Contests and Prizes
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I just posted an article on my Examiner.com page about the Harlequin Presents writing competition, and I’m amused by the very appropriate prize. The contest is free and easy to enter, but the prize is–a year’s editing from a Harlequin editor. Why does this amuse me? Well, I’ve known lots of aspiring writers who enter contests, sometimes costly contests, and find out afterward that winning doesn’t do much to help their career. There are just too many small, local contests out there. But I’ve also known writers who furiously enter contests just to say they’ve won. (Yes, it’s a bit different with publisher writers who can attach the phrase “award winning” to an actual novel.) But here is a contest where the prize is actually wonderfully valuable to the audience the contest is geared toward and only toward that audience. Perhaps more contests will find ways to offer prizes that really make a difference. |
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