Writing Contests: The Good, The Bad, and the Waste of Time

Many writers hope that by winning a writing contest you will gain entry to the book industry and begin the trajectory towards author fame.

Although this can be true of some prestigious contests, there are tons of contests out there and not all of them are going to boost your profile.

Here is a "what it's good for/what will sneak up on you and thrash you" list on entering writing contests.

Why you should enter a writing contest

• get feedback about your writing
  
• if you win, that's very positive feedback
  
• if you don't win, you can see what they chose and compare
  
• resume building: even being able to say you're a finalist has cache
  
• winners sometimes get stuff: book contracts, representation, cash, etc.
  

Why you shouldn't enter a writing contest

• many of them are not legitimate. Beware of the contest that promises to include your winning work in an anthology for a fee--those are not real writing contests
• takes up a ton of time. Getting submissions together is a pain. All that work for something that means, in many cases, nothing. If no one knows the contest, they probably won't care if you won it.
• some contests snag ownership of the written material. Contests that do this are not good contests.

Here are a few things to watch for when deciding to enter the contest:

Read the fine print.

• Legitimate contests may charge fees for entry, but they don't charge you a fee for the award.
  
• Take care to read the directions. Some contests require you to be unpublished, or not traditionally published, or to send a hard copy, etc. The rules are usually very specific.
  
• Do not send your work to a contest that attempts to retain ownership of your work for simply entering.
  

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. has a great "Writer Beware" article on contests. Check out their site for the full article.