necessarily... what kind of 'company' are you referring to?... if it's supposedly a publisher that is offering to publish the winner of a competition, and asking for a 'reading fee' then it's most likely a scam...

but many legit and reputable competitions [not all 'companies'] have to charge entry fees, because they do need to cover some of the costs of running the contest... if they paid it all out of their own pockets, how could they afford to hold the contests in the first place?...

another reason for charging a minimal fee is to weed out the serious, from the non-serious entrants... if they're truly looking for quality and not just to make money, they'll be picky about who can enter... the freebies who take on anything by anybody, are major scams that count on the suckers to buy some sort of 'anthology' of the 'winning' works...

you'll notice a few posts back, i mentioned the big 3 of the screenwriting world, the disney, chesterfield, and nicholl competitions... they all charge a nominal entry fee, but you could hardly say disney is 'in trouble' and needs it to pay the rent!... the nicholl fellowship is run by the oscar folks [ampas]!!... and the chesterfield is based at paramount, was begun with support from spielberg's amblin entertainment!!!...

'nuff said?

johnnywraith · 03-09-2006, 03:01 AM

[Comment removed. I was drunk when I posted it. Sorry to anyone insulted.]

Beardedtroll · 03-09-2006, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnywraith

I am still skeptical that a competition that cannot self-fund is legit.

It's fairly common in other areas that the prizes in a competition is paid for by the entry fees of the contestants. I'd say that any competition that got the prize money from a different source was not self-funded.